The future of healthcare is often dominated by technology. And rightly so, but it's mainly about people: healthcare professionals who dare to work differently, organizations that embrace change, and patients who receive better care. At the Health Valley Event in Nijmegen, these worlds came together.
From administrators to nurses and from researchers to entrepreneurs, everyone with a heart for the future of healthcare meets at the Health Valley Event. "Passion for innovation is what brings us together. We want to bring innovations to practice," said Egbert-Jan Bögels, Director of Health Valley.
The land of no
That path to practice, however, is not as easy as it sounds. "Making an impact requires daring and doing," Bögels explains. "We shouldn't want to put all the checkmarks everywhere before we get moving. It's about having responsible guts."
What usually holds back innovation and change in healthcare? Innovation expert Gijs van Wulfen puts it this way: "Innovators in healthcare live in the land of no."
He says innovators often get the same responses: it's impossible, there's no time or budget, the risk is too great or "we've always done it this way. "The biggest enemy of innovation is the lack of support from management," Van Wulfen states.
Also read: Why many healthcare innovations fail: the power of hidden interests
From no to yes
So how can we turn those no's into yes's? According to Van Wulfen, that starts with collaboration. "You can invent alone, but you can only innovate together." By building a strong team and developing ideas together, the chances of innovations actually making an impact grow.
Another key lesson: timing and urgency. "Most managers only innovate when doing nothing is a greater risk. Radical innovation is what matters." When innovation then comes to fruition, technology can actually contribute to what really matters: better patient care.
Data as a new source of insight
One example is technology in long-term care. Sjors Groeneveld, associate professor of Living Technology and PhD candidate in the field of AI in long-term care, investigates how sensors in homes can contribute to better care.
Using motion sensors, for example, a system can learn what a person's normal living pattern is. Once that pattern changes, it can be a signal that something is wrong. Think of someone suddenly going to the bathroom more often or drinking less. These signals may indicate an incipient bladder infection.
"There's kind of a new line of information coming in," Groeneveld says. And that simultaneously raises new questions. How should healthcare professionals work with this data? And what skills are needed to do so?
According to him, technology is changing the profession of healthcare professionals. Not only through new tools, but also because interpretation of data is becoming increasingly important. "That requires a new way of training. Maybe in the future we'll be talking about a data analysis nurse."
Also read: Real innovation in healthcare starts with integration, not technology
Collaboration is essential
What the Health Valley Event showed is that successful implementation of technology requires more than just a good idea. Technology can make care smarter, faster and more personal, but only if all stakeholders are willing to think differently, work together and embrace new roles.
Therefore, according to many speakers, the key to success lies in co-creation: developing technology with and for the people on the shop floor.
