Making healthcare a calling again - A recap from HIMSS

During one of the keynote panel conversations, Scott Pelly of “60 Minutes” shared some astonishing statistics about the healthcare workforce. Over 8% of healthcare jobs are currently vacant, putting significant strain on the people who are present. Approximately 18% of healthcare workers quit their jobs during the pandemic, and more than 60% considered quitting. There is no denying, the Great Resignation is upon us.

Professions like nursing have historically been immune to the turnover carousel other industries contend with due to the conviction that it is a calling rather than a job. All work is personal, but in healthcare the work takes on intrinsic meaning and purpose. Healthcare workers have recently found themselves questioning their commitment to this calling, as they struggled with increased workloads and a stressful environment (both at home and at work).

As the HIMSS conference is focused on healthcare information technology and management systems, it stands to reason that technology should play a prominent role in helping healthcare professionals to reconnect with their calling. Some have suggested that the relationship between humans and technology is adversarial, as the fear of automation and robots replacing jobs has been fueled by mainstream media for years. But during the keynote conversation with Scott Pelly, Johnny Taylor, president and CEO of SHRM (the Society for Human Resources Management) suggested “technology is a fundamentally human endeavor”.

And as we make progress, ambient technologies will evolve to seamlessly support humans by automating administrative and transactional tasks, while augmenting our intelligence by providing real-time data for improved decision making. Imagine supplies being automatically replenished, equitable schedules being created based on clinical data and time-off requests being approved without human intervention.

These technologies also portend the promise of improved people management. Johnny suggested that “people don’t quit companies and hospitals, they quit their managers”. If these managers (who in healthcare are famous for their super-sized span of control) can simplify their lives with technology, everyone stands to benefit.

As a technology provider in the healthcare industry, our focus is on creating connections. Connecting people to technology, technology to technology and people to people. Coming out of HIMSS22, I would add reconnecting people to the mission of healthcare. As Simon Sinek famously said, “working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress; working hard for something we love is called passion”.

If you missed us at HIMSS, here's a picture of our team showing off our award from KLAS. We were so happy to be recognized by KLAS as this year's Most Improved Software Product and to meet with all our friends and colleagues back in person.

Written by: Marcus Mossberger, Head of Marketing, Service Industries