Health care is one of the biggest challenges of this century. We’re in a state of disruptive transformation across every industry, where technology is reshaping the way we live. It’s reshaping the way we work. But what happens when it reshapes the way we heal?  The promise of a connected hospital and connected health care providers is all about facing the new world in which tech is integrated, demanded and expected in every single context. It’s a promise of providing more information to patients, staff and family members at the most difficult, most challenging, most tragic and most rewarding moments of their lives. 

We can share the right information. 

One of the elements of health care that can be completely changed by technology is information sharing. A hospital is a confusing place, full of fast moving and fast evolving situations. There are people needing care, people needing direction, people needing guidance. The issue is that the flow of information is highly complex. You need to find a way to tell people the right information at the right time, so that they can quickly respond to situations, understand where they need to be, and navigate a difficult environment. 

A connected hospital is one that is ready to share that information through tech. With wayfinding systems and tech in place, information can be shared via interactive screens, personal devices and beacons throughout the space. Using data, a hospital can always be showing the right information at the perfect moment, seamlessly. 

We can allow people to share resources.

Logistics is a blockage that is hard for dedicated, focused medical personal to overcome. They’re overworked, they’re short on resources, and they need to prioritise and triage a range of different cases, on an individual basis, to make the best use of their time and their supplies, staff and space. When these resources aren’t correctly managed and shared, the expense can be financial, but it can also be measured in human lives! 

A connected hospital can digitally manage and maintain resources in a way that is clearly communicated to all staff, so that they can distribute them quickly and efficiently, in a way that will lead to the best possible outcome for the entire organisation – and the patients in their care. With connected logistics systems, the flow of resources is easier to manage, from a central system that taps into and connects with every single moving part in the hospital, from the machines to the doctors themselves. 

We can communicate more effectively. 

A hospital’s information flow isn’t just to provide updates and quick facts. It’s also needed to allow medical and administrative personal to communicate with each other, with patients and even with emergency services personnel. In standard operating procedures, that’s hard enough, but in a true crisis it becomes not only the single most crucial part of the hospital’s operations, it becomes the most difficult to maintain. A connected hospital that has state of the art communications built in, is one that will let people have the right conversations, with the right people, in the right context. 

We’re living in a world in which every single person has access to a device in their pocket. If we can connect and manage all of those devices and how they interact with each other, we can solve communication from a health care perspective. The potential lives that could be saved are enormous! 

Health care is a promising field, and its one that we have a responsibility to be investing in. When we look at where societies are moving, and where connected cities are evolving, it’s clear that the citizens living in smart environments will need smarter care than ever before. Connected hospitals Ana connected health care system that uses data and communication to streamline the way we heal is a big piece of future public spaces, events, crises and more.