The Columbus Dispatch: ‘Smart’ hospitals in high-tech trend to improve treatment, lower costs

Changing times call for changing health care, and futuristic technology is creating “smart hospitals” that make care for patients more innovative.

On the front page of the ‘Smart Tech’ section in The Columbus Dispatch, reporter Tim Feran wrote a story about the evolution of health care technology that includes the OhioHealth Digital Solutions team and how they are innovating our hospitals.

The implementation of electronic medical records, such as the OhioHealth’s system called CareConnect, has made clinical associates lives easier and patient records more accessible.

“This has been an evolution,” Salil Verma, OhioHealth vice president of digital experience, told Feran.

However, with this kind of technological advancement, comes the endless need for updates after years of use and change.

The solution? Use the same developers and engineers to improve the technology that is already being used – and create new technologies

“Anyone who has ever been a patient in a hospital can tell you how often they’ve been asked, ‘What did the doctor before me say ...’ ”, Verma told Feran. “We want really elegant communication so that there’s no confusion, like an invisible string tying everything together.”

The digital solutions team created the OhioHealth mobile app, which gives patients access to their medical records, the ability to connect with physicians and make appointments right in the palm of their hand.

“People use FaceTime all the time to talk to their grandparents, so why not virtual visits to the doctor?” Verma told Feran.

Times are changing, and the time is now to begin innovating health care in a way that harmonizes with the technology we are seeing impact our world today.

To read the full story, please click The Columbus Dispatch article image.