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Solutions for a sustainable healthcare sector

An aging population, empowered patients, severe budget cuts, an exponential increase in data volume, ever more stringent government regulations… These are only a few of the challenges our medical institutions are facing today. If we want to preserve (and improve) the quality of healthcare going forward, a shift is in order. A shift towards better insights and thus better decisions and outcomes – for patients as well as hospitals.

The key challenges in healthcare

 

  • An aging patient population: as the population ages, the amount of people in need of medical care increases. But will there be enough resources and healthcare professionals to take care of them?

  • Increasingly empowered patients and doctors: digitization has made people more aware of their own health, and results in a growing demand for deeper insights and guidance from healthcare professionals. Physicians are also asking for digital solutions to keep track of their patients’ health and gain new insights.

  • The data revolution: thanks to new medical technologies, the amount of data in hospitals is increasing exponentially. To unlock its full potential, however, the data has to be interpreted in meaningful ways.

  • Hospital networks: hospitals are no longer islands and need to be able to work together with other hospitals and healthcare institutions to broaden their expertise, improve and further specialize their medical offering, and benefit from economies of scale.

  • Doing more with less: Just like many other sectors, the healthcare industry has to find a way to control costs while increasing the quality of care, for example by reducing false positives and providing preventive and proactive treatments. Continuous innovation will be a prerequisite to tackle this challenge.

Contact our healthcare experts

Sustainable healthcare requires a shift towards better insights – and thus better decisions.

Moving towards sustainable healthcare

Tackling these challenges requires a threefold approach, focusing on:

  1. The patient journey: how can we put the patient at the center of the healthcare experience using digital and other solutions, and improve outcomes? This is a critical prerequisite for the healthcare industry moving forward, with major advantages for your hospital’s reputation.
The patient journey

  1. ERP excellence: to optimize processes and reduce costs, a solid base is essential. Having a single platform for your finance, logistics, warehousing, facility, HR and other departments and processes is an absolute must. What’s more, by organizing your back office efficiently, you are paving the way for a smoother workflow and creating the conditions needed to interact with other healthcare institutions as well.

     

  2. Data analytics: by unlocking the power of data, hospitals can improve their own processes and compliance, significantly reduce costs and drive even better patient outcomes. One platform, a single source of truth, continuous performance monitoring and data exploitation and predication ensure smooth governmental reporting. What’s more, this approach also provides info on patient value, and prepares your organization for the onset of value-based healthcare.
Case: AZ Maria Middelares

The hospital AZ Maria Middelares is committed to putting the patient first, leveraging digital channels to evolve towards more personalized and preventive care. delaware defined a roadmap to distill that vision into a phased plan, focusing on patient journeys and personas. We used a methodology based on customer journeys and personas to generate insights on how to make the hospital more patient-centric, and using digital channels to improve the communication.

Thanks to this roadmap, AZ Maria Middelares sees its digital strategy clearer now. It can set the right priorities taking into account the real needs and aspirations of the patient/customer.

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Credits: AZ Maria Middelares

UZ GentGhent's University Hospital can focus on the patient

A hospital is similar to a factory, except that it does not produce an actual product. Its core ‘raw material’ is human beings. Any aspect that can be improved behind the scenes to avoid staff having to waste precious time on administrative tasks is another step towards even better healthcare. It is also good for society as a whole, as a more cost-efficient hospital also means better use of public funds. With around a thousand beds, the city of Ghent’s university hospital (UZ Gent) has a long tradition of using technology to improve the patient care level.

How delaware can help

Vast experience in a wide range of industries makes delaware perfectly positioned to bring your healthcare organization and/or hospital network to the next level. Based on our broad business knowledge and proven track record in delivering quality solutions for improved customer experience, operational excellence and business insights, we aim to be a game-changer in the healthcare industry.

 

We have collaborated with UZ Gent and AZ Maria Middelares and continue to support them, assuring continuity and continuous improvement. In the upcoming months, we will roll out SAP S/4HANA on Azure in all the campuses of AZ Delta, a Belgian hospital group.

Our approach

  1. Strategic alignment: first, we define the unique challenges of your health organization and propose solutions that go beyond IT.
  2. Innovation projects: by applying our tried and tested Innovation Methodology, we assess the impact of new approaches and data-driven technologies – such as track-and-trace, IoT, intelligent apps, AI, VR, hololens etc. – on your processes and patient outcomes.
  3. Change and project management: after implementing the changes necessary to future-proof your healthcare network organization, we provide strategic change management and communication to ensure a smooth transition. 

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Case AZ Maria Middelares

Discover how AZ Maria Middelares made patient-centricity real, with a roadmap built by delaware.
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