Let's not forget the effectiveness of humanity in our work toward efficiency

A few days ago, I read an interesting article in the Harvard Business Review on the digital transformation of hospitals. The authors give great examples of how we can make our healthcare system more efficient through digital technologies. The patient flow, the staffing of teams, the scheduling of procedures, and the supply chain of hospitals can all be optimized with software and algorithms. 

I think the article is on point! There is an incredible amount of potential to make our healthcare system more efficient. However, it has an extremely procedural and technical perspective on health, obscuring many aspects that can truly improve our healthcare system. 

Therefore, I would like to recommend a second article that approaches the same topic—the optimization of our hospitals—from a completely different perspective. 

Sara Harrison writes at Wired about the patient-centric design of hospitals. Roughly summarized, she says that the office-like architecture of our hospitals from the 20th century has made the processes that take place in them more efficient. However, patients have not recovered faster. 

Various studies show that, for example, natural light and peacefulness have a very positive influence on recovery—two aspects that have been totally lost in our factory-like hospitals. The same applies to human attention. Being seen, heard, and touched is incredibly valuable in treatment and recovery. 

To sum it up: I am excited about the potential of digital technologies to optimize processes in our healthcare system. But the real goal for innovation in healthcare must be patient well-being and recovery.