Chapter 8
Creating Value Through Digital Transformation Digital transformation is a recurring theme among healthcare executives and industry leaders. No sector of the economy is insulated from the effects of digital transformation and the wave of transformative change occurring at every level. It is important to know that digital transformation is not just about introducing computers in a hospital, creating apps, enabling patients to make appointments online, giving healthcare staff the option of using their own smartphones or tablets, or opening a Facebook or Twitter account for the hospital. While these technological options may be part of the digital transformation journey, the merit of digital transformation cannot be reduced to the use of a specific technology. Digital transformation assesses factors beyond the walls of healthcare organizations, including the patients’ experience before, during, and after interacting with the healthcare system. It goes to the very core of what an organization does, including why and how it does it. The journey begins with the simple realization that this is not a fad or technology to be installed, but what could be the engine that drives an organization’s existence. The most logical starting point is to put the patient at the center of the transformation. To compete today, healthcare organizations must retool the skillset of their workforce to be digitally agile and fluent. These qualities cannot be achieved when healthcare organizations lack skilled teams, new data, and technology integration; have slow or inflexible processes; and use outdated or obsolete technology. As the healthcare industry becomes more 189
