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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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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.

VMware Staff

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.

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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.

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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.

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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:

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

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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.”

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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.

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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.

Jecoby Carter

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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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.

core/columns

core/group

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.

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When Every Moment Counts | Angel MedFlight | Tech for Good

“During times of crisis and uncertainty, leaders need to make decisions quickly, even when information is incomplete. We must also embrace the mindset of continual learning because we have to be adaptive to the ever-changing challenges.”
This leadership advice comes from Ursula Dolton, chief technology officer at the British Heart Foundation (BHF). The charity funds research into heart and circulatory disease. It also supports the 7.4 million people living with these conditions in the UK.
<div id="attachment_22393" style="width: 1210px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-22393" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-22393 size-full" src="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/BFHCTO_FACEBOOK_1200x628.png" alt="" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/BFHCTO_FACEBOOK_1200x628.png 1200w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/BFHCTO_FACEBOOK_1200x628.png?resize=300,157 300w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/BFHCTO_FACEBOOK_1200x628.png?resize=768,402 768w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/BFHCTO_FACEBOOK_1200x628.png?resize=1024,536 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" />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: Ursula Dolton, Chief Technology Officer at the British Heart Foundation.</div>
Under her guidance, the charity navigated the many challenges brought about by the coronavirus outbreak. This included dealing with a rapid drop in income with the cancellation of many fundraising events and the temporary closure of the charity’s 750 high street shops. Like so many organisations, a combination of strong leadership and technology was key to its successful response.
In a matter of weeks, Dolton’s team:
<ul>
<li>Enabled remote working for employees.</li>
<li>Increased digital fundraising.</li>
<li>Improved online service delivery for patients and families.</li>
</ul>
“It’s been tough, but it’s brought about even stronger alignment between the business and IT. It’s also pushed us to be creative in how we can better approach activities like fundraising with digital,” she says.
Innovation at a charity can never be for innovation’s sake.
“I&#8217;m constantly under pressure to make sure that we deliver innovation. We&#8217;re not short of ideas. We have hundreds of ideas because BHF is full of people who are absolutely passionate about everything they do,” Dolton explains. “But every penny we spend counts. I have to make sure innovation efforts help achieve our mission and provide true value.”
Dolton is excited about mapping and managing customer journeys to better support fundraising activity.
“We want our donors to have a consistent, positive experience and ensure they’ll continue to come back,” she says. “From a tech perspective, the challenge is all around data collection, analysis and insights. The other challenge we face—along with other charities—is attracting people with the right skills without being able to offer a financial package equivalent to commercial companies.”
When Dolton joined the BHF three years ago, she had a team of 20 people in the technology function.
“Leading BHF through digital transformation was relatively easy. Technology is in my DNA. I really had to focus on the cultural side of change, motivating people to do the work we needed them to do, and getting everyone to understand that these changes were the right thing for the business. I’d say that the success of big digital transformation projects is 80% cultural.”
Today, she leads around 200 people from backend IT to frontend digital and from information security to the change team.
“What I’m proud of is that BHF as an organization truly understands the value of tech,” she explains. “Everyone came together to create one technology department. We’re delivering digitally-enabled end-to-end change across the organization. I really can’t ask for more.”

CTO Says Digital Transformation Is 80% Cultural

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CTO says Digital Transformation is 80% Cultural - VMware News and Stories

<div id="attachment_22243" style="width: 410px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-22243" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-22243 size-full" src="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Maribel-Lopez.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="400" srcset="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Maribel-Lopez.jpg 400w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Maribel-Lopez.jpg?resize=150,150 150w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Maribel-Lopez.jpg?resize=300,300 300w" sizes="(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px" />Maribel Lopez, technology industry analyst and strategic advisor, <a href="https://www.lopezresearch.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lopez Research</a></div>
At the start of the global COVID-19 pandemic, many organizations quickly deployed technologies to enable basic <a href="https://news.vmware.com/nologies/tips-enabling-remote-workforce" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">remote work</a>. But some things just broke when people couldn’t sort out issues face-to-face, says Maribel Lopez, technology industry analyst and strategic advisor at Lopez Research. And that’s forcing leaders to completely rethink how they use enterprise technology.
To meet new and rapidly shifting needs, companies are working to adapt and accelerate digital experience delivery. “Even if they were digital, it’s a new digital,” says Lopez. “So out of this very tragic event, there will be some positive outcomes.”
<h2>How Industries Drive Future-Ready Transformation</h2>
Purely physical processes were obvious targets for change as companies pivoted early in the pandemic to respond to digital-only engagement. A few examples include SaaS-based web conferencing apps and cloud-based e-commerce websites.
Despite the digitization of some key processes, Lopez says, “Now business leaders are being reminded that many processes are still physical and must become digital if their companies are going to thrive.”
Fixing those gaps serves as a catalyst for organizations across industries to take a closer look at what <a href="https://news.vmware.com/digital-transformation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">digital transformation</a> has taken place and what still needs to be done to future ready businesses. Here are a few examples. 
<h3>Healthcare</h3>
Modernization of the healthcare system has been underway for years. Due to the pandemic, however, providers rushed to enable non-essential staff to work from home. They also built pop-up hospitals so essential doctors and nurses could better care for patients.
Simultaneously, healthcare organizations are launching app-based consumer solutions, such as telehealth services, to ensure the continued health of patients and vulnerable populations.
<h3>Retail</h3>
Out of necessity, the retail industry shifted its focus to help shoppers get the products they need as quickly as possible—online, at curbsides, and in stores. To completely transform, though, requires a better understanding of the end-to-end customer experience, for example, why loyal consumers add to shopping carts but never complete a transaction, and the building of modern apps with associate-friendly workflows such as real-time inventory checking.
<h3>Financial services</h3>
In an industry built on relationships, in-branch banking and in-office advisor experiences once dominated. Personal engagement and regulatory requirements created a culture of heavily controlled IT. Now, financial services teams are looking for ways to stay in compliance, while supporting distributed advisors and clients from anywhere.
<h3>Education</h3>
The pandemic forced colleges, universities, and primary and secondary schools across the world to move learning online. This proved the distance learning model can work, but it will need to be further examined and modified to prioritize equity for all.
<h2>The New Digital: The App Experience as the Customer Experience</h2>
<div id="attachment_22203" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://news.vmware.com/nologies/businesscontinues"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-22203" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-22203 size-medium" src="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/VMware-Truth-About-Transformation-r6v1-Intro_16x9-300x169.gif" alt="" width="300" height="169"></a><a href="https://news.vmware.com/nologies/businesscontinues">Dive deeper into a new global survey that reveals the &#8220;Truth About Digital Transformation.&#8221;</a></div>
While we know now that digital transformation isn’t failing, per say, have organizations fully embraced the idea that the app experience is the customer experience?
Lopez isn’t so sure. “I think the app experience was always supposed to be part of the customer experience. What happened was the rest of our experience was so broken that in most cases, we couldn’t do cross-channel well.”
She cites two examples:
<ul>
<li>When ordering products via the web is faster than navigating 10-plus clicks on a smartphone, why would people use an app?</li>
<li>When changing airline reservations is faster through the app, why would people pick up the phone?</li>
</ul>
True digital transformation means delivering the same one-or-two click experience across every channel—web, mobile devices, tablets and more. Lopez believes, “Teams now have to focus on pervasive experience. No matter where you are, you have a similar feeling that you can get the same things done no matter the device.”
Traditionally, developers have been unable to give people everything they can get in a PC experience because so many processes are highly customized,” she says.
Enterprises must step back and examine the parts of each process to find the pieces delivering the value. For example, do customers come to a business for its highly customized supply chain process or its product? Chances are it’s the product, she says. This should be a signal for the organization to reduce some customization in favor of providing more consistent cross-channel experiences.
<h2>The Power of Design Thinking</h2>
The way to uncover an app’s essence is to take complicated applications through a <a href="https://news.vmware.com/nologies/design-thinking-julie-stanford">design thinking process</a>. This ensures teams distill each app to its core value with the optimal workflow—whether that’s enabling dynamic pricing or expense report approvals.
A workflow is an action. And when you see organizations with really good workflows, you’re looking at very good business processes. Under the surface, those workflows touch multiple apps to fully complete a process. Think about service technicians with iPads, for example. They can tap into one app and seamlessly launch three or four different workflows. According to Lopez, this capability “becomes very interesting and very powerful.”
“I see teams redesigning this way now and a big move toward the concept of human-centered design. For example, in automotive companies this is now pervasive thinking, which is really important,” she says.
In short context, connection through integration and cross-channel consistency will make modern apps more impactful and useful. Only then can the app experience truly be the customer experience.
<h2>The Third Dimension: Infrastructure Implications</h2>
Enabling connected workflows in and across apps will require more than development skill sets. “It’s going to take a rethink of infrastructure and security, too,” says Lopez.
When the pandemic hit, nearly all organizations were doing some form of a <a href="https://news.vmware.com/c/cloud/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cloud strategy</a>. “Everybody was looking at public, private and hybrid cloud. Everybody was thinking about or already building a multi-cloud strategy,” she says. Multi-cloud involves having parts of infrastructure on-premises and parts in the cloud.
The biggest challenge facing teams was adding and migrating workloads between cloud options. Now that work is different, Lopez believes we’ve entered into “the third dimension, which is some portion of always-distributed workers—but not always the same group of them.”
<div id="attachment_22220" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://news.vmware.comcustomer-app-experience-business-success/"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-22220" loading="lazy" class="size-medium wp-image-22220" src="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Modern-App-Customer-Experience_VMware-RADIUS-2-300x158.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="158"></a><a href="https://news.vmware.comcustomer-app-experience-business-success/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Related Story: The Connection Between the App Experience &#038; Customer Experience</a></div>
Productivity is paramount in all cases, so the infrastructure has to change. Teams can no longer optimize computing resources for work across a single building or campus. Instead, they must consider how to scale resources and end-user access at different periods of time and locations using clouds with virtual desktops (VDI), as an example.
In this new world, IT will have to reimagine what infrastructure gets served from where and how security can be maintained but done differently—without burdening workforces. IT has to consider where workloads live (e.g., AWS, Azure, Google or another cloud platform) and how to take previously locked down workloads to other places. Enterprises need a clear multi-cloud strategy and understanding about how to integrate points that previously weren’t considered part of the corporate enterprise, Lopez says.
As a result of this shared experience, Lopez believes the whole concept of infrastructure and how it’s managed will be more diverse. “Less centralized, but still very directed just not all in the same way,” she says. For example, enabling employees to have access to everything they need will be important. Yet, resources are likely to be delivered a certain way when someone is in the office and a different way when working from home.
Technical support structures must change, too. Without human-to-human interactions, how do employees and customers get queries answered and challenges solved when there is no one to call? This is where chatbots come in, says Lopez. She cites a recent example where chatbot technology enabled the automated distribution of information without going through redundant questions. This streamlined interaction made the person-to-person engagement, once it did happen, more effective.

<h2>The Best Human-First Enterprise Tech Platforms…Wait for It…Aren’t Even Built Yet</h2>
Although teams are trying, Lopez hasn’t seen an ideal human-first technology platform for the enterprise. “They aren’t built yet. But we’re getting closer with some human-first mobile apps and aligned IT and business leaders willing to take on the bigger issue, which is the process,” she says.
It’s possible now to deliver faster, easier access to data and apps in technologies like the <a href="https://news.vmware.com/c/digital-workspace/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">digital workspace</a>. But if the experience with individual apps is still poor, people will be frustrated. Part of the challenge, says Lopez, is terminology, which is often too technical and not human-centric. The other is the end-to-end process.
Technology will need to get simpler and self-service has to become the norm, not the exception. Yet, teams can’t use automation as a crutch to avoid rethinking broken processes, says Lopez. Apps and devices must be so easy that anyone can troubleshoot them. It’s going to be impossible with flex remote working schedules to scale effective tech support at work. And it’ll be even harder for industries like retail to help non-tech savvy customers to navigate grocery shopping online, she says.
Emerging technologies like chatbots and <a href="https://news.vmware.com/artificial-intelligence/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">artificial intelligence</a> can help, she says. But the key to success is on her wish list: better conversational and natural language interfaces.
<h2>Embracing Future-Ready Business</h2>
Despite the debate, digital transformation efforts are succeeding. But it can be even more successful when businesses embrace a new digital. Yet, how they get there will depend on their willingness to envision customer and employee experiences differently. Ultimately, successful future-ready businesses will find the connections and redefine the workflows that matter. And only through this reimagining will app experiences truly become the customer experience.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="The Debate About Digital Transformation" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/v_5_v3YV4xY?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

A new global survey reveals that organizations rapidly shifted their digital transformation priorities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the start of the pandemic, some things worked and others just broke. And that’s forcing leaders to rethink digital transformation.

What the Pandemic Teaches Us About Digital Transformation

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Small changes for people with long-term care needs have big impacts. Jorrit Ebben believes technology has the power to create those changes. And he is on a mission to deliver.
<div id="attachment_22096" style="width: 1210px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-22096" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-22096 size-full" src="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Akademy-Het-Dorp-AoC-Quote-CardFV.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Akademy-Het-Dorp-AoC-Quote-CardFV.jpg 1200w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Akademy-Het-Dorp-AoC-Quote-CardFV.jpg?resize=300,157 300w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Akademy-Het-Dorp-AoC-Quote-CardFV.jpg?resize=768,402 768w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Akademy-Het-Dorp-AoC-Quote-CardFV.jpg?resize=1024,536 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" />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 technology leader in the Agents of Change series: Jorrit Ebben, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at Academy Het Dorp, a transformation consultancy to technology and healthcare organizations in The Netherlands.</div>
<h2>Technology that Improves Patient Care</h2>
Ebben is co-founder and chief strategy and innovation officer of <a href="http://www.academyhetdorp.nl">Academy Het Dorp</a>, a digital transformation consultancy in the Netherlands. He’s on a personal mission to make technology more useful in long-term healthcare.
“My CEO and I saw a need to help healthcare organizations access much more helpful technology and to improve the validation of the technology in cooperation with patients. For me, doing this has become a way of life,” Ebben says.
In his work with healthcare organizations, Ebben noticed smaller companies facing a particular challenge. “We see many smaller healthcare companies in the Netherlands struggle to implement health technology,” says Ebben. “More than the big players, they lack the time and skills to explore what it can really do.”
Other issues range from legacy infrastructure unable to cope with new technology to the cultural shift of a technology-enabled healthcare delivery model.
“For healthcare professionals and patients alike, the new way is completely different,” Ebben says. “We’ve gone from people relying on other people to help them live their lives to trusting technology to deliver some of that support.”
<h2>Quality Concerns</h2>
In Ebben’s experience, trust is still being earned. “We see many start-ups bringing technology to market that isn’t good enough. The intent is to help people, but they don’t know how to validate their technology.”
Ebben believes more regulation is necessary. He supports the European medical device regulation coming in 2020. He hopes these measures will facilitate good technology and keep the rest from the market. He also believes developers need to think more about people.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-22097 size-full" src="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Jorrit-Ebben-002.jpg" alt="" width="1920" height="1080" srcset="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Jorrit-Ebben-002.jpg 1920w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Jorrit-Ebben-002.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Jorrit-Ebben-002.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Jorrit-Ebben-002.jpg?resize=1024,576 1024w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Jorrit-Ebben-002.jpg?resize=1536,864 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" />
“The engineers want to make really, really cool technology. But what they deliver is technology-in-a-box. They forget about cooperation with the patient and healthcare provider. That cooperation is how you learn what to develop, test in real life, and refine based on performance,” Ebben says.
<h2>The Challenge of Personalization</h2>
Technology integration is another area of focus for Ebben and his team. “Ten years ago, a patient with long-term needs had one piece of technology from one provider to deliver care in their home. Now, they have many technologies from many start-ups. Integrating them into one solution for each patient need is a big challenge.”
The challenge isn’t just for technology teams, either. “For a healthcare professional, the ‘plug and play’ everyone talks about is ‘plug and, oh my god, it will never play,’” Ebben says.
Many health tech companies acknowledge they need to do more to make integration easy, both with other solutions and existing infrastructure. Last year, Academy Het Dorp set up a program for the Dutch Ministry of Welfare and Heath to support over 40 long-term healthcare organizations with these sorts of digital transformation issues.
<h2>Embracing the Future</h2>
The program reinforced Ebben’s belief that successful companies invest in helping healthcare and IT embrace the new care model.
“As IT becomes increasingly core to healthcare delivery, it brings a lot of changes,” Ebben says. “Healthcare companies need to rethink what they can and cannot do, which competencies they need and how to leverage technology’s possibilities. They need to explore how they bring different kinds of technology from different healthcare organizations to that one home for that one person’s needs. That’s how we’ll change the world.”

This chief strategy and innovation officer says small changes in digital healthcare have big impacts on patients.

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Academy Het Dorp’s Jorrit Ebben Unlocks Possibilities for Patients in Need - VMware News and Stories

<div id="attachment_22071" style="width: 224px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://news.vmware.com/-author/bernard-kwok-vmware-china/"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-22071" loading="lazy" class="size-medium wp-image-22071" src="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Bernard-Kwok_VMware-214x300.jpg" alt="Bernard Kwok_VMware" width="214" height="300"></a>By Bernard Kwok, President, Greater China, VMware</div>
We are living and working through an extraordinary time. We’re all feeling the impact of this pandemic in one way or another. For countless businesses across all industries, the disruption has been severe. And there is a very human element to this, too. If a business cannot continue to operate, there are serious consequences that go far beyond the bottom line.
In the Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ) region, many organizations have been forced to shift their mindset to think about their business continuity plans and remote work best practices and capabilities. It has been empowering to see organizations—particularly those that did not previously consider the need for remote work—identify creative ways to protect their workforce. At the same time, they’re delivering on their customer promises during a time when their services may be more important than ever.
Here are a few examples I’ve heard from APJ businesses in the past few months.
<h2>1. Diagnosing Patients in Guangzhou From Afar</h2>
The healthcare industry has undoubtedly been the most disrupted industry during this period. As hospitals focused on treating infections, it became critical that non-frontline staff were able to continue to treat other priority patients. People may typically think of medical staff needing to be available to physically see patients, even in one of the most human-to-human industries in the world. But technology has enabled some aspects of roles to be delivered remotely.
The Guangzhou Overseas Chinese Hospital and Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center protected non-frontline staff by setting up its 300-member medical imaging team to work remotely. By making all X-ray, CT and MRI images available on a <a href="https://www.vmware.com/topics/glossary/content/virtual-desktops" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">virtual desktop</a> through the cloud, 300 doctors accessed this vital service at all hours from any location. This meant that productivity during this crucial time was unaffected.
<h2>2. Keeping Enterprises’ Finances Afloat</h2>
Periods of unexpected circumstances lead to unforeseen financial difficulties for many businesses. During this time, access to finance and transformation support is critical, particularly for underserved small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) borrowers.
My team recently worked with Chailease International Finance Co., Ltd., a professional financial leasing company. They provide systematic and comprehensive financial services for SMEs.
We helped Chailease International to rapidly scale their <a href="https://www.vmware.com/topics/glossary/content/virtual-desktop-infrastructure-vdi" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">virtual desktop infrastructure</a> (VDI) to support 60 percent of the remote working needs of its employees. In only one week, they implemented about 600 virtual desktops. By making secure virtual desktops available to staff online, employees worked from home with exactly the same technology experience as the office. Because of this swift response, Chailease International customers experienced no drops in service.
<h2>3. A New Meaning to Taking a Call from Home</h2>
A traditional call center setup involves many people seated in close proximity for long stretches of time. To remain operational and protect the health of its employees, the largest call center of a leading Chinese telecom operator in the region spun up a virtual call center. This quick action empowered approximately 20,000 employees to work remotely with only a simple internet connection—all with no downtime for customer inquiries.
Once installed, the telecom company realized that it could offer this virtual call center solution to its business customers, who were also looking for best-practice remote working solutions.
<h2>4. Studying at Home</h2>
With social distancing and “shelter in place” mandates, many schools and colleges shifted to online learning platforms. Digital education platforms empower teachers and students with excellent remote experiences. Administrative staff also benefit from capabilities like digital document signing and verification processes, ensuring unexpected situations like class suspensions don’t negatively impact operations.
To support &#8220;uninterrupted learning,&#8221; National Taipei University in Taiwan built an online learning platform and successfully deployed 100 new virtual desktops. Now, the educator can teach as they did in physical classrooms, including rollcall, group discussions and more. In addition, virtual desktops also enable teachers to manage course progress and students’ learning status. With the help of software tools, teaching is now enriched and efficient, helping maintain consistent quality and positive experiences.
<h2>Leading through Disruption</h2>
The pandemic has already changed the future of work. Companies are really thinking about their digital transformation strategies and how teams collaborate and serve customers. They’re also finding smarter ways of getting business done.

As China returns to work in the wake of COVID-19, we take a look at how organizations safeguard employees with remote work best practices.

Remote Work Best Practices Out of Greater China | VMware Radius

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Ahmad Yahya is driven. And that characteristic served him particularly well over the last few, very busy weeks. As CIO of American Hospital Dubai, he’s been leading the hospital’s IT response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
<div id="attachment_21547" style="width: 1210px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-21547" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-21547 size-full" src="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/AHDubai-AoC-Quote-Card-FV_-002.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/AHDubai-AoC-Quote-Card-FV_-002.jpg 1200w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/AHDubai-AoC-Quote-Card-FV_-002.jpg?resize=300,157 300w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/AHDubai-AoC-Quote-Card-FV_-002.jpg?resize=768,402 768w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/AHDubai-AoC-Quote-Card-FV_-002.jpg?resize=1024,536 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" />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 technology leader in the Agents of Change series: Ahmad Yahya, CIO of the American Hospital Dubai.</div>
<h2>Rapidly Switching IT Priorities</h2>
Yahya had to rapidly switch the focus of his team to three key priorities:
<ol>
<li>Transform a hotel into an operational, 390-bed field hospital for COVID-19 patients, including secure access to the main hospital IT services.</li>
<li>Strengthen remote-working capabilities for the hospital’s administrative employees, which included call center, finance and HR functions among other areas.</li>
<li>Launch a new telehealth service—months earlier than planned—to ensure patients can still access medical experts and treatments. This was vital to patients and hospital operations.</li>
</ol>
“Agility has been key,” Yahya reflects. “You can’t always think in a structured manner. You’ve got to take risks to achieve the goal, even though it may not be perfect. You must really support the business. At times like this, you can’t say ‘no.’ You’ve got to figure something out. Even if it’s just 50 percent of what’s been requested, it’s better than saying no. That’s worked out well for us.”
Of course, as part of the hospital’s management team, Yahya has another priority: looking after the welfare of his IT staff.
“They are scared and are concerned coming to work,” he says. “You have to handle and understand their concerns about themselves and their family. You have to have empathy and assure them that the hospital’s management is putting their safety at the forefront.”
<h2>IT as a Strategic Partner to the Business</h2>
The speed with which American Hospital Dubai responded to COVID-19 demonstrates the value IT brings to the organization.
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-21567 size-full" src="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/LinkedIn-Twitter_American-Dubai-Hospital-1.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="418" srcset="https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/LinkedIn-Twitter_American-Dubai-Hospital-1.jpg 800w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/LinkedIn-Twitter_American-Dubai-Hospital-1.jpg?resize=300,157 300w, https://news-editor.vmware.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/LinkedIn-Twitter_American-Dubai-Hospital-1.jpg?resize=768,401 768w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" />
“These disruptive changes that COVID-19 has inflicted on society, which include customer behaviors and emergency responses, dramatically shifted our workload and focus,” he continues. “Our operational focus and transformational efforts had to be paused and re-purposed to think in an agile way to meet country, business and client needs. We had to redeploy our staff and shift focus to help us cope with the crisis. And this strengthened our sense of contribution and purpose.”
“In my opinion, in light of the current worldwide circumstances and looking ahead, we have to enhance all online channels to our organizations and support new interactions and business models for our services and customers,” he concludes.
American Hospital Dubai is known for its quality of care, forward-thinking and clinical outcomes. Their digital transformation journey includes investing in a new evidence-based clinical system that will enhance outcomes and patient safety. Yahya applied his strategic way of thinking by asking: Why not take this opportunity to build a new business model based on our strengths?
“The idea is to sell our services through a private clinical cloud to a network of affiliated clinics, extending American Hospital processes and best practices. This will ultimately generate revenue, which appeals to the board and builds their trust in IT as a partner in growth. The idea also aligns with the Dubai Health Authority push for ‘one patient, one record.’ And with this business concept, I’m building a case for higher-end tech investment,” he says.
Whether or not the organization adopts this idea, it’s certainly cemented the role of IT in strategy discussions.
<h2>Engage Clinicians or Fail</h2>
Whatever the business model, real-time access to healthcare processes, patient-centric data and visibility and transparency of operations are crucial for patient outcomes. For this to work, clinicians need to trust the processes and data to provide effective proactive and preventive care.
“If physicians aren’t on board, aren’t part of the vendor selection and change process, you’ll fail,” Yahya says.
In Yahya’s experience, trust comes when IT spends time engaging clinicians. This starts with the vendor selection process, which includes:
<ul>
<li>Attending demos of scripted clinical workflows.</li>
<li>Understanding the implementation process and value of data.</li>
<li>How it flows to support clinical outcomes for them.</li>
</ul>
An example of a very successful decision-making function available in leading clinical systems is sepsis alerts. The solution offers real-time surveillance and electronic alert notification capabilities for ICU patients, resulting in saving lives.
The function uses data and algorithms that correlate different indicators to alert and detect, resulting in a huge impact on mortality rates. When clinicians see the impact, they start to believe in the systems. They start participating and contributing ideas. And that’s when Yahya believes positive, sustainable change happens.
<h2>Bringing Patients into the Process</h2>
Involving patients in the change process is just as important to Yahya.
“Patient engagement and active participation in workflow designs during implementation will lead to a patient-centered system that will have positive outcomes and should be a critical objective for organizations like ours. It is important to ensure the best patient experience, outcomes and address data privacy concerns,” he says. “Physician‐patient interaction and communications also optimizes the patient experience.”
Yahya sees patient engagement as fundamental to the sustainability of healthcare, and technology is core to achieving it.
“It’s not about one interaction, one episode. It’s the whole journey,” he says. “With leaders, patients and clinicians in the decision-making process, you get a holistic perspective. You engage, you listen, you deliver. That builds trust. And when you have trust, the change you make can last.”

CIO of American Hospital Dubai talks about bringing business ideas to the strategy table.

Hospital CIO Re-prioritizing through Pandemic

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Hospital CIO Reprioritizing through Pandemic - VMware News and Stories

Leading Healthcare Organizations Choose VMware to Deliver a Digital Foundation for Real-Time, Connected Patient Care - VMware News and Stories

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Healthcare