Data in the healthcare sector
Although the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt organisations across the board, the impact it has had on healthcare has, unsurprisingly, been the most significant. Public and private firms in the healthcare sector are being forced to find ways to reduce or control costs, while pressure to return to pre-pandemic levels of patient care continues to rise.
As part of this, the pandemic is compelling many organisations to seek innovative solutions to streamline services, increase agility and become more user friendly. Although historically citizens have struggled with digital public services, an uptake in innovations over the past 18 months, indicate a step-change in user experience.
At NetApp, we believe this trend is likely to continue as leaders within the public sector look to take advantage of intuitive technology interfaces that make it easier for citizens to engage with public services.
Why is data important to healthcare?
Data will increasingly play an important role as we navigate 2022 - from researching cures and diseases to understanding what’s causing an illness. This data allows researchers to understand cures even before human trails. Data’s criticality within healthcare is emphasising why it needs to be accessible at all times, particularly in the NHS.
Accessible data is especially vital for those treating people with extremely vulnerable immune systems, such as The Christie, the UK’s largest single site specialist cancer centre, based in Manchester. The past two years have been an immense challenge for The Christie. The cancer centre has had to implement heightened restrictions while ensuring patients receive consistent treatment, which isn’t easy.
Having access to their operational data, via NetApp technology, means The Christie can deliver a reliable and consistent service because they can see where problems may arise and mitigate them before they cause delays to patient treatment.
What’s going to happen to the future of healthcare?
While immersing myself in data is part of my job, over the past 18 months, I have been surprised by the number of people that are engaging more with this space.
Going forward, I believe public sector services will have to become even more data-driven in their decision-making, bringing topics such as data alignment, data security, and regulatory compliance to the fore.
The data strategy stated that “data made all the difference” in addressing the challenges posed by COVID-19. With the pandemic’s uncertainty continuing to pose significant challenges for the healthcare sector this year, it’s clear that will continue to happen. We believe industry and the public sector working together will help to unlock its value and deliver the benefits to citizens and patients that we want to see.
Authors
Tim Skinner
An experienced leader with extensive experience in global technology organisations, Tim joined NetApp as Director of the Public Sector division, just over two years ago, from BT. At NetApp Tim is focussed is on generating value within the Public Sector, by aligning with key partners and industry bodies. He is passionate about the Public Sector and accelerating technology-fuelled public services transformation supported by cloud, data performance and optimisation.
