Why Do I Want to Improve Healthcare?

The above image shows the rise in healthcare costs (black line), numbers of doctors (yellow), and numbers of administrators (blue). We haven’t got healthcare delivery right.

Since healthcare has become more complex, using experts for the non-clinical areas makes perfect sense. However, logical reductions in cost to an accountant – who sees isolated transactions – can be illogical to a clinician, who sees the end-to-end care process.

How do we utilise the unique skill sets of both groups? Modernising processes and relationships are essential to improve healthcare – it is a complex team process.

There is a need for more reliable practices, significant collaborations and active management to enhance the healthcare experience for patients, staff and clinicians. Why? This is the ‘glue’ that binds healthcare pathways – we are all interdependent, meaning we can’t change one component and not expect it to impact others.

In the business world, successful companies take care of their customers – in healthcare, it is not any different. However, we traditionally focus more on surgery and medications, and less on the processes that support these.

Patients not only deserve a more enjoyable customer experience, but healthcare workers also do too – and this drives down risk and cost through better engagement and resultant efficiency. This innovation is possible if both the clinical and business sides of healthcare become effectively integrated for better user experiences.