ViVE, the premier event for digital health executives, was held from 26th to 29th March 2023 in Nashville. It brought together the top minds of the healthcare industry to discuss the challenges and opportunities in the rapidly evolving healthcare space.
Discussions at ViVE 2023 addressed workforce issues like staffing and provider shortages, security, revenue cycle development, and business automation. Telehealth, remote patient monitoring, digital health tools, AI, and solutions specifically designed to help nurses also remained key focus areas.
Here’s a rundown of everything healthcare leaders discussed during the event:
ViVE 2023: Key Discussions and Takeaways
Hospitals and health systems are seeking quick ROI from digital investments
Given the current economic difficulties and a potential recession, health systems are looking for quick ROI on their digital health efforts. The goal is to ensure that digital solutions are financially viable and can increase workforce productivity and retention in the short term.
With razor-thin margins becoming the new normal, healthcare providers are looking for partnerships that can show positive gains within a year. Providers emphasised they cannot afford to wait too long to see if their investments are going to pay off and are refining their approach towards digital health tools.
Importance of cybersecurity and surge in ransomware attacks
With an increasing amount of health data being generated, the healthcare industry is seeing a surge in cyberattacks, particularly ransomware and phishing attacks.
Salwa Rafee, Global Managing Director at Accenture, highlighted that these cyberattacks not only exploit hospital systems and damage reputation but also come with compliance mandates, fines, lawsuits, and most importantly, threaten patient safety. She says health systems and hospitals are behind other industries in terms of cybersecurity. They need to follow basic cyber hygiene and partner with other systems to bolster defence against cyberattacks.
Microsoft executives Vasu Jakkal and David Rhew agreed and emphasised the vulnerability of the healthcare industry recommending a ‘zero trust’ mindset. They introduced Microsoft Security Copilot, an AI-powered product to boost cybersecurity.
Experts at ViVE 2023 encouraged healthcare leaders to work together to improve cybersecurity, emphasising its $10.5 trillion economic impact by 2025. They also discussed the shortage of data privacy and security experts faced by healthcare organisations, suggesting recruiting outsiders—experts from other industries—and training and upskilling them to be effective in healthcare.
Economic headwinds slow down investments in the health tech space
Digital health startups and health systems are dealing with the worst funding environment in five years. Experts at ViVE 2023 attribute this sudden slowdown in investments to:
- Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse
- Investors over the FOMO in healthcare
- VCs adopting patience amid current market conditions
Read the complete article here.
The growing need for digital solutions for children
ViVE 2023 panellists discussed the inequality in children’s health investments, particularly highlighted by the tripledemic and mental health crisis. Children’s health and related investments claim only 1% of all investments in digital health, showing the lack of financial support from federal programs and health tech investors.
Experts pointed out the need for broader investments in paediatric health and well-being, including preventative services and interventions for behavioural health, obesity, and hypertension. They also discussed the challenges in integrating various internal or external data sources and obtaining data-sharing consent from parents.
Importance of digital transformation and innovation in healthcare
Experts at ViVE 2023 delved into the pressing need for digital transformation and innovation in healthcare. Legacy systems, culture, and lack of accessible data pose significant challenges to evolution, and industry experts advocate for increased collaboration, culture change, and relationships with startups to accelerate innovation.
They emphasised the importance of catering to patient demands of digital-first experiences, partnerships, and IT involvement in technology implementations. The key lies in adopting a proactive approach to meet the changing demands of the industry.
Staffing shortages and impact of digital transformation on CIO and nursing roles.
ViVE 2023 panellists touched ground on workforce shortages in healthcare. They discussed how these are still a major concern for healthcare leaders and how they can incorporate AI and digital tools to combat shortages and avoid burnout of existing staff.
Experts also explored how the rapid adoption of digital technology in healthcare is changing Chief Information Officer (CIO) and nursing roles.
The role of the CIO is evolving from being someone focused on maintaining technology to a person who is involved in innovation, recruits digital natives and engages with clinicians. And nurses need to be prepared to work with new technologies while providing patient care.
While there is a shortage of registered nurses, the importance of clinical informaticians is increasing. Experts say it’s important to have clinical voices partner with technology in healthcare.
ChatGPT’s potential and its impact on healthcare
The potential of generative AI applications like ChatGPT and GPT-4 in healthcare has generated excitement and fear. While some experts believe that large language AI models from ChatGPT developer OpenAI are light years ahead of other healthcare automation tools, others warn about perpetuating health equity and quality issues.
Parting words
ViVE 2023 provided valuable insights and discussions on the challenges and opportunities in the digital health industry. The event showcased the importance of innovation, collaboration, and investment in transforming healthcare systems to provide patient-centric care and achieve health equity.
However, ViVE 2023 was not about new product launches or major mergers but about the anticipation of better times. Vendors are waiting for the economy to improve, providers want labour costs to stabilise, and investors are waiting for companies to gain more traction.
