AI and data as strategic drivers for a future-proof healthcare

In the Netherlands, one in seven people work in healthcare; if we don't make changes, this number will rise to one in four by 2030. The reason? A growing group of people who need care, combined with tightness in the labor market. We need to design our care differently, in which case digitization and AI may be an important part of the solution. That’s why many healthcare organizations are struggling with the following question: where do we deploy AI, how do we organize it and how do we ensure support among employees? This also applied to Zuyderland Medical Center. Here, as in many hospitals, AI initiatives were fragmented and small-scale, and there was a strong need for coordination and clear choices in applications that would deliver concrete results. This required a strategic direction in line with daily healthcare practice.

A bottom-up approach was used to make the strategy really come alive in the organization; the process began with a series of master classes to familiarize employees with data and AI. 'The wisdom of the crowd' is what they call it at Zuyderland. Subsequently, more than 50 ideas were collected in work sessions that formed the basis for four strategic spearheads for which AI – based on input from ‘the floor’ – could make a difference:

1. Reducing administrative burdens by automating business operations.
2. Better alignment of healthcare demand and supply, both within the hospital and in coordination with other healthcare partners in the region.
3. New ways of providing care – think AI-supported diagnoses.
4. Personalized care in case of which AI delivers tailored solutions for each patient and even enables proactive care.

Our experts at KPMG then started working on an AI and data strategy around aspects such as design principles, bringing the right people together, preparing the organization for AI use, and coordinating and adopting new practices. After establishing the strategic direction, we translated this – in close collaboration with Zuyderland – into implementation plans. This resulted in design principles for a data and AI organization and concrete tools for the implementation and change management in involving the entire organization appropriately. The hospital joined forces with the rest of the sector, technology partners, and advisors. In this way, sector challenges were being tackled together and knowledge/solutions were exchanged. A clear decision framework was also developed to determine the best route for realizing AI solutions: buy, develop in-house, or realizing them together with partners. Importantly, we also took account of the notion that all AI applications must have scientific backing.

To successfully implement artificial intelligence, a central and dedicated team is now operational. This ensures acceleration and the team is closely connected with (healthcare) professionals who will use the data and AI applications in their daily work. In this way, their opportunities and challenges can be better addressed, and this helps with the adoption. Organization-wide, an AI community has been set up as a knowledge and service center. With this data and AI strategy, Zuyderland is choosing a clear path towards a broad utilization of new technology to accelerate innovation and to tackle the bigger problems in healthcare. These clear choices – investments have also been made in a solid and modern cloud infrastructure/data platform – ensure that Zuyderland is ready to take a big step forward in the future.