EBME
HealthTech: a lever for delivering new paradigms
Through the smarter use of emerging technologies, healthcare providers will be able to move services from generalised to personalised care delivery. Dr. John Sandham, Chair of EBME, discusses the implications for EBME departments of new technology acquisition, and how to implement an effective health technology plan.
I have been saying for many years that healthcare organisations need to adopt managed strategies for buying, using, maintaining, and replacing their healthcare technology. I recently reviewed an organisation’s five-year business strategy. It covered the following goals:
1. Learn to improve – a consultative process with clinical staff.
2. New treatments and clinical pathways. 3. A digital network to improve operational systems.
4. A workforce able to support future care models.
5. Ensure users can access excellent treatment sustainably, and at scale, reducing waste and inefficiencies.
How to implement a Healthcare Technology Plan? To enable delivery of these long-term operational goals requires not only the executive business plan, but also a successful investment plan detailing the associated healthcare technology required, the strategy for acquiring it, and why it is needed (see Fig 1). Future clinical activities are inextricably linked to technology. Simply put, old technology means a less efficient organisation. Ask any commercial manufacturer
what makes them efficient – the answer is always maintaining a focus on updating and implementing the latest technology. Unfortunately, public satisfaction with health
and care services is at record lows. In England, NHS Integrated Care Boards and Trusts will start reporting against new productivity measures from the second half of 2024/25. In the Spring 2024 budget (the last budget before the general election), the following announcements were made in an effort to improve public opinion:1 l £3.4 billion long-term capital investment over three years (from 2025/26) to: l Upgrade medical equipment such as MRI scanners.
l Roll out electronic patient record systems.
l Reduce the time NHS staff spend on administration.
l £2.45 billion of additional resource (day-to- day) funding for 2024/25 for the NHS.
l £45 million of additional funding for medical research charities in the life sciences sector.
A longer-living population, the emergence of transformative technologies with applications across the healthcare spectrum, and continued global economic uncertainty are the key societal drivers that will impact healthcare in 2024.
Currently, the 10 biggest trends
revolutionising healthcare are:2 1. Generative AI in healthcare - making it easier to implement and interpret results.
2. Personalised medicine - the creation of tailored treatment plans for individual patients.
3. Virtual healthcare assistants - chatbots providing clinical advice.
4. Digital twins – virtual simulations to understand the effects of treatment.
5. IoT-powered virtual hospitals and telemedicine 2.0 - holistic remote patient care.
6. Preventative healthcare - exercise, wellness, and immunisations.
7. Virtual and augmented reality in healthcare. 8. Elderly care - enable the elderly to remain in their own homes for longer.
9. 3D printing - from implements to organs. 10. Convergence of mental and physical healthcare delivery - mental health impacts recovery.
So, why is it so difficult to develop a long-term plan that includes this revolutionary technology? The Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory
Agency (MHRA) requires: Healthcare organisations should appoint
a director or board member with overall responsibility for medical device management. There should be systems in place to ensure
reporting of device issues including: l The effectiveness of the medical devices management system.
l The condition and performance of medical devices including device failures and issues; utilisation, performance, maintenance; repair and calibration history.
l The execution of investment, replacement and disposal plans.
The management structure for medical devices should have clear lines of accountability up to board level. These lines of accountability
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