Belden's Top 3 Digital Transformation Tips for the Healthcare Industry

The Healthcare industry has undergone a significant amount of changes in the past few years, disrupting and challenging previously established business strategies. Staff satisfaction, patient experiences, and overall efficiency have become top priorities for hospitals and medical facilities across the nation. As industry standards continue to evolve, digital transformation becomes more of a necessity than just a buzzword.

Continue reading below with our trusted partner Belden as we cover their top 3 imperatives for digital transformation in today's Healthcare marketplace, so that your facility, no matter the size or scope, can reliably support and empower staff, patients, and guests.

1. Staff Need Support and Better Work Environments

Patients often wait for hours to see an emergency room doctor, which explains the frustration expressed by nearly 40% of patients today. Staff shortage is the primary cause of long waits, with a significant shortfall in registered nurses and physicians predicted over the next decade. This shortage not only impacts patient care, but also contributes to low employee satisfaction in the Healthcare industry.

Benefits of integrated Healthcare technologies include: 

• Automated tasks and workflows

• Remote patient monitoring

• Clinicians can be freed from repetitive tasks

• Workers can connect to vital information faster

• Data-driven insights generate faster, more informed decision-making

To address staff shortages and support overworked employees, hospital administrators must turn to healthcare technology to streamline processes and reduce workload. Simplifying and streamlining doctors and nurses' tasks boosts employee satisfaction levels, which can in turn improve the patient experience.

2. Patients Demand Better Experiences and Care

Modern patients expect comfortable, hotel-like healthcare facilities with food options and Wi-Fi connectivity both available. Increasingly more people expect same day test results —sometimes even before they leave their medical facility.

These expectations, however, are not typically met in reality; according to the Latest Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, U.S. states are providing significantly worse healthcare experiences compared to just two years ago.

This evaluation is based on five consumer-reported metrics:

• Nurse communication

• Doctor communication

• Staff responsiveness

• Communication about medicine

• Discharge information

Improvement in these areas often requires integrated healthcare technology, such as tools for patient-clinician communication and tech-enabled spaces for patient control during their stay.

3. Healthcare Facilities Must Be Optimized for Efficiency

Efficient hospital operations play a pivotal role in ensuring patient safety and enhancing staff productivity. When inventory control is lacking, it can result in errors, shortages of supplies, and increased expenses that directly affect patient care. By addressing inventory challenges, valuable time is saved for staff to dedicate to patient needs. Moreover, the annual loss or theft of 10-20% of hospital assets amounts to millions, impacting response times, procedures, and the overall integrity of data within the healthcare facility.

Facilities that integrate healthcare technology can:

• Enhance resource utilization

• Improve safety and security

• Ensure compliance with regulations

• Reduce energy use

• Enable preventive and predictive maintenance

The Rise of Cybersecurity: Network Segmentation and Threat Isolation

To safeguard against cyber threats in healthcare networks, proactive monitoring and prevention strategies like Network Access Control (NAC) are crucial. NAC software, such as macmon from Belden, identifies and segregates critical devices, ensuring secure access for clinical staff while isolating unauthorized users to reduce security risks.

Accu-Tech and Belden Can Help You Deliver on Healthcare Objectives

Belden’s Customer Innovation Centers (CICs) are here to help you understand how to deploy high-quality data acquisition, transmission, orchestration, and management solutions that enable efficient and effective care, optimize lean staff resources, and create safe and productive environments. The team of healthcare technology experts at Belden's Enhanced Patient Experience Showcase can also show you how hospitals of the future will function and offer new ideas to help you enhance patient experiences, boost staff satisfaction, and optimize facility efficiency.

Contact an Accu-Tech Representative to start your Healthcare project today, and to learn more about how Belden solutions can improve your facility.