It's a time to look back and think grandly about what the future holds for the healthcare information technology community.
For the first time in years, I am promoting a more positive message, albeit cautiously. Much like the 'revenge travel' explosion seen as individuals emerge from the confines of the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare organizations have also experienced a cumulative demand for IT-related project activities. A new term has now been coined: ‘recovery project’.
In many cases, these projects were initially halted so that IT teams could focus on supporting pandemic activities, such as fixing electronic health records, enabling mobile testing centers, and creating unique reporting and dashboard requirements.
Today's tsunami of project and service request activity, combined with lower operating costs for many healthcare organizations, is causing an ever-increasing backlog of project-related initiatives.
Much like the travel industry, IT teams are working feverishly to activate projects as quickly as possible, but there is growing frustration among users waiting for increased efforts on their current mission-critical projects.
Then you might think: Where is the cautious positivity in the current situation?
Above all, the importance of IT teams within each healthcare organization is increasing. Operations users recognized that significant improvements in patient care and management and operational efficiencies required IT support and coordination between IT teams and operations.
Second, organizations are beginning to recognize that just because a request is submitted doesn't necessarily mean it's appropriate to expend effort on it. As a result, organizations have become much more diligent in identifying expected benefits and holding requesters accountable for expected outcomes.
Doesn't this sound very businesslike? For projects selected to proceed, prioritization methods can be used to ensure that the most important needs are addressed first.
Finally, this project prioritization process reflects back to the organization that there are limited sources of resources available to provide support. This discipline is a critical success factor for organizations to thrive in an ever-changing healthcare environment where overall costs tend to increase while reimbursement remains relatively stable.
For many, the past year has been about stabilizing their organizations out of the shadow of COVID-19. This newfound foundation will now serve as the foundation for the rebirth of innovative and technological advancements within our organization.
Initial efforts include a focus on clinician efficiency through artificial intelligence tools such as peripheral listening, patient chart summarization, and automated email responses.
More possibilities will be realized by integrating individual genomic results into EHRs to further advance genomic decision support efforts and ensure that the most appropriate protocols are prescribed.
Additionally, working with operations leaders to mine the wealth of data within their systems and develop actionable analytics will further advance patient care and operations.
Over the past few years, the healthcare industry has been managing many challenges posed by the gut punch of the pandemic. Through dedication, persistence, and sometimes a little luck, our organization is now ready to advance to new heights.
More technology is needed to support these efforts than ever before. As always, it will be the partnership between operations and IT teams that will make all the difference. This partnership has historically navigated turbulent times and driven the organization to greater heights, which is why I remain optimistic about the future.
Mike Restuccia is Penn Medicine's Chief Information Officer.