Produced by:

Nechama Katan

Director of Data Science

Optimizing data science and generating insights requires a company culture that creates trust and physiological safety.

What can companies do to optimize their data science approach?

A lot of companies see data science as a top priority. But there are not a lot of companies who are really maximizing the opportunities that data science can bring, simply because their approach is wrong. Firstly, optimizing data science and generating insights requires a company culture that creates trust and physiological safety. Because without these critical components, staff are not empowered to be themselves and achieve their best work. Innovation from data science simply cannot take place in restrictive environments.

Following on from this, we need to appreciate that innovation takes time and free space to happen. People simply don’t have the time to think anymore, and you cannot do data science without thinking. To overcome this, go back to the very basics of productivity. There’s plenty of people teaching productivity right now, but really we just need to go back to basics. Step away from your phone and stop multitasking. These two actions alone free up considerable amounts of mental bandwidth, allowing for appropriate and meaningful data science to take place.

Wearable technology is removing the responsibility of self-reporting for many patients across the world.

What are the most exciting innovations taking place in healthcare currently?

For me, cloud technology and wearable technology are the two most exciting innovations taking place within healthcare right now. Cloud technology is exciting because it gives us the opportunity to create properly joined-up patient records for the first time ever. This is valuable for both patient treatments and clinical trials. Patients will soon have the comfort of knowing that wherever they are in the world, if there is a medical emergency, then whoever looks after them can quickly find out important information. For trials, being able to leverage real-world data is helping researchers to find insights quicker than ever before and have access to more reliable data sets.

Wearable technology is removing the responsibility of self-reporting for many patients across the world. We are already seeing the use of continuous glucose monitors for diabetes patients, that tell them exactly how much insulin they might need and at what time by connecting to their mobile phone. The possibility of extending this concept to other conditions is practically endless. This technology will prove particularly useful for older patients and young children, who are not as reliable when it comes to keeping track of their conditions and relevant numbers. This technology will help them to manage their conditions far more efficiently and ultimately create better outcomes.

It is the culture of healthcare businesses that stops automation.

Is healthcare ready for automation?

Within healthcare, there is an enormous amount of work that is completed manually. It can be easy to say that not having the right technology available is the reason for lack of automation, but this simply isn't true. The technology required for automation in healthcare and pharmaceuticals has been available for years now. In reality, it is the culture of healthcare businesses that stops automation. The scale of the change being talked about is so large that it puts businesses off investigating properly. This is a shame, because when automation is used correctly, it can save a lot of time and money, ultimately helping to improve business performance and patient outcomes.

Nechama is better known as the Wicked Problem Wizard, a specialist in solving complex problems that others can’t. Nechama’s collaborative and inclusive approach to problem solving brings people together and creates a culture of trust. Even after Nechama has helped solve an organization’s wicked problem, they are left with a team who are empowered to drive continuous improvement.