Dive Brief:
- While technologies evolve at a dizzying pace, a new PwC survey shows executives’ confidence in guiding digital change within their organizations is lower than ever, Becker’s Hospital Review reports.
- Only about half (52%) of 2,216 business and IT leaders in 53 countries rated their digital IQ as “strong” or “very strong,” versus 67% in 2015.
- Forty-two percent of survey respondents view the internet of things (IOT) as disruptive to their business model. Only 43% of executives said they had a dedicated team exploring emerging technologies, which is down from previous years.
Dive Insight:
Of the vast array of emerging technologies, executives expect the most change to come with artificial intelligence and the internet of things. Seventy-three percent of respondents said they are investing in IOT and 54% in AI.
The 2017 Global Digital IQ Survey also found that most top-performing companies (82%) pay attention to the human experience surrounding digital technology and include user experience specialists in their initiatives.
The challenge for organizations is keeping up with the pace of technological advancements. “Executives need to develop a rigorous approach to emerging technology, one that includes a formal framework of listening to those on the bleeding edge, learning the true impact of these technologies, sharing results from pilot projects and scaling by implementing them throughout the enterprise,” according to the report.
Healthcare organizations are increasingly turning to digital solutions to deal with complex issues ranging from access to care and population health, to patient engagement and regulatory reporting requirements. For example, an increasing number of health systems are signing on with telemedicine companies to offer telehealth options to their patients.
The trend is not only useful in managing high-cost patients; it reduces costs as well. In a recent study, hospitalizations for patients enrolled in Royal Philips’ Intensive Ambulatory Care pilot program fell 49.5% and overall costs of care dropped 34.5%.
Still, lack of communication between health IT developers and the doctors and patients who use their products can impede real innovation, a study last year in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests. The authors say developers must engage members of the user community in their projects to avoid creating one-size-fits-all solutions.