The healthcare industry has been battling the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic for more than two years. Many demands are being placed on clinicians, who are under unprecedented pressure from the workload these cases bring. They must be flexible to adapt to the rapid expansion of telehealth and change the way they work. Hospitals have struggled with vendor burnout, staffing shortages, and more.
In a series of interviews during the Microsoft Envision Healthcare Summit, the focus was on the various ways cloud computing technology touches different aspects of healthcare, including providers, payers, medtech and pharmaceutical companies. Leaders in healthcare highlight ways to improve care delivery, outcomes, a sustainable clinician workforce and improve the patient experience.
In one session, Clifford Goldsmith, Chief Medical Officer, Microsoft Health and Life Sciences, met with Seraphine Kapsandoy-Jones, Vice President, Population Healthcare and Clinical Operations, Centene Corporation on maintaining a sustainable clinical workforce. They explore how technology can be leveraged to increase automation and reduce the documentation burden for clinicians. New delivery models can also reduce the burden of data entry and change the way clinicians work; but there are challenges that need to be addressed.
Cleveland Clinic CIO Matt Kull and ATA CEO Ann Mond Johnson discuss advances in the consumerization of healthcare, including telehealth, and big data analytics tools that can provide preventive care to more patients.
“We see Netflix and Amazon as competitors because they are setting digital expectations for consumers,” Kuhl said.
Johnson noted that the availability of telehealth options in healthcare interactions means that in many cases, consumers can decide to have an in-person visit with a clinician or a virtual visit, which may make more sense than video conferencing. Asynchronous technology means patients have a say in where and how they want to be met, whether at home, in the workplace, or in a doctor’s office.
“Virtuality is a broader dimension than synchronous communication like video conferencing,” Johnson observes. “Technologies like AI and RPM (remote patient monitoring) are going well beyond blood pressure readings and blood sugar levels and are being applied in many different ways.”
Kull added that Cleveland Clinic’s elite research capabilities mean the institution is well positioned to unleash the power of the cloud for AI applications.
“This will really help us create targeted opportunities to address certain diseases before they occur – such as genetic biomarkers that flag certain patients at high risk for colon cancer, so clinicians can ensure they encourage these patients to have more frequent Screening.
Kull shared that the Cleveland Clinic is working to improve computer drug discovery, multi-omics research, and digital twins because they believe these will be “the absolute core of unlocking technologies to increase the speed of medical discovery and therapy development.”
Also participating in the virtual summit:
- Aetna Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer Kyu Rhee, MD,
CVS Health - David Rhew MD, Global Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Healthcare, Microsoft
- New York Times bestselling author Dr. Michelle Harper
- Team USA Paralympian Lex Gillette
- Antoinette Thomas, US Chief Patient Experience Officer, Microsoft Health and Life Sciences
- Deb Cupp, President of Microsoft America
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photo: Getty Images: Andrei Popov
