How patient-centric tech makes employee-centric impact

It’s no secret that the NHS is more stretched than ever before, dealing with tightening budgets, a shortage of staff, and growing waiting lists, all with the constant pressure to see more patients, faster than ever before. This tension trickles down to every member of NHS staff. In fact, a survey found that just a quarter of the NHS workforce believe there are enough staff to do their jobs properly, and a third feel burnt out. This, in turn, has an impact on the quality of patient care they can provide, creating a vicious, potentially life-threatening cycle.

When staff are stretched to their limits, no matter the industry, automation and digitalisation can be a saving grace, alleviating some of the daily pressures that employees face. With the UK health sector recently taking a step in this direction by moving forward with digital prescriptions through the NHS app, how will the benefits of digitalisation grow beyond simply its value to patients?

Patient personalisation

Remote and digital-enabled technology has been making an impact in healthcare for a while, accelerated considerably by the pandemic. Patients are showing an increased appetite for virtual consultations, apps, telemedicine, and wearable devices. Diagnostic at-home technologies are using real-time data to deliver consistent care, as well as chatbots that sort and manage digital patient queries. And while we are far from seeing artificial intelligence (AI) used to its full potential in healthcare, recent NIST guidance flagged how AI could be used to speed up radiotherapy treatments and overall clinical workflows. These technologies have the potential to ensure bespoke, connected treatment solutions. When clinicians can uncover the most effective course of care, they can personalise the process to the individual, from diagnosis to treatment.

The knock-on effects for employees

The major benefit of patient-centric, automated care is that it makes access to treatment easier for those who need it most. But patient-centric processes, in turn, impact healthcare workers. Automation lightens the load of repetitive tasks for healthcare professionals, giving them more time to focus on offering uniquely human interactions, care, guidance, and alleviating some of their daily stresses. 

Patient-centric solutions also support stronger decision-making across the care continuum, from using live health data to predict and recognise trends to helping identify treatment options sooner. The potential here is huge – with better educated patients, a greater coordination of care, and the ability to get a more accurate diagnoses, the sector will see dramatically reduced waiting times and more empowered staff. The implementation of automation and AI can also give healthcare providers the ability to anticipate and replicate real-world scenarios, understand vast amounts of data, and therefore support compliance with safety and ethical standards.

The NHS’ next step?

While the NHS has historically struggled to keep its innovations at pace with changing patient demands, the news that it has given the go ahead to digital prescriptions is a big step forward in the patient-centric digitalisation of the health sector. This is already having a positive impact on patients and employees alike, with every digital order fulfilled saving a GP three minutes. The government also announced last year that it would be investing £21 million in rolling out AI in the NHS, where it will play a fundamental role in generating synthetic data to give the industry a way of expanding use cases without putting sensitive patient data at risk.

In an industry as sensitive and people focused as healthcare, striking the balance between digitalisation and human expertise is critical. The implementation of AI and automation is first and foremost an investment in people and their experience, so the process should be approached in a way that doesn’t compromise the best interests of either patients or workers. This means patients and staff should always be the driving force behind solution design and implementation, and organisations need a full understanding of how AI tools work in conjunction with human capabilities. This way, staff feel fully empowered to treat patients to the best of their technical ability, but they’re also afforded the time to deliver the compassion and care that patient wellbeing hinges on. Ultimately, a human-in-the-loop approach is the only way to implement AI and connectivity solutions that will truly relieve the mounting pressure on healthcare staff and the industry as whole.