Dr Poh Pei Ghim, Chief Operating Officer of healthcare provider EasyCare International, shares that when the company launched its first iDOC clinic back in August 2017, “we already had the goal of delivering telemedicine and other high-tech medical solutions.” By enabling patients to receive medical care from the comfort of their homes, EasyCare can help them save time and money while also improving their access to healthcare.
But the journey towards creating an effective telemedicine system was not without challenges.
Speaking at a Smart Health webinar organised by NUS-ISS, Dr Poh said that many of his clinical staff back then were not IT-trained and struggled to adapt to new systems. “While some of them left, fortunately there were team members who were eager to learn and embrace change. It was their resilience and adaptability that allowed the clinic to move forward,” he explained.
Themed “Transforming Patient Experience in Healthcare through Agility”, the webinar was held on 31 March 2023 and moderated by Ms Kym Loh, Senior Lecturer & Consultant, Smart Health Leadership Centre. Besides Dr Poh, speakers including Dr Keren Priyadarshini, Regional Business Lead of Worldwide Health for Microsoft Asia; and Mr Aaron Chua, Principal Lecturer & Consultant, Digital Strategy & Leadership Practice at NUS-ISS, shared rich insights on how to manage change and innovation in the healthcare industry.
iDOC clinic's first telemedicine call was done manually, with a clinical assistant linking a doctor to a virtual consult room created for the patient. “The system was primitive, but it worked, and it was the starting point for our telemedicine services,” Dr Poh said. From there, the IDOC clinic continued to innovate and develop smarter solutions, such as creating unique IDs for each patient and implementing a login system.
But shortly after, the global pandemic hit. Like many other businesses, EasyCare had to navigate the economic fallout and figure out how to retain its workforce amid the crisis. It adopted cloud-based accounting software Xero that provided its staff with complete transparency on their salaries, promotions, and skills development opportunities. “We wanted to let them know, very clearly, that we are invested in their growth, and if they are willing to stay with us, they will be adequately compensated for their commitment,” Dr Poh said.
EasyDoc emerged with a skilled team that enabled it to identify the economic voids caused by the pandemic, such as in the realm of e-commerce, and to swiftly pivot its operations to meet these opportunities. “As a result, our e-pharmacy saw a fivefold increase in revenue, from $3,000 to $15,000,” Dr Poh shared.
Emphasising the importance of innovation and a willingness to embrace unexpected changes that may arise, Dr Poh said that at the end of the day, the ultimate goal is to elevate patient outcomes. “It is not just about the survival of our business. We do all these so that our patients can benefit.”
Towards Smarter Healthcare
At the webinar, Dr Priyadarshini shared about various use cases of artificial intelligence (AI) in the healthcare sector.
For example, smart wearables have emerged as a game-changer in the industry. “One of our partners, LifeSignals, developed a wearable biosensor, which is essentially a patch that can acquire and transmit core biomedical data wirelessly and remotely,” said Dr Priyadarshini. The patch enables doctors to remotely monitor – in real-time – the vital signs of patients who have been discharged post-surgery. “This is incredibly beneficial for patients as they can recover from the comfort of their own homes, while doctors can keep a close eye on their progress,” she added.
Another key application of AI in healthcare is health screening. Rather than spending excessive amounts of time analysing medical data and images, doctors can rely on the AI to identify potential issues and focus their efforts on more targeted areas of concern. “In this case, AI serves as a ‘second reader’; they are not meant to replace the skill and expertise of a doctor, but rather to supplement and enhance their abilities, resulting in more effective diagnoses and treatments,” Dr Priyadarshini explained. “This ultimately benefits patients by reducing the time it takes to receive a diagnosis and treatment plan.”
Mr Chua said that these emerging trends are poised to shape the healthcare industry for years to come. “For healthcare organisations to reap the full potential of these technologies and address evolving patient needs, they need to employ an agile approach that can enable them to respond quickly by encouraging collaboration, experimentation, and rapid iteration.”
He explained that adopting any new mindset is challenging, and it would be helpful to start with adopting the practices as a first step. “When you adopt any agile practices, it is important to be clear about its purpose and how it actually maps back to the original agile values and principle,” Mr Chua said.
Doing Agile Right
There are a few key characteristics of a truly agile organisation. The first is adaptability – which is the ability to adjust quickly to changing circumstances, embrace change, and be open to new ideas that will allow the organisation to deliver more value to customers.
The second aspect is continuous improvement with the goal of making things better and more efficient through frequent feedback loops. Additionally, there's a constant focus on learning from mistakes and implementing improvements fast so as to deliver high quality product and service swiftly and with fewer errors.
The third characteristic is a collaborative culture in which team members work together, communicate effectively, be transparent, and share their knowledge to achieve common goals.
Lastly, there is a clear customer focus, in which the needs of the customers are prioritised to ensure that the final product or service meets their expectations. “By keeping the customer in the center of everything that we do, the agile mindset enables you to deliver better results and build stronger relationships with the customer,” Mr Chua explained.
Summing up the sharing session, Ms Loh emphasised that at the end of the day, agile is not a destination is a continuous journey. “With an agile mindset, we will be always ready to capture opportunities to improve our processes and innovate – so that patients can continue to reap the benefits of a more patient-centric healthcare system,” she said said.
Watch the recorded webinar on NUS-ISS' YouTube Channel here.
Find out more about our Smart Health Leadership Centre & available courses here.