3 Ways Technology Is Transforming Healthcare for the Better

As technology evolves, so does the demand for innovations in healthcare. Included in the NHS’s Long Term Plan, the government aims to use technology as a key part of its drive to improve patient experience and outcomes across England.

It was revealed that the UK ranks fifth in overall health system innovation. This blog will discuss why innovative healthcare technology can benefit the NHS and why maintaining the world ranking for this can allow it to achieve its long-term goals.

Digital Healthcare Can Improve Patient Experience
E-management Systems Can Increase Staff Satisfaction
Remote Treatment Can Increase Service Quality and Capacity
Want to Learn More About Healthcare Technology Innovation?

1. Digital Healthcare Can Improve Patient Experience

With the emergence of new healthcare technologies, hospitals are continually providing innovative solutions and treatments for conditions. This can improve results and capacity across the service by making services easier to access and faster to treat.

New Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) technologies are introduced in line with worldwide healthcare innovation. By utilising and investing funding into automated and intelligent network systems for healthcare, clinicians can improve efficiency and capacity by providing non-urgent treatment through mobile applications.

Utilising AI systems in pathology networks can improve test turnaround and produce faster diagnosis outcomes for patients. Healthcare innovation can also enable more complex treatment opportunities for patients with long term diseases as it continually evolves.

These new opportunities and innovations can improve NHS services across England. As health services prepare for the transition to I ntegrated Care Systems (ICS), technology can make this a success by adopting smarter processes. This makes medical staff across ICS and Primary Care Networks (PCN) more focused on completing high priority tasks.

2. E-management Systems Can Increase Staff Satisfaction

In the 2021/2022 financial year, the government allocated £33.8 billion to NHS services. This funding can be spent on new technologies that aim to improve services. This includes e-consulting and automated management processes designed to increase time efficiency across the service.

As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, there is a staff retention scheme to increase staff satisfaction in the NHS. A lack of strong staff morale disrupts normal service delivery, decreasing trust within the service. Since the scheme began in 2019, national nursing staff turnover rates have fallen from 12.5% to 11.9%.

The scheme's success can be attributed to the innovative e-management services introduced within the NHS in recent years. Healthcare technology can increase engagement between patients and staff by making processes quicker and easier to access. This includes:

E-job planning: Workforces can oversee availability across departments in line with outcome aims. This will help produce more effective workloads, boost staff morale and reduce stress during busy times.

E-rostering: Organisations can respond dynamically to challenges such as changing demography and evolving patient needs, allowing staff to see when treatments and medicines need reviewing or updating.

3. Remote Treatment Can Increase Service Quality and Capacity

Remote treatment is now emerging in all health services. From pharmaceutical to administrative and mental health care. Connectivity is key to reducing capacity and waiting times. A major aspect of the NHS delivery plan is tackling the coronavirus pandemic's backlog. Remote treatment can provide several benefits to help with this.

Improving medicine administration: As part of the NHS five-year Medicines Optimisation Strategy, systems are available that help manage medicine prescription services. By investing in automated processes such as the NHS RightCare Platform and the Medicine Optimisation Dashboard, clinicians can prescribe the most effective medication for the most relevant conditions.

Easier access to healthcare: By using services such as the NHS app and E-consult services, patients can access non-urgent healthcare and advice quicker. Rather than waiting for an appointment, this improves customer experience and resolves queries more efficiently.

Efficient data management: Using machine learning (ML) technology, the NHS can automate administrative data processes that save time and resources. Capacity can be increased by re-allocating staff to more important job roles for more patient-focused care. Additionally, automated data applications such as digital ID sign-ins can speed up waiting times, registration processes and overall capacity.

Want to Learn More About Healthcare Technology Innovation?

Supporting and funding healthcare innovation in clinical settings is critical to achieving the highest quality patient and clinician experience. At this year's HETT Show, we will discuss how IoT technology can bring better healthcare outcomes, operations and patient experiences for the NHS.