| | November 20198UTLOOK Healthcare Tech IN MY OPINIONTrue Innovation in the Healthcare Industry In healthcare, many connect innovation to technology. It is easy to recognize the advancements in healthcare over the many decades. The recognition that microorganisms were responsible for so many diseases came from the use of new technology. The development of new drugs such as penicillin has come from technology. The ability to detect tumors and abnormalities in the body through imaging comes from technology. In the 1990s, the concept of an electronic health record was just a dream. Advances in information technology that provided both processing speeds and affordable storage have now given the promise a reality. The improvements in reliability and processes have made the electronic record a valuable part of the clinician's daily business practice.Yet innovation does not always come from technology. In the 1920s following a series of challenges, the first health insurance plan was created in Dallas, Texas that began the ability to provide healthcare to school teachers. Decades later, faced with a shortage of nurses, a healthcare organization created a new staffing model that allowed for nurses that could not work all week for one reason or another to be given the compensation equal to a full-time employee thus opening a new source of staffing. Again, this innovation which was adopted around the United States was not born in technology.As we approach 2020, the word innovation has become a mantra by many, but what should we to truly expect. Companies will incorporate the term in every marketing document they produce. The government will provide research grants. Industry will make investments within their company to company's research divisions so they can tout it to their stockholders. Academia will create focused efforts to have their young minds find new approaches. Yet if history repeats itself, the innovations that we are truly expecting that will disrupt the normal business of healthcare will come from unlikely places.Today's pundits raise concepts such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, and synthetic biology are being touted as the innovative disruptive sources to healthcare. These advances will no doubt bring changes to the healthcare world. The consultants bring phrases such as "think out of box"; "remove the boundaries"; "use agile practices to make iterative improvements". It is most likely that influences of significant innovations will not come from these inspirations. Real innovations are born from needs.Healthcare in the United States is pressed for cost reductions. Healthcare in Europe is being faced with new confidentiality and privacy requirements. Healthcare all over the world is being asked to be more available and more convenient. At the same time, there are constant efforts by criminals to acquire individual healthcare information thus making healthcare a major target for cyberattacks regardless of where you live. Inside these needs are the needs for innovation. Perhaps history does tell us that new innovations seem to come from a change in perspectives. Are we trying to maintain everything in the same paradigm that we have always known thing to be. What would have happened if Steve Jobs had tried to only create a new portable recorder?By Lynn Gibson, CTO/VP, CHRISTUS HealthLynn Gibson
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