IT execs talk priorities and predictions for 2022

Patient and provider experiences have to be top-of-mind in the year ahead, with special attention to stressed hospital workers and underserved populations, healthcare vendor leaders say.

Technology is never a panacea, but tools and strategies are emerging and evolving to meet some of these challenges, and to help build a brighter future – one of more robust interoperability, renewed attention to social determinants of health, and carefully deployed telehealth and remote monitoring programs, to name just a few imperatives. That starts, he explained, by "giving clinicians the necessary supplies and resources to provide care that helps them better manage stress levels, tackling clinician patient loads by incentivizing new professionals to join the industry, and providing easy-to-use technology at the point of care that surfaces the right patient data and insights." Meanwhile, as care continues its expansion beyond the four walls, "family inclusion in the patient’s healthcare experience will be top of mind as patients move into hospital at home scenarios," said Collins. In the coming year, we’ll see more positive metrics from early adopters optimizing their programs, and in turn acute care at home will continue to be expanded to more conditions, patients and healthcare organizations. "