Healthcare executives continue to prioritize digital, artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics transformation, yet 75% of executives lack sufficient resources or plans in this area.
This was a key finding of a recent McKinsey & Company research report, which explained that executives' investment priorities often do not align with the areas they believe can have the greatest impact.
For example, while 88% of respondents believe AI could have a significant impact on their organization, about 20% said they have no plans to invest in AI in the next two years. Without investment in robust, modern data and analytics platforms, the authors say, there could be delays in producing assessments in areas that rely on these capabilities, such as efforts to close gaps in care, improve timely access to referrals, and optimize operating room throughput.
Not surprisingly, budget constraints were cited by more than half of respondents (51%) as one of the top three main obstacles to making large-scale investments across all digital and AI categories of interest. Challenges with legacy systems were the second most common challenge. Other top-ranked challenges included data quality (33%), technical talent and recruiting (30%), and being ready to adopt and scale new technologies (34%).
Four lessons learned from the survey
The report says that delivering digital value to healthcare providers requires investment and new ways of working. Here are some suggestions for ways hospitals and health systems can respond:
1 | Build partnerships.
Joint ventures and partnerships can be promising avenues to create new capabilities, improve speed to market, and achieve capital, scale and operational efficiencies.
2 | Go beyond out-of-the-box solutions.
History has shown that technologies like electronic health records (EHRs) don't deliver value when deployed on top of inefficient processes and clinical workflows. To get value from health IT systems, clinical workflows and care models must be rethought and standardized across the organization.
For example, optimizing workflows to allow for better delegation could result in pure time savings of 15% to 30% over a 12-hour shift, which could potentially eliminate a nursing workforce shortage of 300,000 inpatient nurses, according to a 2023 McKinsey analysis.
3 | Operate in a different way.
This involves fundamental changes in structure (flatter, empowered, cross-functional teams), people (new skill sets and fully dedicated teams), and technology (modular architectures, cloud-based data systems, reduced reliance on monolithic EHRs). These changes have seen some health systems begin to see value within six months. Building a digital culture will drive successful transformation over time.
4 | Implement generative AI thoughtfully.
The technology has the potential to impact everything from continuity of care and clinical operations to contracts and corporate functions. Yet many executives and patients are concerned about AI risks, especially when it comes to patient care and privacy. Managing these risks requires business-minded legal and risk management teams to sit side-by-side with AI and data science teams. Organizations can also implement well-informed risk prioritization strategies.
