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Digital or bust

By now, the healthcare industry recognizes that digital is necessary in order to remain competitive. But, you can’t just launch digital solutions and expect them to be wild successes. This is not how Olympians prepare for the podium. A McKinsey study found that 70% of large-scale change programs don’t reach their stated goal due to lack of employee engagement, inadequate management support, poor cross-functional collaboration, and a lack of accountability.

So, what can you do to ensure digital is a long-term success? Digital rollouts are most successful when backed by an organization-wide digital transformation strategy that is rooted in a health system’s core mission and goals. As AVIA’s Amy Kernan put it, “Investing in digital without a strategy behind it is like buying a car without wheels. You have an asset, but it likely won’t get you very far.” It’s time to make digital a core part of your health system’s DNA – let’s go for gold.

Industry insights

• [New White Paper] Healthcare Digitized: Building a Digital Transformation Strategy at Your Health System [AVIA]: The traditional health system business model is at risk. Organizations that invest in digital will win, and those that don’t will be left behind. Building out an organization-wide digital transformation strategy will put you on the path to being a true digital leader in the industry.
• The rise of digital natives: How millennials and Gen Z are transforming healthcare [AVIA]: It’s the era of millennials and Gen Z – over 50% of the US population falls in these two generations, making them the single largest consumer force today. In order to survive, health systems need to make changes to accommodate the preferences of the younger generations.
• Remote Patient Monitoring in the Safety Net: What Payers and Providers Need to Know [CHCF]: Nearly 700 hospitalizations per 100,000 people are potentially preventable through effective chronic care management and access to primary care. It’s time to leverage technologies, like remote patient monitoring (RPM) solutions, that can avert avoidable hospitalizations and reduce health inequities.
• Digital health funding rockets up to $14.7B, speeding past 2020’s investment [Rock Health]: In the first half of 2021, investments in digital health solutions have already surpassed funding for all of 2020. The digital future is here – is your health system keeping up?

AVIA events

• Recording – Health Equity in the Spotlight: A Conversation with HonorHealth and ChristianaCare |  View the recording and access the slides
• Recording – 4 Big Moves to Emerge Stronger with Digital |  View the recording and access the slides

See all events

Visual of the week

As we explore what an organization-wide digital transformation strategy entails, a core guiding principle is the concept of “being digital” vs. “doing digital”. Doing digital is the equivalent of throwing digital solutions at a problem and hoping something sticks, with no underlying strategy or broader goals. Being digital, on the other hand, involves investing deliberately, guided by a strategy that supports your health system’s core goals and mission.

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What we’re into this week

Thanks for reading to the bottom of the newsletter! We’re highlighting some non-healthcare-related items that the AVIA team is into this week. Share your recs with us at contact@avia.health.

• Read: “We’re Learning the Wrong Lessons From the World’s Happiest Countries” in The Atlantic
• Listen: to the sweet jazz-Afropop fusion that is Bembeya Jazz National, a 1960s-era Guinean ensemble.
• Watch: Making It on Peacock for a feel-good crafting competition show featuring the ever-charming Nick Offerman and Amy Poehler.