The healthcare industry has wrestled with the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic for more than two years. Much has been asked of clinicians, who have faced unprecedented stress from the workload these cases have presented. They’ve had to nimbly adapt to the rapid scaling of telehealth and transform the way they work. Hospitals have grappled with provider burnout, staff shortages, and more.

In a series of interviews during the Microsoft Envision Healthcare Summit, attention is drawn to the myriad of ways cloud computing technology touches different aspects of healthcare across providers, payers, medtech, and pharmaceuticals. Leaders in healthcare highlight ways to improve care delivery, outcomes, a sustainable clinician workforce, and improving the patient experience.

In one segment, Clifford Goldsmith, Chief Medical Officer, Microsoft Health and Life Sciences, talks with Seraphine Kapsandoy-Jones, Vice President of Population Healthcare and Clinical Operations at Centene Corporation, about maintaining a sustainable clinical workforce. They explore how technology could be harnessed to improve automation and reduce the documentation burden for clinicians. New delivery models could also reduce the data entry burden and change the way clinicians work for the better; but also, present challenges that need to be addressed. 

Cleveland Clinic CIO Matt Kull and ATA CEO Ann Mond Johnson discuss advancements in consumerization of healthcare, including telehealth, and the big data analytics tools that will enable preventive care for more patients.

“We regard Netflix and Amazon as competitors because they are setting digital expectations for consumers,” Kull says.

Johnson notes the availability of telehealth options in healthcare interactions means that in many cases consumers can decide to have an in-person visit with a clinician or have a virtual visit, which can be more meaningful than video conferencing. Asynchronous technologies mean patients have a voice in where and how they want to be met, whether it’s at home, in a workplace setting or in a doctor’s office.

“Virtual is a much broader dimension than synchronous communications like video conferencing,” Johnson observes. “Technologies like AI and RPM (remote patient monitoring) are moving well beyond blood pressure readings and blood-glucose levels and are being applied in lots of different ways.”

Kull adds that the elite research capabilities of the Cleveland Clinic mean the institution is well placed to unlock the power of the cloud for AI applications.

“It will really help us create targeted opportunities to address certain illnesses before they happen – such as a genetic biomarker flagging a high risk of colon cancer in certain patients so that clinicians make sure they are encouraging these patients to have screenings more frequently.

Kull shares that the Cleveland Clinic is working to improve in silico drug discovery, multi-omic studies and digital twinning because they believe these will be at the “absolute core of unlocking technology to improve the speed at which medical discovery occurs and therapies are developed.”

Also taking part in the virtual summit are:

• Kyu Rhee MD, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Aetna,
  CVS Health
• David Rhew MD, Global Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Healthcare, Microsoft
• Dr. Michele Harper, New York Times Bestselling Author
• Lex Gillette, Paralympic Athlete, Team USA
• Antoinette Thomas, U.S. Chief Patient Experience Officer, Microsoft Health and Life Sciences
• Deb Cupp, President, Microsoft U.S.

To view the full video, click here. 

Photo: Getty Images: AndreyPopov