Italian healthcare is distinguished by medical excellence and the preparation of its personnel. It is no coincidence that our professionals are among the most sought-after in the world and often hold prestigious positions in top hospitals and research centers internationally.
However, if we examine the rankings published annually by Newsweek World’s Best Hospitals, we see that only the Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda appears among the top 50 hospitals in the world, and it is in 47th place. The criteria used by Newsweek’s American experts to evaluate hospitals are well-known: accuracy and organization of exams, the level of patient care, and the effectiveness of treatments.
So what is missing from our healthcare facilities (both public and private) to climb the rankings and align medical and care excellence with organizational excellence? Certainly, funding, which will soon arrive in substantial amounts, as it is now understood that efficiency in healthcare is the only true measure of effectiveness, including economic, for the entire national system.
Without an efficient healthcare system, the economy cannot function, especially in countries with an aging population like Europe and the United States (and unfortunately, in Italy, it took a pandemic to bring the issue of modernizing the healthcare system to the decision-makers’ table).
What approach should we adopt to ensure that incoming European funds are used effectively? Once again, the theme of eHealth emerges strongly.
The new mantras for Italian healthcare in the coming years will be digitalization, risk prevention for patients and staff, and lean management. This is a true form of culture hacking that will necessarily lead us to a leap in quality in managing hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and senior residences.
Fortunately, the tools and professional expertise are available. What is needed now is a change in approach to foster a technological innovation process that goes beyond surgical tools and early diagnostic equipment to also include support for assistance dynamics and asset efficiency. If we leverage this pandemic crisis to modernize and digitalize our facilities, equipping them with artificial intelligence tools that provide greater safety for staff in monitoring patients, and tracking delicate processes such as those in the operating block and intensive care units, we will also be able to save valuable time and resources for care, territorial assistance, and improve the working conditions of healthcare personnel.
Perhaps the conditions to climb that Newsweek ranking are already in place. Technological empowerment and an effective and traceable systematization of what we already have could be sufficient to elevate our hospitals to the top of the “World’s Best Hospitals” list.
