Transforming Through Data

Healthcare has recently witnessed a monumental shift propelled by the wide-spread adoption and integration of digital technologies. Digital tools and technologies are transforming care delivery to patients and streamlining processes across all care levels and settings. At its core, digital transformation heralds a new era of efficiency, accessibility, and patient-centricity within the healthcare industry.

Digital transformation in healthcare encompasses a myriad of innovations, including electronic health records (EHRs), telemedicine, wearable health devices, ambient sensors, virtual care tools, artificial intelligence (AI), and big data analytics. These technologies collectively empower healthcare providers with real-time access to comprehensive patient data, enabling more accurate diagnosis, personalised treatment plans, and proactive disease management.

Digital transformation is optimising operational workflows, reducing administrative burdens and allowing healthcare professionals to focus more on patient care, enhancing care coordination and collaboration among multidisciplinary teams, enabling predictive analytics and empowering healthcare organisations to anticipate healthcare trends, allocate resources efficiently, and mitigate potential risks. By promoting proactive health management and early intervention, digital technologies contribute to preventive care strategies, ultimately reducing healthcare costs and improving population health outcomes.

In this issue, our contributors explore how healthcare can embrace digital innovations to thrive in an increasingly complex and interconnected world, ultimately leading to better patient care, improved outcomes, and a healthier society.

Prof Luis Marti-Bonmati delivers an overview of the EUropean Federation for CAncer IMages (EUCAIM) initiative to catalyse innovation and adoption of digital technologies in cancer care, and faster and more accurate clinical decision-making, diagnostics, treatment, and predictive medicine for cancer patients.

Rob Havasy from HIMSS delves into how healthcare's transformation hinges on digitalisation, navigating challenges and steps to integrate data, leverage AI, fortify cybersecurity, and enable global data exchange.

Alan Zettelmann and Jose Antonio Cano discuss the need for comprehensive change management, including transparent communication, collaborative culture building, and strategic investments, to realise the full potential of digital transformation and deliver improved patient outcomes and operational efficiencies.

Hugues Brat explores how implementing AI in healthcare must include strategic vision, stakeholder engagement, ROI understanding, regulatory compliance, and scalability planning to fully leverage AI's potential to improve patient care and institutional efficiency.

Thierry Godelle goes into detail on the transformative potential of user-centric digital solutions in healthcare, showcasing how these innovations drive improved patient outcomes, operational efficiency, and accessibility in healthcare delivery and management.

Giovanni Maglio discusses how healthcare innovation in telemedicine in the Apulia Region and how the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) implements interventions to strengthen and innovate the technological and digital structure of the Italian NHS.

Jenny Lewis talks of leveraging the full potential of AI and technology at the NHS and setting out an action plan that maximises benefits for patient care and staff satisfaction while harnessing AI to expedite patient access to care and optimise resource allocation can achieve significant improvements in healthcare delivery.

Prof William Wijns discusses the EU-co-funded RESIL-Card project, which aims to develop a toolkit for resilience assessment to improve preparedness and continuity of cardiovascular care during times of crises.

Susana Alvarez Gómez explores the benefits of value-based procurement on patient care, efficiency, and innovation within the framework of European legal directives and Spanish regulations.

Georgios Filiopoulos talks about the misconceptions and risks of medical tourism and how investors, government officials and healthcare executives should be cautious as healthcare is and will remain a primarily local business.

Felicia Hedetoft, Diego Angelino, and Daniel Eriksson present the NCSH model to empower the global healthcare sector with practical sustainability solutions, facilitate swift, impactful change, and offer a shortcut to implementing best practices and tackling urgent environmental challenges.

We hope you enjoy reading this issue and welcome any feedback.

Happy Reading!