Digital Strategy for the Transformation of

Enterprises in Healthcare

Contents
Opportunities, threats & technologies that currently influence the industry..............................................2
Opportunities...........................................................................................................................................2
Threats.....................................................................................................................................................2
Cybersecurity threats...........................................................................................................................2
Financial threats...................................................................................................................................4
Ethical threats......................................................................................................................................4
Business scope and value proposition..........................................................................................................5
R&D and innovation strategy.......................................................................................................................5
Operations & value chain strategy...............................................................................................................6
The customer journey..................................................................................................................................7
The prototype..............................................................................................................................................7
Conclusion....................................................................................................................................................8
References.................................................................................................................................................10

Created by:
Loghin Maria
Bondalici Claudiu
Taran Alexandr

March 2023
Opportunities, threats & technologies that currently influence the
industry

Opportunities
Healthcare has recently seen a transition from the clinical-centric care model to a consumer-
driver care model. In this new consumer-driver care model, patients have a greater responsibility
for their own health with many of digital applications to control health. This increased pace of
generation of data brought an explosion of digital healthcare data, velocity and heterogeneity
which is a very big opportunity in terms of big data, custom tailored solutions and even cutting
edge treatments based on these valuable insights.

According to (BDV, 2016), this data surge will open new opportunities and enable breakthroughs
in very different perspectives:

1. Descriptive - what happened

2. Diagnostic - the reason why happened

3. Predictive - what will happen

4. Prescriptive - how we can make it happen

In terms of prevention and health promotion, the surge of data and emergence of new
technologies can drastically improve lifestyle support, providing effective tools for behavioral
change through the correct framing of the available data.

Threats

Cybersecurity threats
#1: Patient privacy protection

 Outside theft: External hackers penetrate patient and medical systems to steal and collect
data, mainly for financial gain.
 Insider misuse: Most often internal actors misuse patient data in the form of theft for
financial gain or malicious intent, followed by curiosity (unwarranted access to data not

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 related to delivery of care), convenience (overriding security protocols to make a job
easier) and human error (clicking on a phishing email).

In 2020, healthcare data breaches from external actors exceeded inside breaches — 51% and
48%, respectively — according to Verizon.

#2: Vulnerabilities of legacy systems in healthcare

 Tight budgets to perform upgrades: High up front costs of buying new technology
coupled with the cost of technicians as well as the costs of any associated downtime.
 Compliance guarantee: Compliance processes to certify new equipment and technology
can be long and demanding.
 Upskilling costs: Training staff on new systems is time-consuming and costly, but
necessary to minimize errors.
 Complacency: Healthcare organizations may opt to fix a problem only after a system
failure or hack — after the damage is done.

#3: Challenges of IT in healthcare

Healthcare leaders look digital transformation to address interoperability as well as to:

 Reducing inefficiencies
 Improving healthcare access
 Lowering healthcare costs
 Enhancing care quality

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  Providing more personalized medicine for patients

#4: Security breaches in healthcare

In 2020, the healthcare industry saw hackers taking advantage of COVID-19 fears. One example
involved an email about a supposed “coronavirus map” to track COVID-19 cases; clicking on the
link activated information stealer malware that stole passwords and credit card information.

Financial threats
Healthcare spending will fall in 2023 in real terms, given high inflation and slow economic
growth, forcing difficult decisions on how to provide care.

An important issue that must be addressed is the lack of incentive for organizations to face
technological challenges. The key question that any health organization faces is what is the return
on investment for my hospital to implement digital processes? The current pay-per-service model
acts as a deterrent because real time, processed data will be able to carry out preventive analyzes
that reduce or mitigate diseases, thus reducing revenues.

In terms of funding, there is another important issue in the very nature of the healthcare industry.
Innovators must work with insurers and governments in advance of a launch to see to it that the
product will be eligible for reimbursement or to see how it will fit into the local medical
infrastructures and health plans. In seeking these approvals, innovators must typically look for
support from industry players—physicians, hospitals, and an array of powerful intermediaries,
including group purchasing organizations, or GPOs, which consolidate the purchasing power of
thousands of hospitals. Broad product lines are favorized over single innovative product.

Ethical threats
The use of all of this information and technology can raise ethical/moral questions and lead to
misuse of data by insurers because companies will soon be able to predict healthcare costs by
using big data applications.

However, the most dangerous threat to healthcare will remain the equality of access to quality
medical care and products. As new business models emerge this gap appears to be widening, with
only a small portion of the world’s population having the means to access the areas of medicine
most heavily invested in.

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Technology
Increasingly, innovation in health services involves the development, introduction and
mainstreaming of new technologies, which traditionally have had a high failure rate in the health
care sector.

According to BDV there are not enough trained professionals comfortable to deal with petabytes
of data, and until this is remedied it will remain a serious weakness. The skills required are not
simple, they involve data mining, analysis, manipulation and other techniques expensive for most
small firms to master (Hong et al., 2018).

Business scope and value proposition

Four novel models of care are emerging: direct to consumer, direct to employer, value-based, and
group cost-sharing for catastrophic events. They tend to be much simpler and operate in bundled
networks, with an increase in independent clinics and care delivered through mobile phones and
remote technology.

These new approaches fall into one of two big buckets: change of infrastructure (who pays, when
they pay, how they pay) and change of venue (from in person to online).

The major value proposition for these new business models comes in the form of lowering the
complexity and barriers to entry for access to high-quality care. Cost is driven down through
technology and healthcare is made simpler through new unbundled business models, streamlined
payments, and better user experiences.

R&D and innovation strategy

Health systems are facing the challenge of increasing demand because of a rising burden of
chronic disease and limited resources. This creates a pressing need for a fundamental rethink of
the way health services and systems are organized and financed.

March 2023
An article by the Harvard Business Review notes three kinds of innovation that can make health
care better and cheaper:
 the ways consumers buy and use health care
 the technology to develop new products and treatments or otherwise improve care
 new business models, particularly those that involve the horizontal or vertical integration
of separate health care organizations or activities
Context is key, and the successful implementation, sustaining and spread of innovation require a
broad range of interventions and continuous adaptation to a changing service and wider context,
including political, cultural and institutional aspects.
A WHO report highlights some key factors that positively influence the successful adoption,
implementation, sustainability, spread and scale up of healthcare innovations:
 leadership and management at different tiers that are supportive of and committed to
change, including the articulation of a clear and compelling vision;
 early and widespread stakeholder involvement, including staff and service users;
 dedicated and ongoing resources, including funding, staff, infrastructure and time;
 effective communication across the organization;
 ongoing adaptation of the innovation to the local context;
 ongoing monitoring and timely feedback about progress; and
 evaluation and demonstration of the (cost-)effectiveness of the innovation being
introduced, including assessment of health benefits.
The HBR also names six forces—industry players, funding, public policy, technology, customers,
and accountability— that can help or hinder innovation efforts. Individually or in combination,
the forces will affect innovation in different ways.

An excellent example of innovation and operations optimization is represented by platform

Operations & value chain strategy

Supply-chain disruptions will continue to push up costs for healthcare operators. During the
pandemic, lockdowns (particularly in China) contributed to logistics and production problems

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that affected shipments of medical supplies in general, but in particular shipments of active
pharmaceutical ingredients.

The energy crisis not only affects supplies but also affects day to day operations of hospitals and
clinics, with a surge in the costs of basic activities.

The focus will need to shift on prevention in order to mitigate the costs of ailments that become
chronic or will start demanding exhaustive treatment if they remain unaddressed.

The customer journey

The prototype

All your medical records in one place.

Mission: “HEALME” was created to end the frustrating search for our information when it
comes to our most precious asset - our health. Our mission is for patients, providers, payers,
researchers, and others to have data that’s fast, organized, and easily accessible.

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 Your health records, simplified
Allergies
Your allergies that represent harmful or
undesirable physiological responses
associated with exposure to a substance
Immunizations
Your immunizations include a record of an
administration of a vaccination or a record
of a vaccination as reported by you, a
clinician, or another party.
Medications
Medicines that have been prescribed for you
Labs
Your test results

Clinical Notes Problems & Procedures

Link to the prototype created in Figma: Healme

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 Functions of HealmeApp

 All your medical data is kept safe in one place, everything is organized and available
online, in a protected GDPR compliant cloud.
 Your medical history is consolidated and made available to the doctor when you receive
medical services
 You have access to the records of consultations and admissions to observe medical
opinions, diagnoses, the investigations carried out and the treatments recommended by
doctors
 Your doctor has access to the relevant medical data so that he will be prepared in case of
unforeseen medical emergencies
 You will be able to give doctors access to your health record and you will know who has
accessed it ensuring the protection and confidentiality of the information
 Summary for emergency situations emergency with vital medical data
 Complete medical history for a clearer view of the state of health
 History declared by the patient to the doctor during the consultation is saved in the cloud
 Medical documents received from doctors all-in-one place
 Personal data secured that can be managed by the patient
 Benefits for patients, doctors and institutions
 Discussion sessions regarding the services offered by doctors, hospitals or other medical
institutions

Conclusion

There is a need for responsible innovation to ensure that the benefits of innovation are widely
distributed and shared, are sustainable and meet societies’ needs more broadly.
In Romania and the European Union, there are currently under close discussion programs aimed
at the digitalization of the health sector.
The eHealth Digital Service Infrastructure (eHDSI) is an infrastructure ensuring the continuity of
care for European citizens while they are travelling abroad in the EU. This gives EU countries the
possibility to exchange health data in a secure, efficient and interoperable way.
The National Health Insurance House of Romania is implementing with the help of private IT
companies through European funds, a national IT system containing all the details of the patient's
electronic file.

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In this context, our MEDIREC app would come to the market in a perfect timing and would
integrate all-in-one place the medical information from all the healthcare stakeholders in the
benefit of our client and his/her health.

References

1. Cristiana Dias, Manuel Filipe Santos, Filipe Portela (2020), SWOT Analysis of Big Data in
Healthcare, Algoritmi Research Center, University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugal
https://www.scitepress.org/Papers/2020/93902/93902.pdf
2. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0213911120302788
3. 4 Healthcare Cybersecurity Challenges, Maryville University
https://online.maryville.edu/blog/healthcare-cybersecurity/
4. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare/our-insights/the-future-of-healthcare-value-
creation-through-next-generation-business-models

5. Simon Gisby, Peter Micca, Boris Kheyn-Kheyfets, Christine Chang, and Madhushree Wagh,
New business models in health care: Building platform-enabled ecosystems, The Deloitte Center
For Health Solutions
https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/insights/articles/us165009_chs-health-care-ecosystem/
DI_CHS-Health-care-ecosystem.pdf

6. Naomi Shah (2018), Business Model Innovation in Healthcare, Union Square Ventures
https://www.usv.com/writing/2018/10/business-model-innovation-in-healthcare/

7. Vijay Govindarajan, Ravi Ramamurti (2018) Transforming Health Care from the Ground Up
https://hbr.org/2018/07/transforming-health-care-from-the-ground-up?ab=at_art_art_1x4_s02

8. Regina E. Herzlinger (2006), Why Innovation in Health Care Is So Hard, HBR

9. Healthcare outlook 2023 – The aftermath of the pandemic, Economist Intelligence

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https://pages.eiu.com/rs/753-RIQ-438/images/healthcare-in-2023.pdf?
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