Emory Healthcare Physician Group

Kevin Phipps

What an amazing time to be in healthcare! The intersection of emerging technology and our industry, or any industry for that matter, has created a strong sense of wonder and expectation for what could be. More and more patients can connect with healthcare organizations through digital devices, with 75 billion unique devices by 2025. It is not just smartphones (with 5.32 billion unique users worldwide) for things like telehealth visits, but smart meters to track health statistics and refrigerators or slow cookers to track healthy eating habits. With 63 percent of the world’s population able to access the internet, the global healthcare market continues to become more and more locally accessible. The recent exponential advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning are expanding our vision for how we deliver care. Seventy-one percent of executives believe AI and ML are game changers for business, regardless of industry, but only 37 percent of organizations have incorporated AI into their business, though a 270 percent increase from 2015. Big Data is also driving growth and expansion across our industry. Eighty-three percent of organizations across the globe are investing in Big Data initiatives. Tech experts estimate we produce 2.5 quintillion bytes of data daily! Two-thirds of organizations that have utilized Big Data effectively have reportedly seen a decrease in operational expenses.

I'm amazed at many of the pilots and projects marrying emerging technology with high-quality patient care in my organization. Clinical staff rely on generative AI to draft patient portal message responses to reduce the amount of time dedicated to the ever-increasing number of patient messages. Generative AI is also used to help draft the provider’s clinical note in real-time by listening to the conversation between patient and provider during the visit. We will soon use VR to help reduce anxiety and educate patients on how to care for themselves between dialysis treatments. Predictive analytics and Big Data models stream clinical and operational decision-making daily. Emerging technology reduces patient burden, increases organizational efficiencies, and creates space for providers.

But how are we filling the space that emerging technology provides us? The temptation when gaining space through technology is to fill that space with more patients, messages, meetings, or even more technology. Technology should create space for humans to do what only humans can do, expressing compassion through high-quality, human-centered care. The Christian gospels present the well-known parable of the good Samaritan, where an injured man is ignored by a priest and a religious teacher only to be seen and cared for by a Samaritan who treats his wounds, carries him to an inn, and pays for his recovery. There are many ethical and spiritual implications to this story that I won’t expound on here. But if I may infer a little, perhaps the Samaritan ignored social expectations and provided high-quality, compassionate care because he felt he had the space to do so. At this moment, the Samaritan didn't feel rushed and wasn't concerned about what he had to do next. The Samaritan had space to take in his surroundings, see another human being, and show compassion through human-centered care.

It is tempting to view emerging technology as simply a means for us to do more, but technology should also make space for us to be more. Technology frees humans to do what only humans can do: provide compassionate care to other humans. Organizations should consider how we fill the space that technology creates for us. How do we balance the use of the space we are creating? What if, along with measuring the space we gain through technology by the number of additional patients seen or prescriptions written (the more we can do), we also measure the impact on the compassionate care we provide (the more we can be)? Our organization recently added a question to our after-visit surveys asking patients to rate how well our staff treated them respectfully and compassionately. This helps us measure new technologies' impact on those providing care and receiving care. Let’s also consider asking providers if the space new technology offers gives them the ability to be better, more compassionate caregivers. Are they using the space new technologies have created to both do more for our organizations and be more for our patients? Organizations implementing new technology should adopt a balanced scorecard that measures not only efficiencies gained but also the patient and provider's perception of compassionate care. Emerging technology is thrilling and helps us paint a picture of what healthcare can become: efficient and compassionate.