What will the hospital of the future look like?

What will the hospital of the future be like? According to experts, the digitalised hospital of the future will have a clinical command centre as a key feature. The command centre functions like an air traffic control system for patients by collecting real-time data using wearable sensors to identify patients at risk for complications and help clinicians make quicker decisions.

A group of 33 experts from all over the world have unveiled their vision for digitalised hospitals in the next decade based on specific use cases. Their input is outlined in a report released by consulting firm Deloitte.

Actually, clinical command centres are not exactly a new concept. This type of command centre has been in operation at the Cleveland Clinic over the last three years, the experts note. The command centre, which uses data analytics, enables Cleveland Clinic's physicians and critical care nurses to monitor vital signs in the ICU on a digital wall with a color-coded risk status. Other large hospitals, like Johns Hopkins, have rolled out their own command centre.

Moreover, the report predicts that the “long-elusive goal of EHRs [electronic health records] populated by interoperable data from different sources will likely be a reality in the hospital of the future.” With a growing need to incorporate real-time social, genetic and behavioural data into patient care decisions, hospitals will transition EHRs to the cloud and incorporate cognitive analytics to sift through massive data sets.

Exactly how that will happen is still up in the air. According to research published recently, less than one-third of hospitals are fully interoperable, and most struggle to integrate data from other sources.

The U.S. Office of the National Coordinator has pegged interoperability as one of its primary near-term priorities, and analysts say analytics companies will be forced to manage a wider variety of data sources in the near future. However, some companies are more prepared than others to take on that task.

Source: FierceHealthcare
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