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Digital Transformation in Healthcare: What happened to the “new normal”?

woman using her laptop on video call

When the pandemic was new, and Zoom was not yet a verb, I often heard the phrase “new normal.” I ended up hating that expression because it often referred to things that were not new (i.e. telemedicine, remote learning, electronic medical records), and also because the way these changes happened were not normal. Does that make sense?

As applied to organizations, here are the essential components of digital transformation from the Harvard Business Review:

My phone vibrates and I know I’ve an SMS. It’s a kilometric update from the MROD, informing me of a patient being referred for co-management of diabetes. I know if I opened the EMR, I will see exactly the same thing! Sadly, it doesn’t mean that I will find the information I need to know. From the long blocks of text on my phone, the information useful and relevant to me was only found in two lines – more than 10 years with diabetes, on glimepiride and metformin. I had so many questions. Maybe, I’ll just call the endocrine fellow.

How have health workers changed? Has the EMR enabled data-driven decisions which translate to better care for our patients? It’s 2023! Have we achieved the “new normal”? Or are things back to the way they used to be? Let’s discuss that at the #HealthXPH tweet chat 22 April 9 pm Manila time.

T1. In healthcare, what has changed after the COVID-19 pandemic? Are we on our way to digital transformation in healthcare?

T2. In healthcare, what has not changed after the COVID-19 pandemic? Are we on our way to digital transformation in healthcare?

T3. Working towards digital transformation in healthcare, what has changed after the COVID-19 pandemic which you wish hadn’t? Or what hasn’t changed, which you wish had?

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