HEALTHCARE IT


with ‘time to help’ to the construction project as the IT ‘lift’ was a relatively straightforward endeavour with only a cabled network, phones, printers, and a few dozen PCs.


Healthcare technology evolution, now Fast forward to 2025, and we are in a different world. Today, patient care heavily relies on electronic health records (EHRs), mobile tech, and Internet of Things (IoT) tools.3


A patient does not get medication


or even a meal tray without technologies that IT/IS implements, integrates, and supports. Central Sterile and the Sterile Processing Department (SPD) equipment ride a network for automated cleaning, maintenance, and audit tracking. Remember that nurse call scenario back- and-forth I described from the nineties? Now, with integrated nurse call systems, patients can simply tap a screen to request help and choose from a menu of specific needs. This not only accelerates response times but also empowers caregivers to practice at the top of their license, ensuring each patient receives the right level of care at the right time. Instead of yelling down corridors, a mobile device rings in the nurse’s pocket, directly connecting them to the patient and letting them know help is on the way. Today’s healthcare facilities must also


support robust telehealth infrastructures. This technology allows patients to access quality care regardless of their location, a capability that has become standard in modern healthcare delivery.4


Modern


healthcare facilities require the integration of technologies such as real-time location systems (RTLS), automated patient room controls, and smart parking.3,5


These


systems enhance patient safety, optimise clinical workflows, and improve overall patient and clinician experience and operational efficiency.


Today – and this is important to absorb – not a single department in a hospital does not have some specific support, application, or functionality provided by IT. Not one. In fact, some are operationally reliant on IT. Think about it. In addition to the EHR, patient care and clinical systems like lab, pharmacy, OR, and ED, other departments such as the gift shop, nutritional services, procurement and supply chain, facilities, HR, payroll, billing accounts receivable, and others are provided by and reliant on IT. All these various systems must be researched for re-design, re-build, re-test, re-deployment, and re-integration for use in the newly constructed hospital – before the first patient day.


Healthcare technology department Like the technological capabilities and services explosion described, particularly in the last decade, the healthcare system and hospital IT/IS departments have themselves grown and evolved exponentially. A system or hospital IT/IS department is now highly specialised, extremely busy, and typically struggles to prioritise and keep up with demands from administrations, regulatory agencies, customer requests, and consumer expectations. What was once an IT/IS department with a dozen or so FTEs has evolved into one with FTE counts in the hundreds. And most IT/IS team members report feeling understaffed and overworked.6


Unfortunately, due to this


precise specialisation and growth, IT/IS departments are deeply siloed, reminiscent of their healthcare counterparts. It is common for IT/IS team members only to have a high-level understanding of the other IT/IS team’s expertise or functions within the larger department. The IT/IS department is viewed


Change is hard, even when the benefits are clear


favourably by most organisations. Still, as they look ahead, many (60 per cent) chief information officers and chief information and digital officers (CIOs or CIDOS) acknowledge their structure needs to be ‘modernised’ to create a more flexible team-centric IT model.7


To that end,


companies are already looking to or are actively implementing an IT/IS department shift away from a conventional model to an integrated digital IT operating model. This model can realise greater process efficiencies, often through the elimination of redundant roles and initiatives, and they can deliver products and services to customers more quickly.8


This transition will be a


momentous lift and ongoing change management distraction for the IT/IS department, which will have to endure all the while working at an already reported ‘demands over capacity’ rate.


Healthcare technology convergence The health industry is undergoing a period of accelerated transformation and modernisation due to advances in technology, access to data, and collaboration in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. A convergence has emerged – an industry evolution grounded in the integration of various stakeholders, technologies, and processes to expand capabilities and create a seamlessly connected ecosystem.9


A few real-world


examples of this convergence are: l Some medical equipment rides IT/IS- owned networks and is interfaced with IT/IS-supported patient-facing applications, like the EHR.


l Building access and control technology, historically owned by the facilities department and vendor-managed, is now considered IT/IS-supported due to its added complexity and integration with other systems, such as the ERP.


Emerging healthcare technologies What about things we cannot even envision today? Emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), digitalisation, blockchain, data bricks, healthcare virtualisation, patient engagement systems, new data sources, and data interoperability standards are revolutionising healthcare.10,11 These technologies are likely a key component to resolving critical issues plaguing today’s healthcare environment by supporting seamless patient care coordination, enhancing patient experiences, and eliminating unnecessary suffering. These initiatives are already part


IFHE DIGEST 2025 31


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