As the healthcare industry continues to evolve due to advances in technology, both healthcare organizations and medical professionals should look to embrace these three top digital skills for continued success. 

<p>
  For healthcare practitioners &ndash; and those who employ them &ndash;the
  future of healthcare delivery and the skills required to provide high quality
  patient care in the digital age will take nods from both the new age and the
  days of cave dwellers.
</p>

<p>
  Ironically, the digitally advanced age of healthcare delivery will require a
  rebirth of skills that have been used since the earliest of historic times.
  For now, let&rsquo;s focus on the newly emerging skills being driven by the
  quickly advancing medical and scientific field.
</p>

<p>
  In the very near future, many
  <a href="https://www.crosscountryhealthcare.com/job-search"
    >healthcare jobs</a
  >
  will closely mirror technology jobs. With the advancements in 3D printing,
  wearables, telemedicine, and chatbots to name a few, the healthcare industry
  is beginning to look a lot like the tech industry. In fact, according to Hank
  Drummond, PhD, RN, Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer at Cross Country
  Healthcare, &ldquo;technology is playing a larger role than ever in nursing
  and caregiving, and by all accounts will continue to be integrated at
  unprecedented levels in the future.&rdquo;
</p>

<h2>Are We Ready?</h2>

<p>
  There is little argument that much of the digital future of healthcare will be
  here within the next decade. In fact, Accenture Strategy forecasts that 50
  percent of healthcare services will be provided virtually by 2030<sup>1</sup>,
  and four out of 10 healthcare jobs will have at least 30 percent of tasks
  completed by robots, such as chatbots, automation, and artificial intelligence
  (AI) in the next ten years.<sup>2</sup>
</p>

<p>
  However, this digital transformation will likely need to accelerate at a rapid
  pace given the digital maturity of the healthcare industry today. In fact, a
  recent study examining the digital maturity of six industries found that the
  healthcare sector ranked third in terms of overall digital maturity, as
  healthcare firms typically lag about a decade behind other industries in
  adopting such technologies.<sup>3</sup>
</p>

<p>
  This is prompting more healthcare organizations to embrace digital technology,
  and fast. Consider that 61% of healthcare executives see digital
  transformation to be important or even critically important to their survival
  today. In two years, that importance climbs to 76%. In five years, it rises to
  86%.<sup>4</sup> But, what about the workforce equipped to utilize and
  leverage digital transformations?
</p>

<p>
  &ldquo;The reality is without a digitally literate healthcare workforce, the
  innovations in technology will have little utility,&rdquo; says Drummond.
  &ldquo;Unless we begin to change both the curriculum and the staffing
  strategies in place to prioritize digital skills, thousands of inadequately
  prepared staff could be left behind amid an already challenging shortage of
  nursing and medical talent.&rdquo;
</p>

<p>
  Although rapidly increasing patient volumes and scope of healthcare needs,
  alongside technological innovations, are accelerating the need for a digitally
  enabled workforce to deliver the future of healthcare, Accenture research
  indicates only half of business leaders have a strategy for digital talent
  development. Furthermore, in a recent report by Deloitte Human Capital Trends,
  100% of healthcare providers surveyed plan to make significant progress in
  adopting cognitive and AI technologies in the next three to five years, and
  33% say they consider it a priority to train employees so they can work side
  by side with robots and AI.<sup>5</sup> However, none have made significant
  progress towards that end.
</p>

<p>
  So, as a healthcare practitioner or an organization who depends on them, it is
  critical to start now to shore up potential skill needs and gaps arising from
  technology. One way we can begin to address these gaps is through evolving
  curriculum at academic institutions. According to Patricia Liehr, PhD RN,
  Associate Dean for Nursing Research and Scholarship and Schmidt Distinguished
  Professor at Florida Atlantic University, &ldquo;as nurses, our ability to
  positively impact people on a daily basis is unmatched. Therefore, the ability
  for us to bring technological know-how to our practice is paramount.&rdquo;
</p>

<p>
  &ldquo;As we move into the digital healthcare environment, many of the skills
  required for success have not been part of our nursing education. Yet, the new
  digital landscape demands our willingness to expand our skills beyond our
  comfort zones. Our ability to be the best caregivers we can be relies on
  several factors: our caring presence to come to know those in our care;
  practice expertise that assures competence; and, the capacity to work within
  the systems and technologies that institutions and employers utilize,&rdquo;
  says Liehr.
</p>

<h2>Top Digital Skills to Master for the Future.</h2>

<p>
  When it comes to harnessing digital innovations for the future of healthcare
  delivery, one of the biggest barriers for health systems and facilities is the
  lack of suitable skills within their workforce. At the same time,
  practitioners with relevant tech skills will be highly sought-after and poised
  for future career success. &ldquo;Nursing leaders are those nurses who rise to
  the challenge of continually adapting to new knowledge in healthcare, and who
  use technology and evidence to their advantage,&rdquo; said Safiya George,
  PhD, Dean of
  <a href="https://nursing.fau.edu/"
    >FAU&rsquo;s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing</a
  >. &ldquo;Nursing leaders recognize that technology, informatics and advances
  in artificial intelligence and machine learning, paired with our critical
  thinking skills and astute clinical skills, is what is needed now and in the
  future of healthcare.&rdquo;
</p>

<p>
  Here are three broad digital areas or skills both employers and practitioners
  should have on their radar:
</p>

<ol>
  <li>
    <p>
      Artificial Intelligence (AI). Machine learning or AI will produce
      tremendous benefits by generating and analyzing patient, clinician and
      health system data. It is already evolving at such a pace that it can now
      outperform humans on some specific tasks. The data intelligence it
      produces can help practitioners better predict, prevent, screen and even
      diagnose disease.
    </p>
  </li>
</ol>

<p style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
  Big data also has the potential to help healthcare facilities and systems
  better predict key operational trends, such as patient volume, stay durations
  and care needs so they can better plan for clinical staffing. However, many
  hospitals and healthcare systems continue to face difficulties in effectively
  using all the data being generated in order to help their business and
  operations, requiring data specialists and professionals to achieve that goal.
</p>

<p style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
  AI will soon replace the administrative tasks required by nurses, including
  ordering tests or compiling notes, but will also improve medical image
  analysis, screenings and even support safer, higher quality care. All
  clinicians should educate themselves on the ethical standards and associated
  good practices when working with AI, best practices in data curation and
  interpretation/analyzation skills to leverage AI data.
</p>

<ol>
  <li value="2">
    <p>
      Digital Health/Medicine. Digital health/medicine represents a large
      segment of digital healthcare, including areas such as,
      telemedicine/telehealth, wearables and digital diagnostic tests.
      Particularly as patients and consumers expect more transparency,
      convenience and accessibility via technologies, digital medicine
      innovations will continue to reinvent the healthcare industry.
    </p>
  </li>
</ol>

<p style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
  As such, providers will need to learn about data management, data privacy,
  data quality, ethics and regulations. Interpretation skills will be required
  to read patient-generated data (i.e. from wearables or even digital pill
  monitoring). Clinicians with the ability to leverage smartphone-connected
  diagnostic tests will be able to diagnose diseases earlier and develop more
  personalized treatments. In the realm of telemedicine, learning to utilize the
  basics such as, video calls, automatic speech recognition technology, online
  consultations and remote patient management will be critical.
</p>

<ol>
  <li value="3">
    <p>
      Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). There is tremendous
      promise with AR and VR in both the delivery of healthcare and the training
      of practitioners. In fact, VR is already being used to train medical
      professionals with current predictions stating the value of VR in the
      medical field will grow as much as 30 times over the next five years
      alone.<sup>6</sup>
    </p>
  </li>
</ol>

<p style="margin-left: 0.5in;">
  Regardless of
  <a href="https://www.crosscountrynurses.com/top-travel-nursing-specialties"
    >specific career paths</a
  >, learning about and how to use VR and AR will be critical to the future as
  these technologies will be fundamental to building both digital and cognitive
  skills. Healthcare professionals are already using VR technology for patient
  care, from enabling doctors to explore congenital heart defects in 3D to
  dampening pain signals for patients suffering from burns or chronic
  conditions.
</p>

<p>
  VR and AR will also be used to help patients gain a better understanding of
  their health. Nurse and other support staff can show patients a virtual tour
  of their medical condition to educate and ease anxiety associated with the
  diagnosis. Also, nurses are turning more and more to VR to put patients into a
  calmer or even entertaining environment to help with pain management during
  certain procedures. &ldquo;It is also important to note that AI used in
  healthcare depends greatly on nursing input and data derived from nursing
  knowledge, therefore, the need for nurses will always persist,&rdquo; said
  Safiya George, PhD, Dean of FAU&rsquo;s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing.
  &ldquo;The nursing role will just expand and transform in ways to allow
  incorporation of AI to improve patients&rsquo; experiences and outcomes and
  efficiency in care delivery.&rdquo;
</p>

<h2>The Future is Now.</h2>

<p>
  Critical thinking skills have always been important in the caregiving field
  because they are used to prioritize and make key decisions. Given the
  potential for digital transformation in healthcare, the time is now for
  healthcare professionals and employers to turn their attention to future skill
  requirements. New technologies will, without a doubt, influence the roles and
  functions of clinical staff and their support over the next 20-30 years.
  It&rsquo;s time to ask, what new skills will be required? And how can we build
  them?
</p>

<h2>Cross Country Healthcare is Leading the Way.</h2>

<p>
  <a href="https://www.crosscountryhealthcare.com">Cross Country Healthcare</a>
  is committed to providing our stakeholders with the most highly-trained
  clinical staff, equipped to embrace and master the changing digital skills
  required for the future. To that end, we continue to invest time and resources
  into impactful training and development programs and opportunities. These
  include:
</p>

<p>
  &bull; Our American Nurses Credentialing Center- accredited
  <a href="https://www.crosscountryuniversity.com/">Cross Country University</a>
  offers our nursing professionals more than 90 continuing education contact
  hours in a range of content areas aimed at helping meet the challenges faced
  in a rapidly changing world of practice.
</p>

<p>
  &bull; A groundbreaking partnership with Florida Atlantic University&rsquo;s
  Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, in order to pursue joint
  collaborative research, educational and training activities aimed at building
  the most skilled and qualified nursing professionals in the marketplace
</p>

<p>Sources:</p>

<ol>
  <li>
    <div>
      Accenture,
      <a
        href="https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/strategy/things-impacting-healthcares-future-workforce"
        >Hospital of the Future Research</a
      >, 2018
    </div>
  </li>
  <li>
    <div>
      Accenture,
      <a
        href="https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/strategy/things-impacting-healthcares-future-workforce"
        >Large Academic Medical Center Case Study</a
      >
    </div>
  </li>
  <li>
    <div>
      Virtusa and Forrester Consulting, <a
        href="http://www.virtusadigital.com/digital-transformation/"
        >The Digital Transformation Race Has Begun</a
      >, 2017
    </div>
  </li>
  <li>
    <div>
      SAP Center for Business Insight, <a
        href="https://www.sap.com/industries/healthcare.html?pdf-asset=a864cb4c-d67c-0010-82c7-eda71af511fa&amp;page=10"
        >A Future in Digital Health: Transforming Healthcare for Patients and
        Providers</a
      >, 2017
    </div>
  </li>
  <li>
    <div>
      Human Capital Trends 2017, Deloitte Global. <a
        href="https://dupress.deloitte.com/dup-us-en/focus/human-capital-trends/2017/futureworkforce-changing-nature-of-work.html"
        target="_blank"
        >https://dupress.deloitte.com/dup-us-en/focus/human-capital-trends/2017/futureworkforce-changing-nature-of-work.html</a
      >
    </div>
  </li>
  <li>
    <div>
      Association for Talent Development,
      <a
        href="https://www.td.org/insights/healthcare-jobs-20-the-future-of-healthcare-and-tech"
        >Healthcare Jobs 2.0: The Future of Healthcare and Tech</a
      >, 2019
    </div>
  </li>
</ol>


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