It’s that time of year when prognosticators and futurists compile a top 10 list for the coming year. This blog focuses on healthcare writ large and healthcare IT (HIT) where overlaps are common.  Given the increasing complexity of this shared environment, this top 10 list grew to 16.  This is part 1 – topics 1 through 8.  Part 2 – topics 9 through 16 – will be published in 2 weeks.  Please join me in welcoming 2025 with a call to action in our wonderfully challenging and opportunity rich healthcare environment.

1. Encourage innovation in nominal processes. Challenge the status quo, respectfully.  Rely upon the wisdom of the people closest to where the productive work occurs.  All healthcare professionals know how innovative users can be after digital solutions are implemented.  Deploy solutions quickly and adjust rapidly.  If you’re exploring outside innovations, remember pragmatism, practicality, and sustainability.  Shiny objects are great and bring the promise of future gains; improving efficiency brings immediate and real gains.
2. Use all forms of analytics to derive knowledge and wisdom and share lessons with your stakeholders and the healthcare community writ large. According to an Arcadia and Harris poll, “nearly all (99%) respondents say that their current health analytics platform is effective, just over half (54%) say their platform is very effective.”  AI (see next item) will provide potential to move the needle on use of analytics.
3. Embrace AI, cautiously.  Every week, there are hundreds of new articles about applied healthcare AI outperforming humans in many areas including medical image review, diagnosing some conditions, curtailing opioid abuse, and identifying cyber threats.  There are, however, critics who understandably want more diligence from AI scientists, insisting on the same level of rigor and scrutiny applied to AI that is required of scientists engaged in traditional streams of clinical research.  Here’s a link to ICT’s report on key findings for AI that impacts all industries.  If nothing else, make sure to hire experienced experts while you’re upskilling your own teams.
4. Address burnout and unhappiness with EHRs and other IT products and services.  “Research by The Upwork Research Institute reveals that 71% of full-time employees are burned out and 65% report struggling with employer demands on their productivity. Meanwhile, 81% of global C-suite leaders acknowledge they have increased demands on workers in the past year.” Poorly implemented HIT will continue to contribute to caregiver burnout if we don’t make changes with a renewed sense of urgency.  Read Atul Gawande’s “Why Doctors Hate Their Computers” in November 12, 2018 issue of the New Yorker.  It should inspire you to action.  If you haven’t read it lately, read it again.
5. Revisit your ERP (enterprise resource planning) solutions. The focus on EHRs was understandable and appropriate, but ERPs have largely been ignored.  There are many reports about the value that can be squeezed from reimplementing old ERPs or installing new ones.
6. Implement and manage practical and pragmatic governance for data, information, and knowledge. The warning signs are everywhere – we’re in the midst of a data tsunami.  We are, however, ill-prepared to harness the energy of the tsunami.  We must more quickly refine data, transform it into useful information and, ultimately, create and share knowledge.  Prepare for the surge.  To generate enthusiasm for governance, 1) create a compelling value proposition, 2) generate organizational will to ensure efforts will persevere, and 3) share your successes early and often.
7. Address the increasingly important Social Determinants of Health (SDOH). The data, though absolutely critical, is but one aspect of SDOH. Make sure your organization can ingest, understand, and use them. It’s the action plans that you develop from understanding the impact of SDOH on your patient that are important and will change lives. Invest in your social services community.  Incorporate community services into patient and family lifeflows.  There are social networks like UniteUs.com and FindHelp.com.
8. Research outsourcing, again.  Many of the skillsets and activities housed in the traditional Data Center have reached commodity status.  Let someone else concentrate on those items so that you can focus on true value-adding products and services.  The digital planning horizon is one of immediacy.  You must bring agility, mobility, flexibility, and digital ability to all your stakeholders.

Our very experienced advisors have a proven track record in provider organizations and many other companies and are comfortable being held accountable.  Our careers were based on taking responsibility for the operational outcomes of our recommendations and decisions.

We’re eager to partner with you to apply this same level of commitment to your organization.  Our goal is to collaborate closely with your teams, helping you design, implement, and support initiatives that shape a better future.  Let us help you transform challenges into opportunities, drive innovation, and create a brighter future for your organization and community.

As a tease, I’ve listed the other 8 topics hoping that you’ll read part 2 in two weeks when it will be published.  The last one, number 8, is the most important one.

Topics for Next Blog

1. Invest in virtual care and “hospitals at home”.
2. Think more about patients and families as consumers.
3. Protect the sacred trust that patients and families have placed with providers.
4. Pay attention to and combat disinformation.
5. Ensure your initiatives and projects are aligned with your organization’s strategy and support your company’s Mission, Vision, and Values. 
6. Collaborate, coordinate, and communicate.
7. Protect the Planet.
8. Do a self-assessment.  Commit to a regular review of your life-work balance.