Novelty vs. Legacy

Innovations of today are the legacy of tomorrow

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected nearly every aspect of life and work. One of the its consequences has been the acceleration in numerous processes with innovative approaches to be able to face the cataclysmic rise in resource requirements for critically ill patients. Some examples are the emergence of novel approaches to immunization, or the unprecedented rise in virtual care and telemedicine. Healthcare has to change, and it needs to change not only fast but for the better. And with any change, various gaps and discrepancies are created along the way. Implementation of new technology solutions is hindered by existing legacy systems. New processes imply the necessity to acquire new skills. Long-term investment strategies are overshadowed by more urgent needs. 

In this issue, we explore how healthcare leaders and healthcare providers address these challenges and what approach works best.

Prof Lluís Donoso-Bach, Prof Tienush Rassaf, Miguel Cabrer, Dr María Jesús Díaz Candamio, Dr Elikem Tamaklo and Dr Ursula Mühle share the most challenging experience of introducing something new in their practice. 

Dr Rafael Grossmann talks about the challenges of being a disruptor in healthcare and the prospects of embracing the inevitable progress on the way from ‘sickcare’ to ‘healthcare’. Hans Erik Henriksen talks about innovation and digitalisation in healthcare and how the pandemic has accelerated this process and has provided healthcare systems the opportunity to grab and build on this progress.

Prof Davide Caramella reports the use of a medical app that allows to personalise a digital 3D model of the liver thus highlighting how digitalisation can play an important role in simplifying surgical planning and assisting in the operating theatre. Sameena Conning outlines the strategies of facilitating AI-driven transformation in European healthcare with a new EIT Health Think Tank. 

We also report on the Reset 2021 digital conference, organised by HealthManagement.org with Alexandre Lourenço as the moderator and Prof Davide Caramella, Dr Rafael Grossmann, Christian Hay, John Nosta, Prof Robert Vander Stichele and Dr Rafael Vidal-Perez as panellists.

In the Management Matters section, Dr Ton Hanselaar and Matthijs van der Linde look into the success factors that help bring the VBHC concept to practice. 

Prof Geraldine McGinty provides an overview of the lack of representation of women and other minoritised populations in healthcare and their relative absence from positions of power and leadership. Bari Berger, Geir Arnhoff and Iris Meyenburg-Altwarg explain why management should be interested in competency rather than ‘skills’. 

In the Winning Practices section, Dr Thierry Klein shares an experience of a regional hospital in Belgium introducing a disruptive ‘only once’ approach to deploy a SNOMED CT coded patient summary. 

In conclusion of this editorial, I would like to say that changes are also happening in-house. After several years of my being the HealthManagement.org Editor-in-Chief – IT, I welcome Prof Werner Leodolter, CIO of KAGes and Professor at KFU Graz, as my successor, while I continue to be part of the Editorial board. It has been a truly rewarding collaboration with a fantastic, enthusiastic and engaged team and I wish Prof Leodolter all the best in this new capacity.

We hope you will enjoy this issue. As always, your feedback is welcome.

Happy Reading!