Medical technology changes constantly. Many doctors working today began their careers in an environment where electronic health records did not even exist.

Now, a new generation of care providers is discovering what it takes to deliver world-class care in an age of biometric variables, big data, and artificial intelligence. Modern healthcare leaders need to understand what is out there and how it influences the scope of their responsibility.

In this article, we take a look at how technology skills are becoming essential for tomorrow’s healthcare leaders.

Different Kinds of Leadership

There are several different kinds of leadership within the healthcare setting, each with its unique relationship to technology.

Nursing leaders, for example, are focused more on patient care. Their management considerations pertain to systems that shape said care. Technology can factor into the work they do, but it isn’t necessarily the core focus.

There are tech leaders working with hospitals on cybersecurity, custom tools, general advisements, and more. These professionals may have a background in coding or technological architecture.

Then there are administrators.

How Technologically Proficient Do Healthcare Leaders Need to Be?

The same way that presidents of major corporations do not need to be masters of marketing, sales, and product development to be good at their jobs, healthcare administrators do not need to know how every tool works in order to implement them in a system.

Here’s what they do need:

  • Awareness of what is out there. Even understanding your options can have a transformative effect on the healthcare system you’re managing, regardless of whether or not you’re ready to fully implement them.
  • Be able to hire, train, and delegate for modern healthcare technology. What kind of people are required for each healthcare technology-related tasks? Proper implementation of many tech tools requires hiring consultants or possibly even creating new IT positions.

Administrators in training develop an up-to-date understanding of modern healthcare education while they’re in school, but to keep up with a constantly changing tech landscape, it’s also important to focus on continuing education opportunities.

What Technology Concerns Are Most Important in Modern Healthcare?

Healthcare leaders must balance two important considerations: efficiency and security. The promise of any new technology is to help professionals do things better and faster, but speed can’t come at the cost of safety.

Healthcare technologies are held to the same stringent standards as the people using them.

HIPAA regulations ensure mandatory encryption technology. A slew of other safety features can help manage risk, but it’s also important to understand the tools.

Human error, not programming issues, is the number one cause of cybersecurity breaches. Healthcare leaders are responsible for ensuring not just that the best and most recent technologies are being implemented, but also that they are being used safely.

Emerging Healthcare Technologies

What technologies should administrators be focusing on? That’s an interesting question, one lacking a definitive answer. The general consensus is that these are the technologies today’s leaders should be keeping an eye on:

  • Diagnostic AI: Artificial intelligence has a proven ability to accelerate the diagnosis process with enhanced speed and accuracy. This can accelerate treatment schedules, which is an important indicator of patient outcomes.
  • Wearable health technology: Wearable health technology is not precisely new, but with IoT and AI integrations, it’s considerably more impactful than ever. Wearables can help track real-time patient data, improve biometric tracking, and generally improve both individual health awareness and institutional statistical awareness at a regional level. In other words, individuals will know more about their health, while hospitals will understand better the unique health needs of the communities that they serve.
  • Telemedicine: Not every technological innovation is necessarily AI or IoT dependent. Telemedicine relies on virtual communication tools to allow for virtual consultations. This makes it easier for patients to be seen quickly, while also reducing bottlenecks from a managerial level.

No administrator is going to implement every new technology that comes across their desk, but understanding what areas to direct your focus on can have a big impact on long-term healthcare outcomes within the communities that you are serving.

How Are These Skills Learned?

Graduate school programs are a good way to develop the most comprehensive working knowledge of not just new technologies, but also best practices in the world of healthcare. However, no administrator is going to renew their commitment to the profession in the form of a new graduate degree every five or six years just to keep up with developing technology.

There are other less intensive continuing education opportunities in the form of trainings, professional seminars, reading materials, skill boot camps, and more.

Healthcare is a profession for which ongoing learning is a literal professional requirement. Administrators can direct some of their continuing education time towards technology training to develop a stronger understanding of what is out there.

Technology Skills Are About More Than Changing Processes

It’s important to keep in mind that to have strong technology skills is not necessarily to use them only in the context of adoption. Rather, the job of an administrator or healthcare leader is to manage technology in a way that improves processes without placing undue operational stress on the existing staff.

It’s a fact that learning new technologies within a professional environment is a lengthy, expensive, and stressful process that often leads to spikes in turnover, something that pretty much no hospital can afford.

Good leaders will pick the right tools for the right moment, but also understand when opting for moderation is the right move. Leadership is ultimately a multifaceted skill. It means innovating, of course, but it also means supporting your employees in every way that you can.

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