Adopting technology in federal health

Anchor design, development, and deployment in a human-centered design approach. For a tech revolution to work, we need to revolutionize innovation hubs using human-centered design principles to focus on not just science but also what clinicians are looking for from technology. Broad adoption is vital, and it’s important for leaders to keep in mind the whole range of users. By making clinician-friendly systems, health care organizations can facilitate quicker and more universal adoption of new technologies.

A human-centered design approach focused on making technology more intuitive, iterative, and responsive to care provider needs can help health care organizations achieve universal and rapid adoption of new technologies. Clinicians may resist adopting new systems that degrade existing levels of comfort, security, safety, and quality or that require them to take on new responsibilities that don’t align with provider roles.

Clinicians may be more likely to use technology that meets their needs: strengthening human connection and improving care outcomes, quality of care, patient experience, and clinical value.⁴⁶ They’re looking for systems that make patient data safe, secure, reliable, high-quality, and shareable.⁴⁷ Clinicians we spoke to prefer a robust accountability framework that not only clarifies governance but also can result in continuous improvement of AI systems, particularly if an AI-aided diagnosis misses a significant risk factor.⁴⁸ Care providers may also look to augment AI as a reliable support tool for clinicians, focusing on iterative advancements rather than merely assigning blame.⁴⁹

The federal Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology pushed for the development and adoption of health information technology systems designed with a patient-centered approach. The office was instrumental in promoting the use of EHRs that prioritize patient access and control over their health data, resulting in the nearly ubiquitous use of patient portals today.⁵⁰ Leaders could apply this same effort toward clinician-centered design.

By making human-centered design a core tenet of innovation hubs, the development of new technology can result in not only technical robustness but also user-friendliness and customization to meet end users’ needs. Moving away from the concept of getting it right the first time, the focus can be more on human-centered design approaches such as heuristic evaluations, usability testing, simulation, and prototyping.⁵¹ For instance, a clinical decision support system might be redesigned to simplify its utility based on feedback from clinicians who found the original system too rigid or nonintuitive.⁵² This redesign could focus on integrating more flexible, context-sensitive guidelines and alerts that directly support the clinical workflow, thereby increasing adherence to leading practices and improving patient outcomes. By actively seeking and incorporating real-world feedback, leaders within these hubs can make health care technology more effective, resulting in better patient outcomes and improved clinician workflows.

Work to mitigate risk by centering empathy in design research. Empathy is at the core of human-centered design, which involves understanding the needs, challenges, and contexts of end users. In health care innovation hubs, this might involve detailed observations, interviews, and shadowing of clinicians to gather insights into their daily experiences and pain points. Identifying potential issues early in the design process can allow for adjustments before costly development errors might occur. This approach can also build a stronger connection between the product and its users, potentially increasing user satisfaction and loyalty.

The Blue Button initiative adopted by the Veterans Affairs (VA) is a prime example of how federal health programs can effectively use empathetic design to help address specific user needs. The VA conducted consultations with veterans, gathering insights into their experiences, frustrations, and needs regarding health record accessibility. Based on these insights, the VA developed the Blue Button patient portal technology, accommodating veterans’ varying levels of tech-savviness and physical abilities and improving overall health management and outcomes.⁵³ One study found that 73% of Blue Button users surveyed noted understanding their own health history as the primary advantage since it consolidates information in one location.⁵⁴ Additionally, 21% of those users shared their VA health data with non-VA providers, and 87% of external providers found the information to be helpful.⁵⁵

Evaluate new tech return on investment and identify policy and reimbursement facilitators for widespread adoption. As part of the innovation hub, federal health leaders can encourage objective, transparent, and standards-based evaluation of new technologies. The National Institutes of Health Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center uses cost-savings and cost-avoidance metrics to measure the return on investment of new technology procurements.⁵⁶ Where feasible, pilot testing can assess the return on investment before full-scale deployment through nationwide incentive programs. These smaller, controlled environments provide insights into potential challenges and user acceptance, allowing for necessary adjustments before wider implementation.

Likewise, federal health agencies can lead parallel analysis of required policy and reimbursement changes that need to occur to enable adoption. Adopting flexible contracting methods like Other Transaction Authorities can improve this process by encouraging rather than restricting innovative thinking within the industry. This can result in contractual models that are compatible with the agile development and deployment of new technologies.