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VMware Accelerates Healthcare Providers’ Adoption of Cloud Services

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Global Survey Ties Digital Investments to Growth, Business Resiliency During Pandemic

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Imagining a New Future for the NHS

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From Hotel to Hospital in 72 Hours

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Special Report: Digital Healthcare Innovation During COVID-19

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British Heart Foundation CTO Says Digital Transformation Is 80% Cultural

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What the Pandemic’s Taught Us About Digital Transformation

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Academy Het Dorp’s Jorrit Ebben Unlocks Possibilities for Patients in Need

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4 Stories of Greater China Organizations Leading Digital Transformation Through Disruption

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Ahmad Yahya, a Hospital CIO Reprioritizing through Pandemic

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When Every Moment Counts

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To say we’re going through a “difficult time” is the understatement of the century. Thankfully, digital technologies and innovative service providers are helping us stay grounded during this tumultuous time.

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Shining a Light on Mental Health Struggles & Digital Services

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In contrast to localized disasters, the pandemic has impacted nearly everyone in the world. And that collective experience has empowered people to voice feelings that typically go unshared. Emotions ranging from isolation and loneliness to anxiousness and worry.

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Today, not only friends and family but increasingly business leaders, politicians and sports champions—of note, former McKinsey senior partner and former chief economic and business advisor to the California governor, <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare-systems-and-services/our-insights/mental-health-in-the-workplace-the-coming-revolution" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lenny Mendonca</a>, highly decorated Olympic swimmer <a href="https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-news/pages/shrm21-annual-conference-michael-phelps-mental-health.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Michael Phelps</a>, tennis star Naomi Osaka and gymnastic great Simone Biles—speak publicly about mental health.

“There has never been a time in our history where mental health has been so prominent as a part of the collective conversation as it is now,” said Dr. Joe Grasso, clinical psychologist and senior director of Workforce Mental Health at <a href="https://www.lyrahealth.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lyra Health</a>.

“And there is fortunately some silver lining to come from COVID-19 in the form of de-stigmatizing (the) mental health struggle,” Grasso said.

From Empathy to Widely Available Services

Discussion around <a href="https://news.vmware.com/dei/empathy-leadership-trait" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">empathy as a critical leadership skill</a> has risen. So, too, has action by company leaders to promote mental health benefits and get employees who want help, the care they need. When leaders address the subject, it gives others permission to join the conversation.

“The most powerful testimonials come from leaders who speak up and say, ‘I’ve used this benefit. I find it valuable because I also struggle.’ That really shifts a work culture,” said Dr. Grasso.

What successful people coming forward shows, Dr. Grasso found, is that “any of us might struggle, but all of us should consider mental health support from a professional.”

Although attitudes are changing, there are still both financial and physical boundaries employees seeking care must overcome:

“Both of these things can keep people from getting the care they need,” according to Dr. Grasso.

Companies like Lyra work hard to combat both concerns by teaming with organizations to offer mental health benefits to employees. And during COVID-19, this has included becoming even more digitally friendly.

Human-to-human connection is the foundation for quality mental health care. Technology can simplify the process of making connections and facilitating on-going care.

Machine learning in the Lyra platform, for example, complements a self-completed care questionnaire to help match people seeking support to a subset of providers that are a best possible fit. It then goes a step further to offer employees a way to connect with providers—virtually or in person.

“What Lyra is trying to do is enhance the care experience with technology; not replace that human relationship,” according to Dr. Grasso.

Hands-on approaches also are helping people heal and thrive. Husband and wife Joanie and Scott Kriens established the <a href="https://www.1440foundation.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">1440 Foundation</a> and 1440 Multiversity as a way of creating hope for living well.

Yet the idea’s seed was planted much earlier. During Scott’s tenure as chairman and CEO of Juniper Networks, his father passed away, “bringing to light the question of what really matters,” Kriens said.

Today, the 1440 Foundation helps people connect their passions and life’s work—in real, practical, felt experiences that people can carry back with them into the world.

“There is great beauty in being of service others,” Kriens said. “Yet I’ve learned that in service to others, it will be best done by also doing that which one is passionate about themselves.”

One of those areas for him is technology. During the pandemic, technology—even digital face-to-face communication—has proven critical for basic exchanges of information, he said. “Yet, it has also exposed the difference between that and what it means to share in-person energy. And when we do, don’t waste it,” he continued.

<a href="https://soundcloud.com/pop-culture-tech-podcast/24-heart-mind-soul" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tune into the “Heart, Mind, Soul” episode</a> of the Pop Culture Tech podcast for more insights.

Listen to the Pop Culture Tech wellness episode, featuring insights from Joe Grasso of Lyra Health and Scott Kriens of the 1440 Foundation.

Pop Culture Tech Podcast 2.4: Heart, Mind, Soul

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Pop Culture Tech Podcast 2.4: Heart, Mind, Soul - The Wellness Episode

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Pop Culture Tech 2.4: Heart, Mind, Soul

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VMware Accelerates Healthcare Providers’ Adoption of Cloud Services - VMware News and Stories

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It’s no surprise that COVID-19 changed—and accelerated—most organizations’ IT plans. As a result, technology executives are increasing their investments in digital technologies. They’re also speeding up what were once multi-year technology plans.
Conducted by MIT Technology Review Insights in association with VMware, <a href="https://www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/microsites/cio-vantage/vmware-global-mit-executive-study.pdf">Digital Acceleration in the Time of Coronavirus</a>1 reveals how technology strategy contributed to business resiliency and growth. The survey showed that companies ahead of the digital curve were best positioned for success at the onset of the pandemic and in the uncertain times ahead.
In one of the first signs of changing priorities resulting from the crisis, companies quickly shifted to accommodate a surge in the remote workforce. Before COVID-19, on average, only 8% of workforces regularly worked remotely. During the pandemic, this shot up to an average of 27%.
Globally, 75% of respondents believe digital transformation efforts were accelerated by the pandemic. One-third anticipate budget increases for digital investments. Now, IT teams plan to address the shortcomings exposed during the pandemic by prioritizing:
<ol>
<li>Cloud.</li>
<li>Modern apps and infrastructure.</li>
<li>Cybersecurity.</li>
</ol>
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-23544" src="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Survey_digital-transformation-accelerated-by-pandemic_VMware-RADIUS.png" alt="" width="936" height="152" srcset="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Survey_digital-transformation-accelerated-by-pandemic_VMware-RADIUS.png 936w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Survey_digital-transformation-accelerated-by-pandemic_VMware-RADIUS.png?resize=300,49 300w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Survey_digital-transformation-accelerated-by-pandemic_VMware-RADIUS.png?resize=768,125 768w" sizes="(max-width: 936px) 100vw, 936px" />
For many, COVID-19 challenged existing business continuity plans. Nearly two-thirds (63%) indicate they had business-continuity plans in place prior to the crisis. However, for many, these were oriented toward traditional disaster recovery. Fewer than half (46%) felt their plans were effective when attempting to cope with the shutdowns.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-23545" src="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/survey_successful-business-continuity-plans_VMware-RADIUS.png" alt="" width="936" height="167" srcset="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/survey_successful-business-continuity-plans_VMware-RADIUS.png 936w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/survey_successful-business-continuity-plans_VMware-RADIUS.png?resize=300,54 300w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/survey_successful-business-continuity-plans_VMware-RADIUS.png?resize=768,137 768w" sizes="(max-width: 936px) 100vw, 936px" />
<h2>Global Industry Priorities</h2>
Industry-specific themes also emerged across regions. Removing decades-long barriers, healthcare—more than any other industry—is accelerating digital transformation in response to COVID-19. In financial services, there’s evidence that mobile applications are becoming the foremost destination for customer service. Nearly all surveyed financial services leaders (98%) said they’re increasing or maintaining focus on digital-first customer experiences within applications.
<h3>Healthcare</h3>
More than half of healthcare organizations surveyed (51%) are increasing patient experience investments. The most critical is telehealth services worldwide, filling a much-needed gap in serving healthy populations as they care for the sick. Popular solutions include virtual desktops and wearables that can enhance care provider engagement and patient outcomes. To learn more, read the <a href="http://blogs.vmware.com/industry-solutions/2020/12/15/mit-technology-review-8-trends-shaping-health-it/">healthcare insights blog</a>.
<h3>Financial Services</h3>
Almost two-thirds of financial services organizations (65%) said they’ve expanded agile practices and continuous delivery (CD) methods in response to new modern app demands. Securing those apps is also being prioritized. More than half (53%) instituted “secure-by-design” application development. Both initiatives are critical to enabling apps to become the main customer experience destination for banking services. To learn more, read the <a href="https://blogs.vmware.com/industry-solutions/2020/12/15/mit-technology-review-impact-of-digital-investments-on-financial-services-organizations-throughout-pandemic/">financial services insights blog</a>.
<h3>Government</h3>
For government leaders, the number one priority and challenge is protecting against cyberattacks and securing data and information. Close to half of respondents indicate they’re allocating a “significant” share (defined as more than 25%) of their IT budgets to security and threat management.
Many are choosing solutions that build in security, rather than bolt it on, from data centers to multi-cloud and endpoint devices. At the same time, agencies increasingly look to boost agility and efficiency with public cloud and FedRamp Authorized cloud services that power and secure enterprise infrastructure and apps. To learn more, read the <a href="http://blogs.vmware.com/industry-solutions/2020/12/15/mit-technology-review-8-government-it-trends/">government insights blog</a>. 
<h3>Telecommunications Providers</h3>
Services delivered across networks will drive a more fully connected world. Telecommunications providers are enabling customers across all industries to reimagine application development and delivery. To help consumers and enterprises alike realize the potential of 5G, telco providers must first continue to invest in their own digital transformation—from core to edge.
<h3>Retail</h3>
During the pandemic, distributed work capabilities quickly turned into business continuity must-haves. When asked about the greatest employee experience challenge, most retail leaders cited providing employees with the physical equipment necessary to be productive remotely. This includes capabilities provided by the combination of personal devices and secure digital workspaces.
<h3>Manufacturing</h3>
Nearly three-quarters of manufacturing IT and business technology decision makers (73%) placed employee efficiency and workflow automation as the highest priorities. By achieving efficiency gains through modernizing infrastructure, cost-conscious manufacturers can keep improving IT operations.
<h2>Becoming Future Ready</h2>
COVID-19 work-from-home orders and shutdowns provided sudden, dramatic proof of the value of digital technologies. Now facing new business pressures, new enterprise technology priorities are emerging.
Future-ready organizations possess technologies that are highly flexible and capable of supporting remote operations and distributed workforces. And in these uncertain times, these enterprises are best positioned to succeed.
To learn more, download “Digital Acceleration in the Time of Coronavirus”:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/microsites/cio-vantage/vmware-digital-acceleration-in-the-time-of-coronavirus-north-america.pdf">Outlook North America</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/microsites/cio-vantage/vmware-digital-acceleration-in-the-time-of-coronavirus-europe.pdf">Outlook Europe</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/microsites/cio-vantage/vmware-digital-acceleration-in-the-time-of-coronavirus-asia-pacific.pdf">Outlook Asia-Pacific</a></li>
</ul>
And be sure to check out the <a href="https://www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/microsites/cio-vantage/vmware-global-mit-executive-study.pdf">Top 10 Trends Shaping IT Resilience</a> for a roundup of the most salient global insights from the study.
1. Global survey of 600 C-level and IT executives, as well as in-depth interviews from public- and private-sector organizations in three regions—Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America—conducted between June-August 2020.

Global report shows that IT organizations with an existing digital-first operating model proved to be best-prepared for disruption. Explore the findings.

IT organizations with an existing digital-first operating model proved to be best-prepared for disruption. Explore the findings.

Global Survey Ties Digital Investments to Growth, Business Resiliency

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Survey Ties Digital Investments to COVID-19 Business Resiliency, Growth

Mark Hutchinson knew he was taking on a big challenge when he joined Gloucestershire NHS Trust in 2018. IT infrastructure was in desperate need of modernization. Six-year-old PCs without anti-virus protection and 16-year-old networking equipment were commonplace. At the same time, IT budgets were limited as the Trust addressed significant financial debt.
<div id="attachment_23432" style="width: 2570px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://news.vmware.com/c/agents-of-change/"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-23432" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-23432 size-full" src="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/AoC-Quote-Card-Gloucestershire-Hospitals-NHS-meme-1-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1340" srcset="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/AoC-Quote-Card-Gloucestershire-Hospitals-NHS-meme-1-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/AoC-Quote-Card-Gloucestershire-Hospitals-NHS-meme-1-scaled.jpg?resize=300,157 300w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/AoC-Quote-Card-Gloucestershire-Hospitals-NHS-meme-1-scaled.jpg?resize=768,402 768w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/AoC-Quote-Card-Gloucestershire-Hospitals-NHS-meme-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1024,536 1024w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/AoC-Quote-Card-Gloucestershire-Hospitals-NHS-meme-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1536,804 1536w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/AoC-Quote-Card-Gloucestershire-Hospitals-NHS-meme-1-scaled.jpg?resize=2048,1072 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /></a>VMware’s <a href="https://news.vmware.com/c/agents-of-change/">Agents of Change</a> initiative celebrates technology leaders who challenge the status quo. By harnessing the power of digital transformation, they create unlimited possibilities for their businesses. Here’s the next leader in the Agents of Change series: Mark Hutchinson, chief digital and information officer at Gloucestershire NHS Trust.</div>
<h2>Proven Ability to Drive Change</h2>
Appointing Hutchinson as chief digital and information officer was a smart move. With two decades of experience in the NHS, he’s proven his ability to bring about significant transformation. He set up the first telemedicine service in England. Then, he set up Salford Royal NHS Trust’s electronic patient records system in 2013, earning it recognition as the NHS’s most digitally mature hospital.
“When I arrived at Gloucestershire NHS Trust, we had a myriad of problems,” Hutchinson said. “We quickly put in place an ambitious five-year plan to address the digital deficit and bring about improvements for our clinicians and patients.”
<h2>Justifying Digital Investments</h2>
With the Trust under financial strain, technology investments underwent close scrutiny.
“Healthcare is getting more expensive over time, and hospitals need to treat more people. So when it comes to spending, the focus is quite rightly on patient care. Every time we invest in digital solutions, it’s seen in the context of the cost of a doctor or nurse on a ward. So, it’s really important to engage with clinicians and to engage with the board to ensure a shared understanding of how these investments will create tangible improvements in patient care—from both a quality perspective and also the financial benefit it will bring,” he said.
A key part of Hutchinson’s strategy was rolling out an electronic patient records system. Clinicians can now securely access patient records from anywhere and from any device. This innovation gives staff more time to focus on patient care.
“I think this job is the best in the hospital,” he said. “I have powerful digital tools that have the capability to make care better for every patient every day. For so many people working in a hospital, their day is consumed with patient care. To be somebody who can focus on imagining a different future and then make it happen for the clinical teams is really exciting.”
 
COVID-19 Accelerates Change
Like healthcare organizations across the world, the COVID-19 pandemic increased pressure. And hospitals rallied to the cause.
“The pandemic has been a phenomenally, powerful agent for change. In some cases, we did nine months of work in nine days in order to get people working from home, for example, enabling clinicians to be at home providing care to patients, who are also at home,” Hutchinson said. “Digital solutions that would have taken us years to persuade people to use are now commonplace. It’s really brought about change at a much faster pace than ever before.”
The organization also has a culture of constant improvement and innovation. Examples include its Quality Improvement Academy and recruiting talent from outside the industry to bring new perspectives. Hutchinson also believes successful transformation comes down to leadership.
“Constantly encouraging teams to look for ways in which they can improve the service they provide is really important. In an organization of 8,000 people, if everybody just spends a small proportion of their week looking for small improvements, we can make really big changes together,” he said.
When asked about the secret to leading big, successful digital transformation initiatives, Hutchinson points to three factors.
“You need technical solutions that you are really confident in. You need clinicians who are willing to champion change. And you need enthusiastic people in your digital team who will really push and drive the best solutions possible,” he said.

This article is the latest in the Agents of Change series, a look at how technology leaders challenge the status quo to discover new possibilities for their organizations.

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The CD&IO at Gloucestershire NHS Trust on the importance of building a shared vision with clinicians and the board.

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Imagining a New Future for the NHS - VMware News and Stories

How American Hospital Dubai’s agile response to the COVID-19 pandemic helped saved lives—and the innovative healthcare IT that made it all possible.

Tourism fuels much of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) economy. The federation of seven emirates in the Middle East is well known for its <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/dubai-best-beaches/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ultra-luxury beaches</a> and bustling commerce. Recently, the emirate of Dubai <a href="https://gulfnews.com/business/tourism/dubai-ranked-9th-globally-in-cities-with-highest-hotel-rooms-1.2000521" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ranked ninth globally</a> in a list of cities with the largest number of hotel rooms—more than 100,000 rooms housing more than <a href="https://www.globalmediainsight.com/blog/dubai-tourism-statistics/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">16 million</a> international visitors a year.

That was before COVID-19. As the pandemic accelerated around the globe, hospital beds filled, instead.

<a href="https://www.ahdubai.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">American Hospital Dubai</a> would soon be challenged by shortages of medical staff, personal protective equipment (PPE) and space. Owning both healthcare and hospitality real estate in Dubai, the Mohamed and Obaid Al Mulla Group had an opportunity to improve lives and health outcomes by reimagining its resources.

To support its community during the global health crisis, the group quickly converted a hotel into a hospital. Not in a year or a few months—but in 72 hours.

This decision would prove lifesaving in the care of some of the more than 91,000 people in the UAE that tested positive for COVID-19.

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Like many other countries, the UAE moved as quickly as it could to enforce strict measures on its 10 million residents—nearly three in 10 of whom live in the emirate of Dubai—to curb the spread of COVID-19. Dubai locked down all tourism for a month and established an evening curfew. Still, the outbreak kept coming and continued to infect citizens.

“Every day is an unknown,” explains Ahmad Yahya, chief information officer at American Hospital Dubai in the UAE.

To meet its own high-quality standards and patient expectations, the healthcare organization quickly got to work. They rapidly transformed a hotel into a full-service field hospital to treat COVID-19 patients. A tall order—but achievable—because of its ownership group’s commitment to both corporate social responsibility and modern IT.

Being agile—in mindsets, performance and actions—was critical to the aggressive plan. And digital technology would make all the difference.

Infrastructure security, reliability and performance were top of mind as IT readied the new facility. Yet, hospital staff had to deal with supply-chain interruptions. This challenge proved significant. Peaks in short-term demand for devices and IT hardware revealed international logistics breakdowns.

“We had to source hardware from different suppliers, purchasing channels and reallocate hardware and equipment from our satellite clinics,” explains Yahya.

As resources arrived, American Hospital Dubai quickly worked to “secure the hotel’s network, extend our main campus network to the facility and insure proper remote access was provided to clinical and admin staff,” <a href="https://blogs.vmware.com/emea/en/2020/04/cio-ahmad-yahya-on-how-covid-19-has-changed-it-priorities-at-american-hospital-dubai/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Yahya says</a>.

The team bolstered IT security measures, too. They needed to quickly minimize the exposure of patient data at a much higher standard than guest room security needs. That included reconfiguring the network, implementing firewalls and securing the computing environment to extend the hospital’s main campus network to the field hospital.

The healthcare organization benefitted from the seamless access and agility enabled by its software-defined digital foundation. “<a href="https://www.vmware.com/products/hyper-converged-infrastructure.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hyper-converged infrastructure</a> is the key to faster time to market and really helps us in our next phase of deployment or transformation,” says Yahya.

At the same time, UAE became an active member of the <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/a-live-digital-platform-behind-the-scenes-for-more-effective-and-transparent-country-response" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">World Health Organization’s (WHO) Partners Platform</a> in response to COVID-19. It was one of the first in the Eastern Mediterranean Region to upload its response plan.

The WHO Partners Platform is a source for all countries to:

The end result is greater transparency than the world had during the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak.

Patients in need keep doctors, nurses and staff persevering through challenges.

One patient, in particular, stands out for Semeh Abu Arqoub, the hospital’s chief nursing officer. The patient spent three months at American Hospital Dubai fighting COVID-19—two months in the ICU, one month on another floor. Now, he’s fully recovered and back home with his family.

“After discharge, he said, ‘First, I have to pass by the ICU team.’ And he gave them a big thank you. And they were so happy to see him again. That makes you feel proud of what your team can accomplish,” Abu Arqoub says.

Beyond the field hospital, American Hospital Dubai strengthened its remote-work capabilities for non-essential employees in the call center, finance and HR. The organization launched new telehealth services months earlier than expected to continue to meet the needs of its healthy populations.

It was all possible because of American Hospital Dubai’s digital transformation journey—with Yahya as a key <a href="https://www.news.vmware.com/hospital-cio-reprioritizing-in-pandemic/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">change agent and champion</a>.

Setting up a field hospital in 72 hours is no small feat. And Yahya calls the effort “a really good testament to where technology really lends itself for the good of not only the city, but for the country.”

“Across the healthcare industry, the adoption of digital technology has been hugely accelerated as hospitals and healthcare authorities scrambled to deal with COVID-19,” Yahya recently told <a href="https://www.intelligentcio.com/me/2020/05/19/american-hospital-dubai-cio-on-coping-with-covid-19/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Intelligent CIO</a>. “The pivot to digital that we’re seeing is not going to stop. And these digital investments will support the transformation of medical services in the future.”

Talking about future plans, Yahya describes investing in a private clinical cloud to serve as a care institution for nearby healthcare organizations and engaging with management about revenue opportunities. Specifically, American Hospital Dubai is working with VMware to build a private cloud. The shared IT service platform will serve both the hospital and the Mohammad Obaid Al-Mulla Group.

“Within the hospital, we currently have silos of IT, for example, in bio-medical engineering and facilities management. But, migrating everything to one common platform will bring lots of benefits,” he says.

The vision is to use VMware vRealize to manage the private cloud, so he and his team “can automate a lot of IT infrastructure management, improve the ongoing management of provisioned resources and understand the consumption of resources by end users.” With a complete digital platform in place, new healthcare services will be easier to roll out, faster.

“The current situation should be an eye-opener to executive management, highlighting the need to invest more in technology,” he says. “The fact that hospitals like American Hospital Dubai have been able to adapt right away should really validate some of the business cases for the investments put forward to them.”

American Hospital Dubai rapidly responded to COVID-19 with a field hospital, remote work and telehealth services.

Digital Transformation Readies American Hospital Dubai for COVID-19

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With high transmissibility, COVID-19 indefinitely alters the way we live. Fortunately, hospitals and healthcare systems are using innovative technology to save lives.

Hospitals and healthcare systems across the world stepped up as heroes to support their communities through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hospital workers acted fast to save lives and control the outbreak. Health system leaders deployed rapid response and business continuity plans. Practitioners implemented non-contact methods of patient care during shelter-in-place orders. Radiologists and other hospital personnel transitioned to working at home, enabling first-responders with the support and information they needed in real-time.

Three threads tie all these efforts together: humanitarian commitment, agile mindsets and digital innovation.

When the pandemic reached the United Arab Emirates, American Hospital Dubai had to rapidly switch to three key priorities:

Using Technology to Track a Health Crisis

Digital health technology can facilitate pandemic strategy and response in ways that are difficult to achieve manually. Countries, such as South Korea, integrated digital technology into government-coordinated containment and mitigation processes, including:

These capabilities could help with the early flattening of their incidence curves.

The need to track COVID-19 transmission fueled global digital innovation.

One thing is clear: Patients want greater personalization in their care. During the pandemic, this is more true than ever.

Patients are looking for the same easy, remote and intuitive access to healthcare that they get from their shopping and banking experiences. This “consumerization” of healthcare drives hospitals, clinics and physician practices to find new ways to build processes and procedures around patient needs rather than traditional healthcare delivery methods.

Case Study: Braunschweig Municipal Hospital

“A hospital CIO must always remember that the primary job of the hospital is to improve the health of a patient,” says Norman Lüttgerding, CIO of Braunschweig Municipal Hospital. “Any changes the IT team makes to processes must benefit the clinician and the patient. That means we need to really understand what our clinicians do and ensure we enable them—not hinder them. This is what I mean by less technology and more humanity.”

In a time when the very safety of patients and hospital staff depends on social distancing, digital technologies are vital. One of the major trends in healthcare technology is the “digital clinical workspace.”

Digital clinical workspaces provide secure, simple access to patient information on the right device for the right task at the right time. The technology helps unify user, desktop and mobile access management for higher productivity and lower operational costs. It also helps clinicians improve healthcare outcomes across the care continuum, helping them focus on the patient—not the technology.

Case Study: Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Like others in the healthcare space, Gloucestershire wants to accelerate its digital transformation. The proliferation of mobile devices, Wi-Fi-enabled medical equipment and seamless connectivity across multiple sites has the power to completely transform the way the trust delivers care.

This is not digital transformation for transformation’s sake. There are three business objectives to the program. Gloucestershire wants to improve business continuity, provide services to other healthcare providers in the region and make it faster to deploy or scale-up new digital services. Digital transformation will create a more connected, robust and dynamic healthcare environment. Now, these goals have accelerated due to rapid changes in global health needs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

<a href="https://blogs.vmware.com/emea/en/2020/07/accelerating-the-digital-transformation-of-uk-healthcare/">Read the full story</a>.

Telemedicine: Where Health & Digital Technology Meet Face to Face

Changes are needed to reduce staff exposure to ill patients, preserve personal protective equipment (PPE) and minimize the impact of patient surges on facilities. Internet connectivity and mobile devices make home-based services like tele-pharmacy and telemedicine a reality. These are great options if patients feel too sick to leave their homes, worry about contracting COVID-19 or simply want a second opinion.

Remote access to healthcare services may increase participation for those who are medically or socially vulnerable or do not have ready access to providers. Recent policy changes reduced barriers to telehealth access and promoted the use of telehealth to deliver acute, chronic, primary and specialty care.

Five benefits and potential uses of telehealth:

IoMT is transforming healthcare operations. And <a href="https://www.news.vmware.com/tag/5g/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">5G innovations</a> promise to amplify those transformative capabilities across the world.

Data from “medical things,” such as detectors on diagnostic devices or implants in patients’ bodies, can be sent to centralized databases for healthcare professionals to analyze in real-time. With IoMT, healthcare providers can also collect data from wearables and broad—even global—networks of interconnected medical devices and equipment. The combination of 5G and IoMT innovations will enable better care to be delivered faster and at less cost, a benefit to both patients and providers, particularly during the global pandemic.

“Today, our healthcare system is facing a monumental challenge in COVID-19,” Mike Katz, executive vice president, T-Mobile for Business, says in a <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/advertorial/2020/04/08/todays-pandemic-shows-us-the-promise-of-the-internet-of-medical-everything.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CNBC article</a>. “Patients are pouring into hospitals in need of fast triage, testing and care. At the same time, medical professionals need ways to minimize exposure to non-infected people, including themselves. But imagine a future where technologies like AR and VR can be used to speed or even automate, diagnose and consult patients on the next steps through telehealth platforms. The sooner we can integrate that into our healthcare system with reliable network access, the better off patients and medical professionals can be.”

While telehealth and other digital healthcare technology are not new, widespread adoption was relatively slow—until the pandemic. However, like so many other technology use cases, there are privacy and security concerns. In fact, the healthcare industry is one of the most highly regulated when it comes to protecting patient privacy and security. And for good reason: the healthcare industry is one of the top targets for cybercrime.

“There really are many different vectors through which bad actors can infiltrate hospital systems. There is the potential for brute force hacking into the hospital’s network, accessing IoT devices such as security cameras, medical devices like X-ray machines and many others. But the biggest vulnerability point is end users who are not attentive,” says Richard Temple, CISO at Deborah Heart and Lung Center, in Forbes Insights’ <a href="https://www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/solutions/industry/vmware-healthcare-report-final-print.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Healthcare Industry Seeks Cybersecurity Remedies report.</a>

Governmental bodies across the world are focused on ensuring citizen privacy and security, particularly regarding healthcare-related use. As digital innovation becomes more ingrained in patient care, both private and public organizations are collaborating during the pandemic to protect patient rights.

Technology companies are collaborating with partners to shore up healthcare IT infrastructure in support of digital services.

This is very true for healthcare workers, as well, particularly those not on the front lines.

In the wake of COVID-19, medical professionals are using new technology to access apps in a virtual environment. For <a href="https://www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/casestudy/customers/vmware-nebraska-medicine-casestudy.pdf">Nebraska Medical Center</a>, all employees who did not need to go into the hospital worked from home. To stay productive remotely, they accessed required apps and resources via a <a href="https://www.vmware.com/products/workspace-one.html">digital workspace</a>.

“The investment we made in our digital workspace strategy is certainly helping us maintain continuity and deliver better care in these extraordinary times,” says Brian Lancaster, vice president of information technology, Nebraska Medicine.

Now that employees, teachers and students work from home, Lancaster says he sees long-term implications that it will continue long after the coronavirus pandemic ends.

“I think people will enjoy the benefits of remote work,” he says. “I don’t think we go back to where we were. I think we have an opportunity to access our physical offices in new ways and that it gives us new ways to do work, learn and provide patient care.”

Case Study: Guangzhou Overseas Chinese Hospital 

In the Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ) region, many organizations shifted mindsets to think about business continuity plans and remote work best practices and capabilities. The Guangzhou Overseas Chinese Hospital protected non-front line staff by setting up its 300-member medical imaging team for remote work. By making all X-ray, CT and MRI images available on a <a href="https://www.vmware.com/topics/glossary/content/virtual-desktops">virtual desktop</a>, 300 doctors can now access this vital service at any hour from any location. This means that productivity during this crucial time is uninterrupted.

<a href="https://www.news.vmware.com/remote-work-best-practices-greater-china/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read the full story</a>.

Predicting what lies ahead is difficult, yet one thing is certain: Health systems are radically changing in the face of the global crisis.

Countries worldwide are attempting to provide the best healthcare to all, while rationing resources to ensure it’s there when the vulnerable need it most.

As the tech industry does everything it can to help fight the pandemic, we will continue to see developments that are not only beneficial to help us fight this crisis, but also prepare us for the next.

With the global pandemic COVID-19, healthcare IT—from apps to telehealth and patient data security—is essential to providing the best care possible.

Special Report: Digital Healthcare Innovating During Pandemic

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Jecoby Carter

For Angel MedFlight, digital transformation means more than technology. It means helping families and saving lives—40,000 feet in the air.

From car accidents to sudden illnesses and organ transplants, getting help fast could be the difference between life or death.

The Angel MedFlight team literally flies to the rescue. Since 2007, the air ambulance firm’s team has helped save thousands of lives.

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From hot air balloons during the Siege of Paris in 1870 to IoT-powered aircraft today, watch the history of air ambulances.

Several years ago, Angel MedFlight had the opportunity to transform their company. The leadership team knew they had a powerful opportunity.

“We went down this path of, ‘What can we do to not make this just a company, but the best healthcare air ambulance company in the world? How can we make it easier for employees? How can we allow the employees to provide the highest level of healthcare, clinical excellence, as a well as customer care?’” says Green.

Hear from Dena Piquette-Garcia, a recipient of Angel MedFlight’s uniquely compassionate patient care promise.

This introspection was sparked by a core challenge: It took hours to coordinate a patient transport. And that meant less patients helped each day. Green estimates it took 2-3 hours just to get the plane off the ground, because the team had to:

To top off an already complicated situation, Angel MedFlight faces the extreme challenges facing all healthcare organizations, such as:

Added to the complexity is the fact that medical treatment happens 40,000 feet in the air. The team needed to completely shift the paradigm, reimagining their entire infrastructure, processes and workflows.

This paradigm shift resulted in a massive digital transformation initiative—one that reduced operational tasks from hours to minutes. The end result? Angel MedFlight can now save more lives than ever before.

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted healthcare organizations unlike anything else in a century. As the pandemic spread across the globe, Angel MedFlight faced the same types of business continuity challenges as other organizations. Yet maintaining productivity for employees is particularly important for Angel MedFlight, because it experienced an increase in flights during the pandemic. The company is one of the only air ambulance providers with portable isolation chambers to transport COVID-19 patients.

“We have not slowed down at all,” <a href="https://www.vmware.com/content/microsites/possible/stories/angel-medflight.html?src=RADIUS" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">says Green</a>. “Now more than ever, patients across the country need safe medical flights for specialty care. Our air ambulances provide a safe, sterile environment to transport patients to the right level of care.”

Fortunately, the company’s leadership understands the importance of having <a href="https://www.vmware.com/radius/tag/business-continuity/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">business continuity</a> plans in place—in addition to disaster recovery strategies.

“Disaster recovery can help you get back to work after a sudden event, like a fire in your data center. But business continuity is critical for keeping your business operating during an extended, challenging period, like the one we’re experiencing now,” says Green. “You have to make sure employees can continue to work so your company will still be in business when the situation resolves.”

Angel MedFlight is serious about their commitment to patients. This starts with a guarantee to have their call center, staffed by experienced healthcare and coordination professionals, open and available 24/7 every day of the year. Once the patient is ready for transport, the Angel MedFlight medical crew utilizes their MEDLOG2 system to provide bedside-to-bedside medical care while transporting patients. That’s why the technology behind the scenes is so crucial. It’s also why they chose key technology partners, like VMware, to maintain their “always up” infrastructure — and with room to grow.

“When a patient needs an air medical transport, often they need it now. That technology allows us to be more efficient and get those patient transfers on time and where they need to be,” says Kim Halloran, VP business development, Angel MedFlight. “They already have the expertise to be caring for a patient at 40,000 feet. Now, we’ve given them the strength of information at their fingertips.”

Every patient has a unique story and a unique need, from a life-threatening disease to a devastating accident. For CIO Paul Green, one of the most powerful Angel MedFlight use cases is transplants.

2018 saw more U.S. transplants than ever before, according to the <a href="https://unos.org/data/transplant-trends/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">United Network for Organ Sharing</a>. U.S. healthcare providers performed more than 36,000 transplants in 2018. Yet in 2017, approximately 18 patients died every day waiting for a transplant.

“Transplants are a time-sensitive subject, and in no way, shape or form would we want our company to be the reason why a recipient didn’t get there to receive an organ transplant,” says Green.

Geography is one of the biggest barriers to saving a life. A donor heart, for example, might be found halfway across the country. To receive that heart, the recipient would need to in most cases move closer to their transplant hospital or in rare cases buy a commercial plane ticket to fly to the organ. The costs are staggering for the family, and time is not on their side.

“These families deal with both financial and emotional costs,” says Green. “Our goal is to keep the family dynamic intact in their home city. Having your support system intact during a medical crisis is extremely important part of the healing process. We want to allow them to be multi-listed across the country and be transported when the organ offer becomes available.”

Digital transformation changed the game for Angel MedFlight — and changed the lives of patients in need.

“With technology, we cut down the time it takes for us to get an aircraft in the air and information to clinicians. So now, geography is no longer an issue. And having geography no longer being an issue means we can help more people in this country get transplanted. We can move them to the facilities faster,” says Green.

<a href="https://www.angelmedflight.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Learn more about Angel MedFlight and their powerful mission.</a>

For Angel MedFlight, digital transformation means using tech for good, helping families and saving lives—40,000 feet in the air.

For Angel MedFlight, digital transformation means more than technology. It means helping families and saving lives.