The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented pressure on the healthcare industry. Now, more than ever before, hospitals and healthcare systems are expected to be flexible, agile, and responsive to unforeseen events and crises.
New data-driven technologies help speed up the process and greatly assist health practitioners. Technology can help professionals in making informed decisions, particularly in time-sensitive circumstances.
Many industries have turned to technology to help them grow faster. Although healthcare has seen a lot of technological innovation, it has never fully embraced it at such a speed as other industries have.
Why are hospitals slow to adopt new technology and innovate?
In the world of healthcare, implementing new technologies might be challenging. Many issues must be considered, including whether the technology is safe, how it will be utilized, and the impact it will have on patients and healthcare providers.
Moreover, some other barriers to technology adaptation may include:
- Some healthcare professionals may be confused about how to use the technology or how it will affect their workflow.
- They are hesitant to switch to new technologies because of the comfort and convenience of the use of the present system.
- Hospitals may be sceptical about the safety or efficacy of new systems.
- Many view the technology as too complicated, expensive, and uncertain as to how much value it can provide
Danish hospitals rank worse in innovation compared to other Nordic countries
In the MedTech field, Denmark is home to roughly 1000 companies which makes it one of the leading medical technology nations in Europe.
However, according to SCImago Institutions Rankings, Danish hospitals stay behind in the innovation ranking among Nordic countries. Only two Danish hospitals can be found among the top 10 – Copenhagen University Hospital (n.3) and Aarhus University Hospital (n.10).
What is the way forward?
For many hospitals and healthcare facilities, collaborating with start-ups or scale-ups has been an ideal way to integrate new technology.
With these types of strategic partnerships, hospitals have the potential to improve patient care, save costs and most importantly, use technology as an enabler for healthcare transformation. Cutting-edge digital technology and practices enable hospitals to distinguish themselves in the field. Not only does this improve the recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals and patients, but it also has the potential to improve patient care and safety.
Over the past few years, and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the healthcare sector experienced dramatic change requiring many organizations to rethink how they operate. Combined with growing pressures on the industry, such as escalating costs, lack of workforce and an ageing population, the hospitals must invest in their evolvement.
How one collaboration can bring big results
Sani Nudge, a Danish solution emerged in 2015 as a connected monitoring system that uses IoT sensors and behavioural data to encourage and improve hand hygiene. With the product influenced by behavioural theory, the system focuses on measuring the hand hygiene behaviour and patient contact of healthcare professionals in a hospital and nudges them to perform hand hygiene at the right time at the right moment, preventing infections from spreading.
“During an interventional study in a nephrology department at Kolding hospital, the team of researchers investigated the effect of the Sani Nudge system on the hand hygiene compliance of healthcare workers and hospital-acquired bloodstream infections. The hand hygiene compliance of the doctors and nurses improved significantly during the intervention phase when they received group and individual feedback based on actionable insights from the electronic hand hygiene monitoring system. The improvements in hand hygiene compliance were associated with a significant reduction in the number of hospital-acquired bloodstream infections.” – Knudsen AR, et al. Journal of Hospital Infection (2021)
Moreover, by implementing the Sani Nudge solution, the hospitals can:
- Reduce employee sick leave
- Improve patient safety
- Get reliable data
- Improve compliance
- Decrease infections
Read more about successful collaborations and key findings in the links below:
- 2021 A year in achievements
- Using Sani Nudge to assess the effect of hand hygiene interventions
- A better understanding of hygiene behaviour
- Reduction in hospital-acquired infections
- Significantly improved hand hygiene levels using the Sani Nudge system
- Reduction in staff absenteeism (short term sick leave)
References
- Knudsen AR, Kolle S, Hansen MB, Møller JK. Effectiveness of an electronic hand hygiene monitoring system to increase compliance and reduce healthcare-associated infections. J Hosp Infect. 2021 May 28; S0195-6701(21)00214-0.
