Real innovation in healthcare starts with integration, not technology

dutchhealthhub
April 09, 2025
4 min

Technological innovation is often seen as the solution to the increasing pressure on healthcare. But according to Karel Loerts, director of KALCIO Healthcare, this is a misconception. During his session "Real innovation in healthcare is about integration" at Zorg & ict, he states unequivocally, "Computerizing is completely not working in healthcare." The cause? A lack of attention to integration.

In his session, Loerts aims to offer insight into the value of integration in innovation. Innovation is more than introducing technology. According to Loerts, a new working method or tool, no matter how advanced, can even lead to additional workload if it does not connect well with practice. "It is important that you really listen to the people who have to work with it: doctors, specialists, nurses. Without attention to adoption, innovation misses the mark."

Value for healthcare professionals

By innovation, then, Loerts understands the introduction of something new that adds value for healthcare professionals, physicians and patients. "Nice to introduce a robot on the shop floor. If you haven't thought about what exactly for, it's of no use. So it is essential in innovation to pay attention to adoption, i.e. listen to what the user really needs. There has to be a good balance between resources and people."

Healthcare is under pressure from multiple sources, according to Loerts: tight budgets, complex laws and regulations, technological developments and a growing staff shortage. This leads to a deluge of innovations - from 3D printers for drugs to AI and diagnostic devices - that, however, rarely lead to better or more accessible care. "We need to get back to basics: the patient," he said.

When innovations don't help

Loerts illustrates this with a poignant example of a patient, Dave, whom he knew personally. Dave was being treated for kidney disease. For this, he had to undergo dialysis. But when he did not recover after surgery and the dialysis did not work, he was found to have colon cancer after a CT scan and 10 months of hospital treatment. Two weeks later, he was dead. All the innovations together failed to help him. "Why didn't doctors see it sooner?" wonders Loerts. "What if healthcare professionals from internal medicine, diagnostics and oncology had discussed his case in an MDO? What if the care pathways had not been separated? And what if IT and medical technology were more integrated and AI already existed?"

Moving toward more integration

The healthcare IT revolution began around 2000 and has grown rapidly since then. Many systems have now been implemented and function reasonably well, but data exchange lags behind. Loerts therefore advocates a radical change of course: "We must move toward complete integration. To care without walls, care paths that connect seamlessly, with more control for the patient and more confidence for the healthcare professional. Why can't specialists have more control over their own scheduling? Patients now die because they end up in the wrong place in the care pathway. That has to change. To do that, we have to move towards a complete integration of care and we have to start thinking more from the chain."

How do you get people to join you?

And that means looking more at users. "All the innovations we implement we do in an existing environment. So we have to look at the adoption of innovation, how do you get the people in that environment up to speed with the innovation as quickly as possible?"

"Innovations are often developed without including the people who have to work with them. That leads to friction. Technically, you can be proud of a solution, but if professionals keep working as they always have, nothing changes." Loerts therefore advocates a small-step approach. "Integration requires cooperation at all levels - horizontal, vertical and transmural. Prioritize adoption, and work data-driven rather than just data-requesting. Data can help us predict and act proactively."

There is agreement in the room: real progress in healthcare does not require yet another innovation, but better integration. With small steps to bring people along. Because only together can technology and people bring improvement.

Karel Loerts is CEO of KALCIO Healthcare. KALCIO is organizing FMIR at Royal Jaarbeurs in Utrecht on June 3 and 4, 2025. FMIR stands for Future of Medical Imaging and Radiotherapy.

 
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