Technology has the potential to improve care delivery and patient outcomes while reducing costs. However, a variety of barriers, including lack of understanding of technology's potential benefits, little collaboration between providers and technology developers and regulatory restrictions, have limited the widespread adoption of health technologies, according to a new report from The Commonwealth Fund.
To overcome these barriers, the report suggests the following five ways to bring technology more fully into the nation's healthcare system:
1. Define opportunities. Technology developers need to know how technology could be used to improve healthcare. Educational resources, like Startup Health's online curriculum, could help point developers in the right direction. Additionally, payers and providers could come together to offer incentives for the development of technology that fixes an identified problem.
2. Close knowledge gaps. In contrast to exposing technology developers to known problems, creating opportunities for exploration and collaboration between technology companies and providers could help spark innovation and partnerships that may not have otherwise occurred. Hackathons are an example of this type of opportunity.
3. Use dedicated test beds to evaluate new technologies. Test beds can help providers evaluate new technology in a controlled environment, allowing for a more robust analysis of potential benefits. UCSF and Boston Children's Hospital are examples of organizations with dedicated testing areas.
4. Enable consumer-centric technologies. Developers must consider the needs of patients when developing consumer-facing solutions, especially how those needs range by age, condition, resources and other factors. Having tailored solutions could help increase adoption and allow the technology to achieve its intended benefit.
5. Foster industrywide adoption. New technology must be integrated widely across the healthcare industry for its effects to be felt. Historically, large-scale adoption has been limited by a lack of financial incentives for healthcare providers to make care more efficient. However, the advent of accountable care organizations, value-based reimbursement and other landscape shifts is making technology adoption potentially more profitable for providers.
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