Revisit your digital strategy with fresh eyes

In the rapidly evolving landscape of healthcare, digital strategies have become synonymous with the promise of ground-breaking advancements. Healthcare organisations around the world are fervently drafting their visions of a technology-enabled future, outlining ambitious transitions from legacy systems to a tech-savvy utopia. Yet, as the digital horizon expands, many are finding that merely having a digital strategy in place is not the panacea they envisioned. The journey from concept to implementation remains a labyrinth, and a glaring gap between intention and outcome persists.

Why the disconnect? The reason is both straightforward and elusive: many strategies end up as beautifully articulated words with minimal real-world impact. At their core, digital strategies serve as a blueprint for integrating technological advancements into healthcare services. They encompass aspirations of seamless data exchange, advanced telemedicine services, AI-driven diagnostics, and much more, all with the goal of enhancing care delivery, streamlining operational processes, and elevating the patient experience. Herein lies a critical oversight: while digital strategies often paint a vivid picture of a technology-driven future, they typically lack the detailed roadmaps or actionable plans needed for actualisation.

A ‘concerning trend’ emerges

Moreover, as these strategies take form, a concerning trend emerges. Institutions, in their zest for modernisation, often prioritise the path of least resistance over the practical needs of their organisation. This results in organisations implementing technologies because they believe it is what they should have, rather than meticulously evaluating what they genuinely need. The very challenges the organisations seek to overcome — be it operational inefficiencies, gaps in patient care, or outdated infrastructure — become an afterthought. Instead of tailoring technology procurements to their specific challenges, needs, and constraints, they find themselves swayed by the complexity of implementation and the pressure for rapid impact. Furthermore, given the rapidly evolving landscape of healthcare technology, and ever-shifting organisation priorities, many digital strategies become outdated almost as soon as they are published, making their realisation even more challenging.

The inevitable consequence? A layering of technology that is ill-suited, unscalable, and often incompatible — not only with existing and emerging digital systems, but also with the physical constraints and future needs of the healthcare estate. These misaligned technologies, at best, leave unresolved gaps, and — at worst — can exacerbate existing challenges or introduce new problems, undermining the very goals the strategy aimed to achieve.

A digital strategy is not just about procuring cutting-edge tools or software; it is about weaving technology into the fabric of the healthcare environment, in a way that addresses foundational needs, optimises processes, reshapes workflows, and targets the intrinsic challenges at the heart of healthcare, ensuring that it complements and elevates existing systems and practices rather than merely replacing them. This is where many institutions can falter. The bridge between digital strategy and genuine transformation is not constructed merely by acquiring solutions. True transformation demands a more holistic approach — one that integrates technology seamlessly into healthcare practices, places human needs at the forefront, and ensures a collaborative evolution between the two.

Unveiling the reality gap

Every healthcare institution is unique, with its own complexities and challenges. Despite the allure of off-the-shelf solutions, there’s an increasing acknowledgment that a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach does not address the intricacies of each organisation. The answer lies in recognising the missing link: an approach that goes beyond technology acquisition. A Strategic Technology Roadmap (STR) is rooted in understanding the distinct challenges that an organisation faces and quantifying them. It emphasises designing tailored solutions, while considering both singular and blended technology deployments. It weighs up risk vs reward, and considers other factors such as physical space reconfigurations and the underpinning digital infrastructure as core requirements and enablers of success.

The STR is a blueprint that acknowledges the need for a paradigm shift, placing people — healthcare professionals and patients — at the epicentre of change, but also recognising the tangible, logistical aspects that underpin successful technology integration.

From concept to reality: a holistic paradigm

The value of the existing digital strategy cannot be understated. These strategies reflect genuine aspirations, and provide a visionary glimpse into the potential of technology-integrated healthcare. Their importance as indicators of intent and directionality should not be diminished. Rather than replacing or dismissing the digital strategy, the STR complements it, augments it, and provides the granular detail, actionable steps, and iterative approaches required to navigate the complexities of implementation.

It asks the pivotal question: how can technology serve as a catalyst for meaningful change while aligning with the original vision described in the digital strategy? Consider, for example, the ambitious NHS ‘digital-first’ approach. While 95% of general practices offer online appointments, less than 35% of patients are using these services.1 This gap underscores the importance of understanding patient behaviours, needs, and trust factors.

Consider the broader healthcare sector, where numerous institutions have implemented digital tools, yet only a few have truly harnessed their potential, and are able to report a tangible positive impact on patient outcomes. This is perhaps not a failure of the technology or those who use it, but rather a failure to measure change or monitor the potential side-effects brought about when introducing a new approach. The emphasis, therefore, should not just be on adoption, but rather on the thoughtful, targeted application of these digital innovations.

There is an imperative for organisations to quantify their specific challenges and draw a direct line to an STR meant to address them. This fundamental step of quantifying the ‘before’ and anticipating the ‘after’ is not something digital strategies are designed for, and is often overlooked during technology implementations, which tend to prioritise meeting project milestones and rapid rollout to demonstrate ‘progress’.

Without this baseline, how can institutions measure progress or the success of their digital strategy? Rooting the transformation process in quantifiable evidence not only illuminates the path forward, but also ensures a tangible, measurable return on investment. By committing to a before-and-after analysis rooted in hard data, healthcare organisations can both track their progress, and truly reap the rewards of their digital journey.

Bespoke solutions for targeted transformation

Building on the data-driven insights, the crafting of bespoke solutions becomes the next step to transform the umbrella goals of the digital strategy into actionable, effective innovations. Consider a large healthcare institution aiming to refine the dynamics of its Outpatients’ Department. The broad, and rather nebulous goal, as defined in its digital strategy, is to ‘support the development of seamless digital pathways’.

In seeking solutions, the institution considers a one-size-fits-all hospital management system. This software provides a suite of features: a digital calendar for scheduling, automated reminders for patients, and basic monitoring of patient flow. On paper, it seems to address the primary requirements. The administrative staff can digitalise their appointment systems, while patients receive timely reminders to reduce no-shows.

However, the intricacies of the institution’s challenges aren’t fully explored or understood. While the system might be able to manage the typical day-to-day patient flow, it doesn’t consider the unique patient demographics of the community, or fluctuations caused by factors such as seasonality. There is no provision for a dynamic patient interaction system, which can adapt to real-time challenges and offer flexible scheduling options. By solely focusing on a generic system, the institution misses the depth of problem-solving required to truly optimise its outpatient services. What is needed is not just a digital tool, but a comprehensive solution that is sensitive to the real-world complexities of the department.

A more robust solution could involve digitally optimising patient flow. By using real-time analytics to forecast daily patient volumes, appointment slots can be dynamically adjusted to optimise utilisation. Deployed in tandem with an AI-backed adaptive scheduling interface, patients can choose, reschedule, or cancel, their appointments, with real-time feedback about availability and wait times.

This progression from vision to execution underlines the transformative potential of a plan that roots itself in detailed understanding and targeted solutions to challenges, aligning the intricacies of technology with the genuine needs of patient care. The same principle applies across a range of use cases, particularly where automation and emerging technologies intersect with the daily rhythm of a healthcare setting. Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), for instance, are becoming an increasingly common consideration as healthcare providers look for innovative responses to persistent workforce pressures and logistical challenges.

AMRs offer a practical way to automate routine tasks such as transporting medication, supplies, or meals — reducing manual burden, allowing staff to focus on more direct aspects of care, and ticking the box labelled ‘automation’ on the digital strategy. Yet, their real-world application often reveals a range of overlooked considerations that extend far beyond system integration.

Successful implementation of AMRs depends on more than just digital readiness; it requires careful consideration of how technology interacts with the physical environment. Navigational paths need to be clear and consistent, which may not be achievable in older buildings with narrow corridors or irregular layouts. AMRs may require dedicated transport routes, often involving vertical navigation of hospital towers. Charging and docking areas are a further consideration, alongside secure network connectivity, and a reliable energy supply. In some settings, shared corridors with patients and staff introduce safety, congestion, or infection control concerns. These practical challenges highlight the need to evaluate whether a proposed solution aligns not only with the problem at hand, but with the operational realities and spatial constraints of the environment in which it will function.

Applying tailored thinking

By applying the same tailored, problem-led thinking as in the outpatient example, an institution might reconsider a full-campus AMR deployment in favour of a more focused application — for example, using AMRs within the central pharmacy and back-of-house functions, where movement is more predictable and controlled. This ensures that the ambition of automation is grounded in a genuine understanding of both need and context, rather than retrofitted into an environment that may not be ready to support it.

These are precisely the kinds of challenges that the STR is designed to anticipate. By factoring in not only digital maturity and clinical priorities, but also spatial, operational, logistical, and people considerations, the STR helps ensure that technology solutions are both practical and sustainable.

A roadmap for progress

With a foundation of evidence and targeted solutions in place, a phased approach to transformation becomes deeply rooted within the fabric of the institution, evolving from a periodic initiative which may or may not happen at an indeterminant point in the future, to a continuous aspect of ‘business as usual’. This ensures that the journey of change is both calculated and manageable. Such a methodical approach paves the way for sustainable and scalable change, catering to both immediate needs and long-term aspirations. By prioritising interventions that hold the promise of maximum impact, and continually revisiting and refining the plan based on evolving requirements and feedback, the institution remains agile and responsive in the face of the ever-changing digital healthcare landscape.

In the age of rapid technological advancement, standing still is akin to moving backward. While digital strategies provide an essential vision for the future, on their own they risk leaving organisations adrift in a vast sea of possibilities. Recognising that these strategies, though crucial, require the supplemental guidance of a Strategic Technology Roadmap, is imperative. Without this tangible plan from intention to implementation, institutions risk stagnation, inefficiency, and ever-diminishing quality of patient care. The message is clear: healthcare leaders must act decisively to actualise their digital strategy, weaving their vision with actionable steps, ensuring that aspirations don’t just remain on paper, but transform into focused and deliberate progress that is interconnected and truly benefits the patients of today and tomorrow. The first step? Revisit your digital strategy with fresh eyes and ask: does it come with a roadmap, or just a destination?

*Arcadis defines Digital x Healthcare as ‘design future-ready technology strategies and solutions that transform healthcare environments’. It says: “Combining technology-led strategy with human-centric design, we help healthcare organisations enhance efficiency, improve patient care, and create adaptable healthcare spaces that work today and are built for tomorrow.”