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a robust, scalable and secure network infrastructure.

Against the backdrop of the many demands placed on the healthcare industry, state-of-the-art Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure and services can help revolutionise multiple spheres of operations, clinical workflows, and patient experiences and engagement. The fourth in a series of reports that address the infrastructure opportunities for each of these areas, this report outlines the

role of the network in progressing the patient experience through connected healthcare.

BY CIC ANALYSTS

Patients drive the connected healthcare agendaPatients’ expectations for their healthcare experiences are changing. They demand easier, faster and more flexible access to services, as well as a more personalised experience and, of course, better health outcomes. In response to this – alongside inefficient processes and increased security concerns – healthcare organisations are investing in new technology-based solutions to help transform patient experiences, helping to build trust and confidence, and positively impact patient outcomes. However, in order to maximise the opportunities and benefits from this connected healthcare strategy, new applications and solutions need to be underpinned by

Progressing the patient experience in IoT and connected healthcare

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CIC ANALYSTS Bola Rotibi, Research Director; Cornelia Wels-Maug, Principal Healthcare Analyst; Ian Murphy, Principal Analyst; Clive Howard, Principal Analyst.

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From patient to patient-consumerThe notion of patient experience in healthcare marks a significant shift – from the traditional focus on institutional stakeholders, such as hospitals and payers, to individuals and their families: the patient now takes centre stage. Healthcare has come to acknowledge the growing role of patients as consumers, and has started to develop strategies and offerings that fulfil consumers’ needs and preferences, and aim to engage them in an end-to-end, personalised customer experience, whilst offering high quality care.

In a connected healthcare ecosystem, patient experience is based upon the use of information technology (IT) to deliver a more consumer-friendly healthcare encounter. Patients and healthcare professionals alike expect easy access to healthcare – independent of the location, timing and type of device used – making mobile technology a particularly important part of the equation.

Patient experience as a differentiator for providersNo longer content to be passive recipients of care, patient-consumers are eager to manage their own health by being better informed and more discriminating on quality and price, and they are increasingly willing to vote with their feet and walk away from poor service. As a result, healthcare institutions have begun to invest in patient experience as a competitive differentiator, as part of a wider patient engagement strategy. According to a HIMSS Analytics’ survey carried out in the first quarter of 2016, 58% of health organisations in Europe said they have a formal strategy in place to enable patient engagement through IT, to achieve their health goals. While the survey has yet to be repeated, improving patient engagement is regularly cited as a crucial tenet for healthcare transformation, so it is likely that more healthcare organisations will look to put such strategies in place.

1Patient engagement systems

that, for example, offer access to test results, the ability to make appointments

online and get reminders for appointments;

3 Access to condition-specific

advice and education material and knowledge assessment quizzes,

which help patients take more control of their healthcare, and can also

reduce readmissions;

4 Support for innovative

treatment options, like the use of virtual reality for

dealing with pain;

5 In-hospital onlineservices, including providing free Wi-Fi

for patients and visitors, access to entertainment, such as movies, and

enabling patients to order meals during a hospital stay - all of which

helps improve the experience for patients.

Patient experience strategies inside a healthcare

setting aim to optimise a patient’s need for information, education,

convenience, well-being, and entertainment, all at the patient

point of care. Examples include:

2 Location-based services

that help patients navigate their way in a healthcare facility, reducing

patient anxiety and delays c aused by lateness;

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Healthcare moving closer to the consumerConsumerisation, however, also drives patience experience outside the confines of traditional healthcare delivery, into retail locations, like pharmacies, and to the home, through telemonitoring systems and audio/video communication capabilities that can be used for teleconsultations or online therapies. Patients increasingly demand access to portals with verified and reliable health information.

In conjunction with smartphones, sensor technology, artificial intelligence and cognitive computing, digital

transformation has the potential to move patient care at home to a new level. As consumers increasingly consult chatbots for an initial health check, use their smartphones as a diagnostic tool, or deploy FDA-approved medical devices connected by the Internet of Things (IoT) to track and monitor their status and their compliance with medication intake to manage chronic conditions, for example, the shift towards an “anywhere, anytime, any device” healthcare delivery model becomes a reality.

The importance of the network for improved patient experiencesHowever, for these solutions to deliver the improvements to patient experiences that are intended, it is critical that the right network infrastructure is in place to support them. Launching Wi-Fi services for patients and visitors will have little positive effect on their experience if they are unable to access it, or if it is unreliable or insecure. At the same time, while patients might appreciate the availability of the free Wi-Fi services, they will not accept such services compromising the security or operational effectiveness of the medical technology services required to deliver their treatment or care. In practice, such an experience is more likely to damage their trust in the healthcare organisation’s ability to support them effectively, and also renders the cost of implementing the solution largely wasted.

The network provides a number of critical functions to ensure the smooth and efficient operation of connected healthcare services:

Monitoring the traffic that runs across the network can highlight unexpected traffic patterns, which quickly point to security or capacity management issues that network teams can then react to.

Security – along with data privacy and protection – is sacrosanct in healthcare and is the basis of trust in administering clinical services. The network has become a powerful instrument for security, privacy and protection. It is able to track the passage of information and identify early any vulnerabilities and attacks, with the means to act swiftly and directly. The latest network products and solutions now incorporate security and protection by design, with the ability to support segmented traffic and operations.

Automation is essential for networks that must adapt and respond to fast-changing information, but also for enabling more sophisticated control and management. By speeding up the provisioning of network resources and the administering of fixes, it ensures compliance with the latest security policies, and frees up IT staff, while providing a faster and more efficient and responsive service.

Network prioritisation enables the prioritisation of traffic related to a specific healthcare application over all others, and ensures that non-critical services are not dominating bandwidth to the detriment of care-related services. For example, ensuring that MRI data processes are not slowed by patients streaming video over the free Wi-Fi.

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4Analytics is a critical capability, to enable both IT teams and networking tools to derive insights from the large volumes of data within the connected healthcare environment, and to understand what is happening within the network. For example, analytics help identify bandwidth problems to enable network prioritisation to be applied.5

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Support for the wide range of network technologies (3G/4G/5G, Bluetooth, etc.) enables a rich variety of engagement experiences and other opportunities. Healthcare is being flooded by a mix of specialist applications, data analytics, accounting, mobile apps and so on. While all add value, each creates its own data volumes and its own bandwidth. It is crucial to put in place strategies that support the increase in data volumes.

It is vital to ensure that networking capabilities are delivered in a way that enables IT functions to handle the rapidly increasing complexity and demands placed upon the network by connected healthcare solutions. One example is to partition the network to separate bandwidth-intensive or non-critical applications and services, such as public Wi-Fi for patients and visitors, from high-priority clinical systems, such as life support systems.

The network is a powerful instrument for security, privacy and protection. It is able to track the passage of information and identify early any vulnerabilities and attacks, with the means to act swiftly. Network

infrastructure has evolved to incorporate security by design, with the ability to segment traffic and operations. The ICT infrastructure needs to be intelligent, so as to proactively surface insights, to help secure and protect the organisation and the community it serves.

By ensuring that the underlying network architecture is fit for purpose, the healthcare organisation can ensure it delivers the full benefits of its connected healthcare investment, in terms of increased quality of care, safety and operational efficiency.

Spotlight on Cisco’s portfolio for progressing the patient experienceCisco’s offerings to support connected healthcare start with the network, ensuring that communication is reliable, fast and secure. Cisco DNA for Healthcare leverages advances in Cisco’s network products (switches, routers, wireless and applications) and virtualised functions that enable immediate support for a range of digital technologies and application services. The DNA infrastructure and application portfolio provides an end-to-end platform for digitally connecting patients and healthcare teams and delivering the core business value metrics for the healthcare industry. Real-time analytics across network traffic and events monitoring tools provide actionable insights that can be applied to improve patient experiences and increase security postures. The network can be configured to provide a consistent experience, even in physical locations where usage is typically higher. Security is paramount, and the ability to rapidly respond to issues (or potential issues) is built in to the offering, along with other key policy and management capabilities.

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To learn more about connected healthare and Cisco’s offerings in this area, please see the other reports in this series:CIC Briefing Note: The network foundation for IoT and connected healthcareCIC Briefing Note: Security priorities for IoT and connected healthcareCIC Briefing Note: Streamlining clinical experiences in IoT and connected healthcare

In addition to traditional network infrastructure, Cisco offers a variety of additional products and capabilities that address the new challenges facing healthcare organisations:

enables organisations to offer an always-on wireless network, that provides all patients and guests with reliable Wi-Fi, and supports the delivery of mobile applications. The solution can adapt to the needs of specific physical locations where usage is high, or where bandwidth intensive applications may be used, ensuring optimal experience wherever the user is located. Other benefits of this solution include: giving patients the ability to navigate often complex campuses; delivering real-time mobile notifications; mobile check-in to reduce wait times; and soliciting feedback from patients regarding their experience. Also part of the mobility solution is Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences (CMX). This supports the increasing demand for mobile solutions, that can empower health workers with real-time patient data and allow them to be more responsive and pro-active. It also provides location services and analytics that enables organisations to better tailor patient experiences based on powerful insights.

is designed to improve patient experiences, through a variety of capabilities, such as call processing, prompts and rich VXML scripting, voice response collection, agent selection, queuing, interpretation services, appointment scheduling/reminders, and reporting. It includes apps, phones and devices, and a virtualised infrastructure that provides greater flexibility and security.

brings together wired and wireless in a way that enables faster delivery of network capabilities, supporting greater agility within IT and the business when it comes to deploying and scaling solutions. This can greatly improve patient interactions such as the scheduling of appointments, creating follow-up actions, and enabling language interpretation services. Alongside this, Cisco Unified Intelligence Center provides reporting in the form of dashboards that IT and healthcare professionals can use to optimise future interactions.

CISCO MOBILITY FOR HEALTHCARE

CISCO HEALTHCARE CONTACT CENTER

CISCO UNIFIED ACCESS

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