The Future Of Healthcare Is Dependent On Redefining How We Partner To Build Technology

Salim Afshar MD DMD FACS
Reveal AI in Healthcare
3 min readMay 1, 2023
Photo by Miguel Á. Padriñán from Pexels

Introduction:

Imagine a world in which healthcare software is so intuitive and seamless that it allows medical professionals to concentrate on the human aspects of patient care. Envision digital tools that are capable of generating valuable insights from asynchronous and asymmetric data sources, enhancing your understanding of individual patients or entire communities. Now visualize an integrated system that helps drive outcomes that are meaningful for patients while simultaneously reducing cost, thus increasing the value of value-based care. This dream of harnessing technology in healthcare has long been sought after, yet it has remained mostly unrealized.

Identifying the Challenges:

Several factors have contributed to the failure of actualizing this vision, resulting in systems that exacerbate the administrative burden on frontline workers and intensify their moral injury. Tools with poor usability and flexibility have been deployed, while businesses have utilized data as a barrier to impede interoperability. Consequently, we find ourselves with a healthcare community that’s often distrustful of the current offerings and hesitant to adopt yet another tool. Above all, we have lost sight of what truly matters in delivering exceptional care.

Redefining the Approach:

In order to rebuild trust, we must reevaluate our entire approach. We need to redefine partnerships and shift our focus to service and impact. The current status quo is untenable; lives are at stake worldwide, and we must leverage technology effectively to address these needs. This is the driving force behind the founding of Reveal HealthTech, a company dedicated to unlocking the full potential of technology’s impact on healthcare.

Our Strategy for Success:

Reveal HealthTech is an engineering services company that concentrates on building Unity of Thought, Unity of Vision, and Unity of Action. By systematically integrating engineering excellence, clinical support, and strategic insights, we lay the groundwork for success. Our developers undergo a learning development pathway that equips them with an understanding of the nuances of healthcare. At the same time, we will enable and leverage frontline healthcare workers in technology delivery.

This approach was born out of the realization that previous technology projects neglected to incorporate the crucial clinical perspective in the development process. As a result, we introduced an industry-first position within engineering services: a Chief Medical and Innovation Officer, tasked with leading the Reveal Clinical Network (RCN).

Bridging the Gap between Medical Practice and Technology:

As the Chief Medical and Innovation Officer, my responsibility is to manage the RCN, which includes Reveal-trained frontline workers who understand the software development lifecycle, our advisory network, and other clinical partners. Our ultimate goal is to bridge the gap between medical practice and technology. By creating teams that include software developers with an understanding of healthcare delivery, as well as frontline workers who grasp the software development lifecycle, we can streamline communication, foster creativity, prevent errors, expedite iterations, and create impactful solutions that are widely adopted.

Promoting a Service-Driven Culture:

Crucially, we have fostered an internal culture in which every member of our team, including nurses, doctors, and software developers, has a role to play. Past experience has shown that healthcare technology solutions that neglect the cultural context of healthcare providers and the communities in which they serve fail in both adoption and impact. Solutions that do not consider the communication and workflow practices of healthcare providers face resistance, leading to frustration and potentially life-threatening errors. By engaging with our RCN-trained frontline workers who are closely matched to specific use cases, we incorporate them into the software development lifecycle, enabling us to ask the right questions at the right time.

The Power of Unity and the Role of the Chief Medical and Innovation Officer:

The unique role of the Chief Medical and Innovation Officer transcends the individual occupying the position. Instead, it embodies the responsibility to cultivate the organization’s capacity to scale the clinical perspective, thus fostering unity of thought, vision, and action. By doing so, we unveil the true potential of healthcare technologies, empowering them to enhance patient care and save lives. With unity and collaboration as our guiding principles, Reveal HealthTech strives to transform the healthcare technology landscape for the betterment of patients and providers alike.

I invite you to join our team or to learn more about what we are doing — Let’s continue to foster unity of thought, vision and action and collaborate as we strive to make a difference in healthcare.

--

--