Transforming Healthcare Delivery with Data Management

In the last several years, countless billions of dollars have been invested in cloud technology, networking infrastructure, computing hardware, and software platforms to revolutionize healthcare operations.

However, the tools we are working with today to make healthcare “smart” were not designed to handle the diversity of devices, the scope of interactions and the massive volume of data-points generated from medical devices, machines and systems. Each new device requires too much customization and maintenance just to perform the same basic tasks. Data and information largely still resides in functional or vendor-specific silos dispersed across hospital assets, facilities and functions.

Today, hospital equipment and asset systems are still a kludgey collection of yesterday’s technology and architectures that do not address the most basic data integration, management and collaboration challenges. These challenges are diluting the ability of healthcare organizations to efficiently and effectively manage costs and deliver a seamless patient experience.

Without advanced data management tools, users, equipment manufacturers and third party services providers will not realize the true value of their machine and operational data. This report explores how new machine data management, analytics and orchestration solutions are the core enabling technology required to realize the Smart Hospital of the future.

SMART HOSPITAL VISION & DATA ECOSYSTEM ROAD MAP

Healthcare Delivery Challenges

Hospitals are under tremendous pressure today facing diverse challenges including cost and reimbursement pressures, an increasingly aging population suffering from chronic diseases and the “consumerization” of patient experiences.

Hospitals are seeking new ways to improve their productivity and efficiency, while reducing operational costs and improving margins. The speed and scale at which medical device and equipment manufacturers are integrating automation and data analytics into healthcare systems is staggering. These innovations are aimed at revolutionizing the quality, consistency and efficiency of equipment and devices in support of patient care.

Today the healthcare sector has one of the highest rates of adoption for connecting machines. However, connectivity alone may help the manufacturer of the machine provide more efficient service and support, but it does not allow the user to leverage very much intelligence across diverse systems with multiple brands of machines. This is due to several factors including technical integration complexities, networking standards and differing approaches to embedding intelligence in machines.

Existing technology has proven cumbersome and costly to apply with many conflicting protocols and incomplete component-based solutions. The challenges of gathering machine data and integrating diverse data types have been big adoption hurdles for healthcare industry customers wanting to analyze the data from their machines and optimize systems.

The Advent of Smart Hospitals

In its simplest form, Smart Hospital is a concept in which inputs—from medical machines, people, sensors, video streams, labs, diagnostics and more—is digitized and placed onto networks. The data from machines and equipment is integrated into systems that connect people, assets, facilities, and work processes to enable awareness, collaborative decision making and better healthcare delivery.

SMART HOSPITALS INTEGRATE PEOPLE, DATA & FACILITIES

This phenomenon is not just about people communicating with people or machines communicating with machines; it also includes patients and hospital staff communicating with machines. Consider the following:

• Global healthcare expenditures expanded to over $9 trillion dollars in 2019 with average per capita spending of approximately $1150 per person globally;
• The Smart Hospital opportunity is estimated to grow from $26B in 2019 to over $100B in 2026 at a 24% compounded growth rate;
• The number of connected medical devices and machines utilizing Internet of Things (IoT) technologies and machine data analytics is forecast to grow at over 40% compounded from 23M in 2020 to over 100M in 2026;
• Today, the average 200+ bed hospital has over 250 brands of equipment and devices and the typical hospital patient comes into contact and interacts with over 75 devices per visit.

Whatever we chose to call it — “Intelligent Healthcare Systems” or “Digital Hospitals” or “Smart Hospitals” — we are referring to networked embedded intelligence in the equipment, machines and infrastructure systems that deliver healthcare.

New Technologies in Healthcare

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI and machine learning are revolutioning diagnostic tools in healthcare. AI is helping doctors choose treatment paths, while applications are helping patients take care into their own hands.

Identification of acute and chronic illness with software using sophisticated AI/ML is a rapidly advancing field of study. COVID-19 prompted a slew of diagnostic tools, including an application that identifies COVID-19 illness from a person’s forced cough vocalization.

Cell and Gene Therapy

Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) is taking a revolutionary approach to medicine by addressing the fundamental genetic origins of diseases. With over 1,000 trials in development, CGT is at the forefront of personalized medicine, and the brink of disruption through manufacturing automation. 

With a growing number of cell and gene therapy (CGT) trials and more than $23 billion in investment, manufacturers need to prepare for CGT’s emergence. With the right robust and flexible manufacturing solutions, manufacturers can take advantage of this fast-growing opportunity. 

Scaling CGT manufacturing operations to meet patient needs presents major challenges. By implementing integrated, data-driven best practices, manufacturers can future-proof their operations while positioning for scale. ​◆