10.12.2018

Cooperation secures the future

Fast and massive change is the current megatrend in health care. This requires a new kind of thinking from businesses and communities, and really, from all of us.

But thinking is not enough. We must be able to work together with others. The more networking takes place between companies and communities, the more cooperation skills and enthusiasm is required. We also need new roles and courage to step outside our comfort zones. We need openness to innovate and to look in new directions. As an ecosystem, CleverHealth Network enables cooperation with other companies, research institutes, and Helsinki University Hospital HUS, and it prepares the ground for building the future, learning from others and sharing your knowledge.

Networking is a step forward. Still, the traditional buyer–supplier model is the norm—even though it does not produce the best and most widely useful innovations. That is why we must find new models. Perhaps in the future, the norm is bringing together scouts, developers, and network agents; their encounters are essential for different operators regardless of their own strengths. How else can we build services in a more agile and cost-efficient manner even though the service structures surrounding them become more complex—and are often global.

Global markets require that the impact of products and services on health and wellbeing can be proven reliably. Therefore, the cooperation between service providers, research institutes, and other technology providers is vital. It is also important to take the right actions at the right time, utilizing the best possible expertise.

Models where the development risks and benefits are shared are also becoming more common. This means, for example, that the public sector is not alone responsible for the costs of development. This is possible through true partnership and trust between different operators.

We do not want the same roles to be set in stone from here to eternity, but recommend asking yourself: In which role you are at your best? How can we together make is easier to monitor patients’ wellbeing, treatment of illnesses, and recovery from operations, or prevent national diseases? By putting our minds to it together, questioning and developing, we will be able to utilize Finnish high-level expertise as efficiently as possible and create benefits for the entire society.

Not all solutions for the future are about automation. The healthcare professionals’ valuable time should be utilized efficiently so that they actually have more time to connect with people. Could our next slogan be More time for analogization via digital innovations?

Ville Väärälä
Client Executive
Public administration and health care
Fujitsu