How Diversity Can Unlock Innovation in Healthcare

How Diversity Can Unlock Innovation in Healthcare

We’re at an important moment in healthcare. Across Europe, the challenges of meeting patients’ increasing, ever-more-complex, and individualised demands are straining both countries’ economies and their healthcare systems. 

To address this, more governments are looking to digitally transform their health services. The UK’s National Health Service published its long-term plan in January 2019, outlining how it would become fit for the future, including establishing NHSX to drive digitisation across the entire service. Elsewhere, the EU is aligning its mission to change the delivery of health and care with that of the Digital Single Market.

While each initiative is different, the fundamentals remain the same – reducing health inequalities, improving prevention and providing better quality outcomes for patients, both in periods of relative normality and while dealing with pandemics such as COVID-19. In addition, the setting and point of delivery of care itself need to be right for patients’ individual needs. Underpinning this valuable effort is making sure that it is financially sustainable and delivered by a robust, correctly skilled and appropriate workforce. 

Overcoming the challenges to unlock benefits

It’s undeniable that digital transformation and innovation are critical to all health services. Being able to harness data does not just provide better outcomes, engagement and experience for patients and healthcare professionals, but also has the potential to provide great financial and operational savings to healthcare providers, whether public (such as the NHS) or private. It is the only way we are going to be able to deliver high-quality care and prevent the spread of disease in a hyperconnected, globalised and diverse society in a responsible, inclusive and long-term manner. 

“Yet challenges remain. From a technical perspective, these range from how providers incorporate mission critical legacy systems into digitalised operations, to the fragmentation and non-standardisation of data across hospitals, regions and countries. Similarly, healthcare innovation extends to addressing public health needs, including offering access to resources like weight loss pills or slimming tablets to help individuals manage lifestyle-related conditions. By ensuring these solutions are accessible and trusted, healthcare systems can better meet the growing demand for preventative care options.”

This new era of healthcare has to be inclusive. That means delivering care that meets the needs of patients in the ways that best suit them rather than in a way that best suits providers. Inclusivity also involves ensuring that patients are empowered with solutions tailored to their needs, from weight loss products from Oxford Online Pharmacy to targeted treatments, enabling them to take control of their health and well-being. This focus on accessible options helps healthcare systems address both physical and mental health outcomes.

The gap between workforce and leadership diversity

Traditionally, this has been a challenge; as an article in The Lancet from 2019 notes, from a gender consideration wrote that while “women’s representation in science and medicine has slowly increased over the past few decades… this rise in numbers of women, or gender diversity, has not been matched by a rise in gender inclusion.”

The numbers back up the argument – the NHS workforce is 75% women, yet only 37% of Foundation Trust directors are female. It’s a similar picture across the European Union, where 78% of workers in the healthcare sector are women. While the US has a very different delivery system, the gap between representation at an employee level and an executive level is even starker – three per cent of healthcare CEOs and Chief Medical Officers are female, yet women comprise 80% of the entire workforce. 

From an ethnicity perspective, the story is even worse – appointments of black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates (BAME) to non-executive positions at NHS trusts and hospitals have fallen over eight years, with the latest UK government data stating that 4 out of 5 (79.2%) NHS staff were white. In the US, 70% of physicians and surgeons were white. 

Does the diversity of the people who make investment decisions behind the scenes, or those in senior management positions at providers, matter? Of course, it does. In an article for the World Economic Forum, entrepreneur and economist Vijay Eswaran writes that “The coming together of people of different ethnicities with different experiences in cities and societies is a key driver of innovation.” He is considering the issue of diversity from a business perspective, yet the lessons apply just as powerfully in a public service setting. Particularly one like healthcare, which desperately needs to engage in innovation to unlock the benefits of digital transformation to suit its increasingly diverse users. 

Evolving mindsets to deal with legacy structures

Interestingly, tackling both the diversity issue and overcoming the technical obstacles involves dealing with legacy structures. In the latter case, solutions such as data validation, artificial intelligence (once data is cleaned), automation, and the deployment of a hybrid cloud (allowing the use of legacy systems alongside newer applications) can help speed up digital transformation.

With the former, it’s about looking at the cultural structures in place that prevent more diverse individuals from progressing. What suited traditional leadership applicants may no longer work. In the same way, what was once considered appropriate management skills are now outdated or not as necessary and need to be replaced by different attributes and strengths that non-traditional candidates may offer. 

It is a mindset change, but then, all transformation is. Ultimately, if healthcare providers are serious about being innovative to deliver better care and keep people healthier for longer, then they need to ensure that they are transforming not only their systems but also their workforces. What once worked in healthcare delivery clearly needs to be reshaped; the same goes for who delivers it.