"Clarity on Healthcare" study shows a digitization push and culture change in the healthcare industry

KPMG's "Clarity on Healthcare" study underlines that it is not only the Corona crisis that has revealed extreme strengths and weaknesses. Likewise, cost pressures and regulation continue to increase, and the need for digital transformation is evident. This is also evident in a two-part survey conducted by KPMG of 38 leading Swiss healthcare providers in December 2019 and ten CEOs of these institutions in June of this year: while digital transformation is one of the top three issues currently facing healthcare organizations for more than 70 percent of respondents, the need for digital transformation is also evident. Yet only 13 percent of respondents in December 2019 considered themselves "very well" prepared for digital transformation. More than half of the healthcare providers surveyed said they were only "satisfactorily" or "poorly" prepared for digitalization.

Patient safety and communication as main drivers

The December survey showed that healthcare providers see patient safety and improved communication with upstream and downstream providers as the most important drivers of digitalization in healthcare. All of the institutions surveyed agreed that these factors were critical to digital transformation. Clinics also cited improving patient experience and satisfaction (97%) and reducing costs (94%) as the most important reasons for digitization. With 90% agreement, the institutions surveyed also rated reducing the shortage of skilled workers through digital measures and improving employee satisfaction as important drivers for their digitization initiatives.

Complexity and lack of resources are the biggest obstacles

Although providers have recognized the need for digital transformation, implementing this transformation is a complex process that faces numerous obstacles. Last December, the biggest hurdles identified by the care providers surveyed were the complexity of the IT landscape (100%), the lack of resources (94%) and the availability of IT specialists (87%). A large majority of service providers also considered the reluctance to make radical decisions (81%) and the defence of existing structures and processes (77%) to be obstacles on the path to digital transformation.

The last two hurdles in particular, which are primarily located in the organizational culture, have become smaller as a result of the Corona crisis. This is because it has once again underscored the urgency of a digital transformation in healthcare. According to 7 out of 10 CEOs surveyed, the externally driven changes have brought about a cultural shift among employees and enabled developments that were previously unthinkable. These include virtual forms of interaction within the organization, but also with patients. At the same time, 8 out of 10 CEOs noted that decisions were made quickly and without complications in order to accelerate digitalization.

In addition, 9 of the 10 CEOs surveyed said that they had been able to overcome obstacles in the treatment process thanks to external pressure as a result of the Corona crisis. This has massively accelerated the use of mobile and digital health solutions, for example. "Medical processes have experienced a real digitalization boost," explains Marc-André Giger, Sector Head Public Administration at KPMG. Telemedicine in particular has become significantly more important for all respondents and is now standard. In addition, individual service providers are identifying new strategic business areas in the wake of the corona crisis; for example, an offer in the area of rehabilitation via video or physiotherapy via app.

Investment focus on ERP and hospital information systems

The service providers surveyed see the greatest potential for optimisation in the admission and allocation of patients and in the treatment itself. In order to exploit this optimization potential, investments in digitalization are necessary. The focus of the service providers is on so-called workflow tools, which are already widely used today. For example, 91% of the hospitals surveyed stated that they intend to invest in ERP and hospital information systems. Investments in cloud solutions are also at the top of the priority list for 41% of care providers. Artificial intelligence and blockchain technology are still considered less important by healthcare providers: Only 12 and 6% respectively stated that they intend to invest in these technologies.

Cooperation as a decisive success factor

However, overcoming the above obstacles requires not only investment in IT infrastructure, but also a willingness on the part of the players to cooperate in order to exploit synergies. "We find that the willingness to cooperate with other institutions is already very high," explains Marc-André Giger. Around three quarters of the clinics surveyed fully or somewhat agreed to consider cooperation. The willingness to cooperate is particularly high among the psychiatric clinics surveyed (83%), while it is considerably lower among the rehabilitation clinics surveyed (60%). 75% of all acute hospitals stated that they would fully or rather consider cooperation. In the eyes of the expert, cooperation between different stakeholders is the order of the day in the healthcare industry: In many places, the known internal cost potentials have already been exhausted, which calls for innovative solutions. At the same time, a seamless connection of several treatment stations across several service providers increases patient satisfaction and safety. The choice of the appropriate form of cooperation is crucial for success.