Lenovo and Duke Health Consider the Hospital of the Future

In this video, we hear about trends and future expectations in health IT from LaDonna Worrell, Senior Director of IT Operations at Duke Health and Justin T. Collier, MD, Healthcare CTO North America at Lenovo.

The hospital of the future is coming soon at Duke Health, which is planning to open a brand new facility in North Carolina in three years. Already, according to Worrell, three units at an existing hospital have been designated as “Beta units” (using a term common in computing for products that are not fully tested but are being tried out in real-life production). Some of the products being used there have been designated for the upcoming hospital They also have simulation labs.

Collier listed several exciting technologies that he thinks will be central to health care. Top of the list, of course, is AI, which he prefers to call “assistive intelligence.” Statistics report that the healthcare industry is adopting AI at twice the rate of other industries.

He also mentioned digital twins, which are useful for simulations, and virtual reality, which has uses in both education and patient distraction. A digital twin can help a hospital ask questions such as which is the right treatment for a particular cancer patient, or how a change in the layout of a hospital will affect such everyday activities as the steps taken by a nurse.

In planning a hospital, Worrell says they “don’t want infrastructure to hold back technology.” The technology put in now must support the next 20 years, which obviously includes changes we don’t yet know about. She hopes they won’t need to tear up walls for additional infrastructure. One needs GPUs to support AI. Wireless is instrumental in making sure the many devices stay connected. Worrell also mentioned the value of robots.

She says that Duke Health “will always be Beta,” meaning agile and able to “stay ahead of the technology.”

Both Worrell and Collier highlighted the importance of involving all stakeholders in planning and governance. Collier describes a strategic process as starting with what you are trying to do: the patient experience, the clinician experience, personalized medicine, genetics? Then make sure all the pieces are in place. “The technology comes at the end.”

Finally Worrell talked about how they are rigorously reducing technologies: determining which they really need and trying to deal with as few vendors as possible.

Learn more about Lenovo: https://techtoday.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/healthcare

Learn more about Duke Health: https://www.dukehealth.org/

Listen and subscribe to the Healthcare IT Today Interviews Podcast to hear all the latest insights from experts in healthcare IT.

And for an exclusive look at our top stories, subscribe to our newsletter and YouTube.

Tell us what you think. Contact us here or on Twitter at @hcitoday. And if you’re interested in advertising with us, check out our various advertising packages and request our Media Kit.

 Lenovo is a proud sponsor of Healthcare Scene.

In this video, we hear about trends and future expectations in health IT from LaDonna Worrell, Senior Director of IT Operations at Duke Health and Justin T. Collier, MD, Healthcare CTO North America at Lenovo.

The hospital of the future is coming soon at Duke Health, which is planning to open a brand new facility in North Carolina in three years. Already, according to Worrell, three units at an existing hospital have been designated as “Beta units” (using a term common in computing for products that are not fully tested but are being tried out in real-life production). Some of the products being used there have been designated for the upcoming hospital They also have simulation labs.

Collier listed several exciting technologies that he thinks will be central to health care. Top of the list, of course, is AI, which he prefers to call “assistive intelligence.” Statistics report that the healthcare industry is adopting AI at twice the rate of other industries.

He also mentioned digital twins, which are useful for simulations, and virtual reality, which has uses in both education and patient distraction. A digital twin can help a hospital ask questions such as which is the right treatment for a particular cancer patient, or how a change in the layout of a hospital will affect such everyday activities as the steps taken by a nurse.

In planning a hospital, Worrell says they “don’t want infrastructure to hold back technology.” The technology put in now must support the next 20 years, which obviously includes changes we don’t yet know about. She hopes they won’t need to tear up walls for additional infrastructure. One needs GPUs to support AI. Wireless is instrumental in making sure the many devices stay connected. Worrell also mentioned the value of robots.

She says that Duke Health “will always be Beta,” meaning agile and able to “stay ahead of the technology.”

Both Worrell and Collier highlighted the importance of involving all stakeholders in planning and governance. Collier describes a strategic process as starting with what you are trying to do: the patient experience, the clinician experience, personalized medicine, genetics? Then make sure all the pieces are in place. “The technology comes at the end.”

Finally Worrell talked about how they are rigorously reducing technologies: determining which they really need and trying to deal with as few vendors as possible.

Learn more about Lenovo: https://techtoday.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/healthcare

Learn more about Duke Health: https://www.dukehealth.org/

Listen and subscribe to the Healthcare IT Today Interviews Podcast to hear all the latest insights from experts in healthcare IT.

And for an exclusive look at our top stories, subscribe to our newsletter and YouTube.

Tell us what you think. Contact us here or on Twitter at @hcitoday. And if you’re interested in advertising with us, check out our various advertising packages and request our Media Kit.

 Lenovo is a proud sponsor of Healthcare Scene.