Introduction
From a business perspective, consumerization refers to the approaches that are adopted with regard to the use of private resources that are aimed at improving operations of business establishments.
In the healthcare industry, consumerization is the adoption of information technology (IT) devices to improve healthcare operations and responsibilities. Some of the devices used in the sector are mobile phones, laptops, and iPads, among others.
Across all industries, it is critical to note that consumerism is occurs when consumers and/or personnel use their own computing devices. In the contemporary world, it is notable that patients are increasingly being involved in their care experiences and making their own care decisions. With the increased evolution of IT, patients can access and manage information at any time using various mobile tools.
Cloud computing is a form of IT approach that enables many users to perform various tasks using internet-based tools. Some of the tasks that are supported by cloud computing include processing of data, storing of data in central resources, and accessing of computer services on the internet.
This paper focuses on discussing the future opportunities and implications of the technology in the healthcare sector in relation to the effective management of resources, business intelligence, and analytics. In addition, it analyzes the business benefits and impacts of the IT platform vis-a-vis competitive dynamics.
Finally, it highlights ways through which better business intelligence and analytics would lead to improved environmental and social responsibilities.
Vision for the future opportunities and implications
In the context of the healthcare sector, business intelligence (BI) is a set of processes and tools that are utilized to transform raw data into some forms that can be used to analyze operations. Analytics refers discoveries and strategies that are applied to communicate meaningful data. The adoption of cloud computing in the industry would result in many opportunities in relation to improving operations and care.
This would be due to the fact that the management teams of various organizations in the sector would use a central platform to store data that would be accessed by patients to make critical decisions about their care options. The decisions would be aimed at achieving quality healthcare outcomes. The technology would result in an opportunity to manage information resources in a better manner.
For example, a department would be charged with the responsibility of collecting, analyzing, and storing important data that would be shared among healthcare personnel and patients. It is essential to underscore that the management groups of various healthcare facilities would have opportunities of improving business intelligence by analyzing data that would be readily available on the internet-based digital technology.
In fact, improved business intelligence would be important to identify additional opportunities in the sector because huge amounts of data would be interpreted easily. With regard to analytics, the healthcare industry would be exemplified by opportunities that would support excellent data visualization, which would be utilized to communicate results.
Improved analytics would correlate with better strategies that would culminate in effective identification, prediction, and improvements in the healthcare delivery systems. It is also critical to contend that the technology would have implications. For example, healthcare institutions would be required to invest in cloud computing facilities that would be easily accessible by patients and other users.
In addition, patients and other end-users would be required to purchase personal computing devices that would access data and information that would be supported by computer networks. Another implication of the application would be in relation to the persistent need to update computing systems. The processes involved in system upgrades take a lot of time. They are also typified by huge expenses.
Subsequent business benefits and impacts
Leaders in the healthcare sector would only adopt the digital application if it would be characterized by more business benefits than demerits. Drawing from past adoptions in other sectors, it is essential to anticipate more benefits than demerits of the technology. It would impact institutions in the sector by bringing about cost savings, which would be utilized to achieve other business objectives.
More importantly, cloud computing would result in long-term benefits of predicting financial outcomes in organizations. In fact, financial predictability would be associated with the removal of constraints that would negatively impact the pace at which the industry would respond to opportunities.
Another benefit of the application is that leaders would be able to achieve new capabilities using approaches that would be significantly faster and more effective.
One of the greatest impacts that would be associated with the digital application would be rapid responses to rare business requirements that would enable healthcare workers to adopt unique healthcare services to aid different business needs. Thus, it is essential to state that the highlighted benefits and impacts would result in better competitive dynamics, which would be exemplified by excellent performance outcomes.
How the improved business intelligence and analytics would improve environmental and social responsibilities
Environmental and social responsibilities are important to operations in the healthcare sector, implying that environmental and social factors greatly impact outcomes. Better business intelligence would enable healthcare managers to adopt effective strategies to analyze environmental and social contexts. Actions in relation to responsibilities of institutions would be taken based on the results.
Responses would only be adopted if they would be supported by evidence-based findings. Thus, there would be a high likelihood of implementing environmental and social responsibilities that would have minimal negative impacts.
Improved analytics would involve the application of statistical approaches, computer programs, and research approaches to operations with regard to identifying issues in the environmental and social contexts. Thus, analytics would result in enhanced responsibilities among different entities in society.
Conclusion
It is evident that healthcare consumerization is being adopted to achieve many benefits. For example, it has been illustrated that the use of cloud computing would be typified by cost savings and high levels of financial predictability. One of the implications of the digital technology is that it would involve system upgrades that would take a lot of time and involve huge expenses.
The use of cloud computing in the sector would be essential to enable patients to make their own decisions about care that they should receive from healthcare facilities. By adopting the digital platform, both business intelligence and analytics would be improved, which would culminate in better outcomes.
This paper has also shown that the use of the technology would be characterized by more effective ways of managing information resources in the sector. It is critical to underscore that information is used by the management teams of many organizations across the world to make strategic decisions to support operations.