The ECRI Institute published the 2017 edition of "Top 10 Hospital C-suite Watch List" Monday, featuring evidence-based perspectives on technologies and critical technology use issues that will affect care delivery in the coming months.
"As new technologies come and go, ECRI remains steadfast in its mission to keep healthcare leaders' technology decisions tethered to their patients' needs while keeping an eye trained on evidence-based research," said Diane Robertson, director of the health technology assessment information service with ECRI Institute.
ECRI Institute used its nearly 50 years of experience evaluating and providing assistance on health technologies to craft this list.
The following are ECRI Institute's 10 topics that are bound to affect care delivery in the next year.
1. Liquid biopsies: Are these tests the future of genetic testing?
2. Opioid addiction: Can technology predict the risks of addiction and relapse?
3. Presurgery preparation programs: Can using web-based risk-assessment algorithms and patient coaching improve outcomes and costs of some surgeries?
4. Right-sizing hospitals: Is it time to rethink purchasing and implementation practices?
5. Lights as disinfectants: Will compact deep ultraviolet-C LEDs lower infection rates?
6. Artificial intelligence: Does Pepper, the world's first humanoid robot, deserve a spot on hospitals' payrolls?
7. Robotic surgery: Can a new patient-repositioning table improve workflow and outcomes for robotic surgery cases?
8. Endoscopy technology: Is indocyanine green fluorescence imaging worth the investment?
9. Crohn's disease: Can immunotherapy and stem cell therapy help patients?
10. Diabetes: Will novel vaccines be able to prevent or cure Type 1 diabetes in the future?
"Navigating new technologies is one of the biggest challenges we hear about from hospital leaders," said Robert Maliff, director of ECRI Institute's applied solutions group. "They simply can't afford to miss the mark on which clinical advancements to bring in to improve patient care."