The vision for smart hospitals is simple if not ambitious: revolutionize the way care is delivered, reduce the cost of delivering that care, and ensure the future viability of the organization, all with the help of a palette of established and emerging technologies. Still, there are many potential pitfalls and challenges both technical and procedural that can hamper or derail a smart hospital project. We’ll identify some best practices that can help keep things on track.
Unprecedented growth
One thing that is certain is that the healthcare sector is growing rapidly and as such will continue to attract innovation and investment from technology providers. The Smart Hospital market alone is projected to rise from $42.8 billion in 2023 at a CAGR of 19.6% through 2032 according to Global Market Insights. Increasing adoption of telehealth and electronic health records (among other technologies), a focus on improving operational efficiency, and a shift towards personalized care are all driving growth across the industry. Meanwhile, healthcare expenditures continue to rise, which is why lowering costs via increased efficiency is one of the main objectives of implementing smart hospital technology.
Technology: Some new, some we know
Apart from AI—currently being applied to everything from predicting a patient’s likelihood to be readmitted to analyzing staff movements to improve efficiency—most of the technologies in smart hospital applications are already well known in other industries if not within healthcare itself. Monitoring, control, analysis, and communications functions are underpinned by technologies like IoT, data analysis, cloud computing, and the proliferation of wireless sensors—all well established in other sectors.
So, what’s different about what’s going on now in healthcare? In a word: interoperability.
This is especially apparent in standing up a patient engagement system (PES), which draw on data from multiple sources like building management, electronic health records (EHR), and remote patient monitoring (RPM), and in turn serve patients and clinical staff with a range of information via in-room screens and electronic whiteboards. Look at a schematic diagram of everything that feeds into PES, and you’ll be presented with an image that resembles a bicycle wheel with a spoke for each data source.
Efforts to improve the hospital’s energy efficiency also rely on diverse data streams. Real-time data from temperature and occupancy sensors, HVAC status, energy monitoring—these are just a few. Data makes the invisible visible, enabling facility operational teams to identify and act on opportunities to reduce energy use that would have been impossible to realize just a few years ago.
Best practices
Early adopters in the smart hospital arena have shared their stories with the industry, and there is now a growing consensus around what makes for a successful implementation. Technology and processes are only part of the solution—patient orientation, sustainability, and an emphasis on flexibility are equally important.
1. Flexibility in design
It’s important to remember that any smart technology implementation will inevitably encounter changes, some unanticipated. There may even be some functions that have yet to be invented that hospitals will want to add to their platforms years after a project is “complete”. Flexibility, then, is essential. This shows up in construction, for example, by using prefabricated techniques that allow adaptability of future pathways and modular approaches that can be scaled easily. On the IT side, choosing solutions that don’t rely on proprietary technology and allow for easy (re)configuration will help future-proof smart hospital systems.
2. Technology considerations
Rapid prototyping and “failing fast” are hallmarks of good smart hospital integrations. Extensive simulation testing is key, too, and should involve all stakeholders, including patient advocacy groups. “Day in the life” exercises can uncover potential problems but may also reveal ways to improve system performance, user experience, or operational efficiency.
3. Interoperability
This is perhaps the most important aspect of smart hospital technology. Simple “interaction” between disparate systems is not enough. True interoperability means components and sub-systems working seamlessly as a whole. This lays the groundwork for future changes and use cases, again relating back to the value of flexibility. It’s also important in terms of project planning to identify some use cases that can be delivered early on to build trust and experience with the technology.
4. Patient orientation
Patients should be engaged from the beginning to ensure the technologies being used actually deliver what they are intended to. There should be clear onboarding (for clinical staff) and education (for patients). Patients should be empowered by technology to take a more active role in their care. Needless to say, personal and health data must be protected with a robust cybersecurity regime.
5. Sustainability
Green building practices during the construction stage are only the start. When we talk about sustainability in the context of smart hospitals, we’re also talking about the durability of the solution, the reliability of the power system supporting it, and even the proximity and resilience of suppliers. For example, evidence has shown that virtual care systems should be hosted on a dedicated network separate from those that run enterprise level functions like email or ERP.
Pitfalls
Most of the challenges that arise in smart hospital initiatives stem from NOT following one or more of the success factors above. Short-term thinking and a focus on immediate ROI will fail to identify the long-term benefits of the given technology or function that accrue to patients, staff, and the hospital itself. Failing to engage all stakeholders is a surefire way to miss use cases and issues that become obvious later. Testing, training, and gathering feedback are also essential—more is more with these activities.
The goal
The intent of smart hospital technology is to improve care and the patient experience while improving efficiency within the hospital. When implemented right, these technologies can deliver on this vision and the results can be dramatic. Schneider Electric worked with a 500-bed Northeastern hospital to implement smart technologies that resulted in a reduction of 8600 hours per year in the time clinical staff spend doing administrative and rote tasks. That improved efficiency, reduced tasks from overworked staff, and allowed them to spend more time with patients, improving not only their experience in the hospital but also the quality of care they receive and the outcomes they realize. That’s a result any healthcare organization can be proud of.
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