In the rapidly evolving landscape of healthcare technology, 2024 is poised to be a pivotal year marked by significant advancements in artificial intelligence integration, heightened focus on cybersecurity and a renewed commitment to enhancing patient engagement.
Here are six trends CIOs are looking out for in 2024:
- Artificial intelligence: Hospitals and health systems have increasingly turned to AI to streamline clinical decision support in radiology and improve efficiency in clinical documentation and administrative tasks. IT executives are anticipating 2024 to be the year of widespread AI integration as organizations seek to optimize workflows and provide healthcare providers with more valuable time for patient care. With AI proving its efficacy in radiology and clinical documentation, healthcare institutions are recognizing the need to establish robust AI regulation and governance frameworks. The year ahead is expected to witness a surge in regulatory mandates and legal actions surrounding AI, prompting hospitals to proactively structure their governance to align with evolving standards. The HHS and White House have already taken the lead by releasing principles to guide the responsible use of AI in the healthcare industry.
- Cybersecurity: According to HHS, the frequency of cyber incidents in the healthcare sector has surged, showing a 93% rise in significant breaches reported to the Office for Civil Rights from 2018 to 2022. The rise in incidents is causing CIOs to want to increase their investment in cybersecurity as ransomware attacks get more frequent and more sophisticated. For example, ransomware gangs have been taking responsibility for multiple attacks on health systems this year, including an attack on Seattle-based Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Oceanside, Calif.-based Tri-City Medical Center, and Allentown, Pa.-based Lehigh Valley Health Network.
Additionally, 2023 saw the rise in third-party breaches. According to the Department of Health and Human Services' HIPAA breach reporting website, half of the 10 largest healthcare-related data breaches reported this year were caused by vendors or business associates.The threat of third-party breaches in healthcare is vital for CIOs to address because of the sensitive nature of patient data, the need for regulatory compliance, potential reputation damage, the importance of operational continuity, financial implications and the complexity of the vendor landscape. In 2024, CIOs are prioritizing proactive measures, such as robust vendor risk management and cybersecurity strategies, to ensure they can safeguard patient information and maintain the integrity of their healthcare systems. - Optimizing the EHR: Electronic health record documentation is a task that many CIOs told Becker's can be daunting for their staff. This is why many healthcare organizations have been looking to use technology to solve this issue. For example, UC San Diego Health, Madison Wis.-based UW Health and Palo Alto, Calif.-based Stanford Health Care are among healthcare organizations that have begun testing the use of generative AI in its EHR systems that can asynchronously draft responses to patient messages for providers.
Similarly, Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare has been conducting pilots with Google's healthcare-based AI tools. The pilot uses the tech company's Augmedix platform, powered by natural language processing and Google Cloud's MedLM on Vertex AI, to transform clinician-patient interactions into medical notes.
Additionally, many hospitals and health systems have been moving to consolidate their disparate EHRs into one system this year and next. This comes as a result of organizations looking to have one integrated platform where their staff can go — making care delivery a much more seamless experience.
This trend is expected to gain momentum as healthcare organizations continue to explore innovative ways to relieve their staff of administrative burdens and enhance overall operational efficiency.
- Patient engagement: In 2024, healthcare systems are set to revisit and refine the first generation of patient engagement tools implemented during the pandemic. The focus will be on seeking new and improved methods to better meet the diverse needs of the patients they serve. The evolving landscape of patient engagement technology is anticipated to play a crucial role in enhancing the overall healthcare experience for individuals.
- Innovation at the forefront: In the midst of ongoing financial challenges confronting hospitals and health systems, healthcare executives are exploring the potential for these obstacles to serve as catalysts for new opportunities in innovation. Notably, healthcare organizations are examining the role of innovation in discovering methods to achieve tasks with greater speed, cost-effectiveness, efficiency and agility.
- Changing responsibilities: More CIOs have been adding "digital officer" to their titles as organizations look to create one role that oversees the division of digital, analytics and IT. This shift is happening as IT executives told Becker's having separate roles could lead these initiatives to be confusing and possibly diminish organizational focus. Additionally, CIOs are tasked with being more financially savvy than ever as software prices continue to rise. With escalating expenses, this presents a notable hurdle for hospitals and their IT departments. Consequently, CIOs are being assigned the responsibility of devising and implementing strategies to efficiently alleviate these costs.