New technologies are attracting interest from healthcare organisations across the UK to help ease the strain and pressures on the industry.

But it is important that these systems are not viewed in isolation.

Solutions must be fully integrated to provide the most benefit to patients and trusts, and each system has a role to play — including digital building technologies.

It is no secret that the UK’s healthcare sector is facing an extreme amount of demand and pressure on resources.

In 2022, a record 350,000 patients in England waited more than 12 hours to go from A&E to a hospital bed.

And, amid the winter peak in December 2022, fewer than half of patients attending major A&E departments were seen within four hours, while 44.1% of patients experienced waiting times longer than 12 hours and ambulance response times increased significantly.

For people requiring ambulances for strokes, severe burns, or chest pains, the average response time was 93 minutes — five times longer than the NHS’s operational target of 18 minutes.

A holistic approach

Inefficiencies that lead to problems like these can be attributed to several factors, including legacy systems, siloed data, and manual processes.

As such, many NHS trusts are turning to new technologies to treat patients more efficiently and manage key hospital processes, such as bed management and ambulance routing, more effectively.

There needs to be integration between technologies to tackle the challenges the healthcare system is currently facing, and this integration extends from medical equipment to bed management systems and even building technologies

For example, NHS trusts and leaders have been calling for the adoption of surgical robots as means of treating patients more efficiently and, in turn, reducing waiting times.

Surgical robotics are one piece of that puzzle, but it is essential we understand that there is no single cure — it is crucial to look at technology in the healthcare system holistically.

Investing in healthcare technology

Investments in the latest technology should not be made in isolation.

There needs to be integration between technologies to tackle the challenges the healthcare system is currently facing, and this integration extends from medical equipment to bed management systems and even building technologies.

A building management system (BMS) is an integral part of most hospitals’ site management strategies.

BMS deployments can be used alongside control systems for various purposes, such as to monitor and control temperature and humidity levels in hospital wards, creating a more-comfortable patients experience and even potentially improving patient outcomes.

And it is possible to see even greater benefits when the BMS is integrated with other digital technologies  by giving healthcare providers a complete view of their operations.

An integrated solution

One simple example of an integration is by having a shared view into a BMS, bed management system, and electronic patient records (EPRs), so the BMS can provide real-time data on patient occupancy, enabling facility managers to optimise room usage and help reduce waiting times.  

Integrating systems can help to unlock more value, not just from a building management perspective, but the holistic hospital system.

BMS deployments can be used alongside control systems for various purposes, such as to monitor and control temperature and humidity levels in hospital wards, creating a more-comfortable patients experience and even potentially improving patient outcomes

At the heart of a holistic system is the BMS.

Crucially, it must be able to communicate with the other software, systems, and devices across the trust to provide a reliable, open flow of information.

Open-protocol-based BMSs, such as IQVision, can deliver this unimpeded communication between systems to give healthcare organisations a single point of access with a comprehensive view of facility operations.

No small feat

More ambitiously, a holistic digital asset strategy could even involve leveraging ambulance and city data.

With the integration of building, city, and hospital data, NHS trusts could be better able to allocate patients to hospitals and doctors based on factors such as traffic flow and clinician availability.

No small feat, but it is one approach that could bring substantial benefits.

As such, it is imperative that core building systems are implemented to operate, not just under a single facility’s management strategy, but as part of a cohesive technology plan.

This can enable healthcare providers to identify inefficiencies, optimise resource allocation, and improve patient outcomes – all while simultaneously establishing a system that is less admin-intensive for practitioners.

It is imperative that core building systems are implemented to operate, not just under a single facility’s management strategy, but as part of a cohesive technology plan

Broadly, the benefits of digital healthcare technologies can be highly impactful, and the results could mean improved operational efficiency and better patient outcomes.

The goal for healthcare systems is to reduce patient recovery times, improve environmental conditions, digitalise administrative processes, and reduce the risk of errors.

Individually, technologies only go part way to addressing challenges the healthcare system currently faces with waiting times and patient volumes.

Together, the benefits are magnified.

As healthcare systems face increasing demand and pressure on resources, a digital healthcare strategy is essential to better provide patients with the highest quality of care possible.