Eliminating traditional silos
While digital health tools present a lot of opportunities, their value is capped if they don’t seamlessly integrate with existing health system solutions and infrastructure. One of the biggest trends we’ll see in 2023 is the healthcare industry prioritizing interoperability and addressing the siloed nature of the market. Often, during the transfer of care from one physician to the next, information can easily get lost. The lack of communication between systems can lead to patient care errors as well as system inefficiencies.
To remove silos, we’ll see more healthcare industry stakeholders prioritizing smoother communications in the year ahead. We’ll see health systems use newer technologies that feed more patient data into electronic medical records, thereby giving all caretakers greater visibility into patient history, which will in turn enable care teams across the continuum to have the insights they need to better — and more efficiently — care for patients. By providing this informed care from the get-go, health systems will subsequently address patient readmission rates and backlogs with greater efficiency.
A generational shift in medical school teaching
Finally, there is going to be a generational shift in the way medical schools are teaching their students as more technology is introduced across care settings. As healthcare becomes increasingly digital, education for the next generation must change too – and medical students are the ones pushing for this. These students’ interest comes from a desire to push medical education forward while also improving care for patients.
In 2023, and for years to come, our healthcare education systems will evolve at the same pace as health tech adoption. Many medical students around the country have made interest groups outside of their standard curriculum to learn more about the growth of certain technology in healthcare. An example of this is Yale’s Critical Care Medicine Student Interest Group, which is aimed to provide clinical and research exposure to critical care teams. This includes hands-on workshops for bedside ultrasounds and more. This year, we will see a generational shift throughout the medical field to equip healthcare professionals with the tools they need to operate the newest technological advancements
The healthcare industry is at an inflection point and 2023 is looking to be a transformative year. While there is plenty of work to be done, there is a great sense that these advances will be highly beneficial to improve outcomes for patients while providing much-needed relief to healthcare professionals.
About the author: Dr. Arun Nagdev is the senior director of clinical education for Exo Imaging, Inc. The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect official policy or position of Exo.
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