The growth of digital technologies has been exponential over the previous years, with billions of pounds being placed into health technology research and development.

Through artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, we are beginning to solve the complex and highly nuanced puzzles that have plagued medicine for years. Using virtual wards, we have increased our patient capacity and extended our practitioners’ reach through online means.

The positive outcomes that stem from the growth of new technologies are endless, but there is one caveat – Bringing the technologies from the lab into clinical practice. More specifically, we observe a significant discrepancy between the supply of new technologies and their subsequent demand for adoption in healthcare settings.

The primary issue of technology adoption centres around four primary barriers that are present within the NHS.

1. Security – There are strict rules surrounding patient safety, confidentiality and ethics. With the heavy digitalisation of new technologies, experts are concerned about cybersecurity risks that they present to patients and practitioners.
2. Hardware Replacement– The diverse collection of old legacy hardware currently used within NHS facilities all over the country is extremely difficult to replace. Due to the lack of interoperability, there is a pronounced heterogeneity between current technologies, making the transition to new hardware extremely difficult.
3. The Shift of Operational Behaviour –The adoption of new technologies demands that staff receive new training and operational restructuring. There is a significant divide between the current technological awareness training that NHS workers possess today and the awareness required to use novel technologies such as AI effectively.
4. The Element of Risk– There is always a risk when vast systems such as the NHS shift from their current standards of protocol to entirely new ones that are driven by the implementation of new technologies. The risk is also exceptionally high when these technologies directly influence people’s lives and health.

The successful adoption of new technologies beginning to enter the healthcare space will depend on how these four barriers are managed and surmounted.

Ultimately, the NHS must find a way to ensure to smooth transition through effective adoption systems. Here, an emphasis is placed on institutions that are tailored to solving the risks posed by the barriers mentioned above.

All of these concerns have been taken into consideration through the prominent NHS Long Term Plan that has called for the NHS to incorporate more health and medical technologies that will be needed to address the health risks of an ageing population.

The plan describes how the responsibilities of technology adoption must be implemented on all scales of the healthcare landscape and Integrated Care Systems. Considering this, the scope of adoption must happen on a micro and macro scale, which demands both centralised and decentralised execution.

To account for the diverse needs of all ICS systems, the government has provided timestamped operational goals for technology adoption to be enacted across regions. Moreover, significant sums of funding have been given to third-party organisations and think tanks enabling digital transformation. These investments aim to facilitate the technological infrastructure that will create the grounds for new technologies to be implemented rapidly and effectively.

In the end, thousands of patients will receive the high-impact benefits stemming from the newfound diagnostic and treatment abilities imparted by adopting these new technologies. If the four main barriers are surmounted, the NHS will set itself up to be a pioneer in technological health implementation and use.

The team here at HIC are always on the look-out for innovative healthcare technologies from around the world as we seek to support developers and suppliers of new health tech to deliver proof of concepts in the UK healthcare sector. We work with international suppliers and our vast network of NHS and UK healthcare provider organisations to support our wonderful healthcare industry to remain at the cutting edge of innovation when delivering healthcare and improving both the working lives of clinicians and outcomes for those who use our healthcare services.

If you’re looking for knowledge and expert advice about entering the UK healthcare market, act today and get in touch with our experts at HIC.