Building bridges to the future of care – Cisco Blogs

It’s almost unimaginable that a year and a half ago, a global pandemic unlike anything we’ve ever seen, upturned our world. Overnight, we were forced to reimagine learning, reimagine work, and reimagine care. Now, eighteen months later, healthcare is at another critical inflection point, as we look at the future of care and how the pandemic has changed the way care is delivered and received.

Technology is now synonymous with healthcare. Patient and clinician expectations, the fear of cybersecurity breaches, and the acknowledgement that care can be delivered differently are driving healthcare organizations towards unprecedented digital transformation.  

With rapid transformation comes challenge  

The digital divide continues to grow between those who have access to devices, connectivity, and digital literacy – and those who do not. An already short-staffed global healthcare workforce has experienced further burnout due to the pandemic, causing problems with mental health and forcing some out of the field. 

And, unfortunately, it’s only becoming more profitable for bad actors to target the healthcare industry, with the average cost of a data breach in healthcare totaling $7M, up 10% from 2019.¹

So, how can your healthcare organization prioritize investments in and prepare your workforce for the future of care?

No matter what goals you are trying to achieve, Cisco can help build the bridge to get you there. 

Now more than ever, we believe that technology can be used to provide an opportunity for all, make a meaningful impact, and bring about a future that is better and brighter than today.

Our commitment to healthcare goes beyond our leading products and services. To date, Cisco has positively impacted more than 527 million people through social impact grants and signature programs. In the last year, we donated 53 million dollars in cash and personal protective equipment to nonprofit organizations and first responders during COVID-19.²

As we look towards the future, I am pleased to reinforce Cisco’s commitment to healthcare with a few announcements. 

Simplifying virtual care with Webex Instant Connect

Today, patient expectations are driving healthcare organizations to adopt digitally enabled, on-demand and seamlessly-connected clinician and patient interactions. 

It’s critical that healthcare organizations get it right the first time, making it easy for patients to connect with their providers.

In fact, 53% of millennials would switch to a competitor after just one negative experience.³ With the growing digital divide and the staggering number of people who lack the digital literacy to join a video visit, telehealth appointments need to be simple.

With Webex Instant Connect for virtual care, physician and patient care interactions are seamless and secure. The solution can be launched from existing health applications (EHR/EMR) or in a standalone browser, as it does not require app downloads, browser plugins or logins.

We are confident that this tool will be a valuable resource for healthcare organizations as they evolve their virtual care offerings to best meet the needs of patients and clinicians.  

Innovating for the future with Cisco Customer Experience 

We know healthcare organizations are under extreme pressure to deliver value at a faster pace and scale, with less resources, increased complexity, and higher risk.​ 

That’s why, together with our partners, Cisco Customer Experience (CX) will help you optimize for today’s challenges, prepare for tomorrow’s changes, and innovate for the future. With world-leading experts across healthcare and infrastructure and unmatched digital intelligence, Cisco CX focuses on the people and connections that will move healthcare forward in times of change. Whether it’s comprehensive digital transformation or extra help to get your initiative off the ground, CX can help you get there faster and with less risk. 

With the proven success of our service offerings, Cisco CX can help your organization:  

• Improve and scale access, engagement and experience across the care continuum with recommendations based on industry data and customer benchmarks​ 
• Secure your network, endpoints, devices and users with industry-leading security expertise and threat visibility  
• Get the most from your technology to help you achieve the outcomes that truly matter to you and your patients 
• Transform at the speed of change with a flexible resourcing model ​
• Empower your teams to respond faster and drive more effective change with leading-edge learning to upskill IT teams 

Cisco Business Critical Services give you access to an elite community of world-class experts who have a proven track record of accelerating and maximizing business value for healthcare organizations. Our Cisco CX healthcare practice is ready to help your organization build business and clinical resilience for the future of healthcare.   

Cisco at HIMSS 2021 

We are thrilled to share that Cisco will be at HIMSS 2021 (August 9-13th in Las Vegas).  

With our long-standing partnership with the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS), we believe that there is no better place to reinforce Cisco’s commitment to healthcare than at the HIMSS 2021 event.  

We invite you to visit the Cisco booth (3929) in the HIMSS Digital Park to learn more about how our solutions and services are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in healthcare today. Plus, visit our partner Medigate (Booth C359) for a clinical zero trust demo with Cisco.  

Join our healthcare experts in the Digital Park theater for two insightful presentations around the future of care and providing equitable access for all. Each session will be aired twice throughout the week and will be available on-demand for those who aren’t able to watch onsite.  

Have a specific question for our team, or want to connect on your digital strategy? Engage with a Cisco expert by booking a 1:1 meeting through the MyHIMSS Planner tool.  

Whether you’re able to attend HIMSS 2021 in person or are looking to experience the event virtually, please visit our Cisco at HIMSS webpage for exclusive content kits and session recordings.  

Recognizing our everyday healthcare heroes 

I would like to take this opportunity to recognize our frontline workers and healthcare providers for helping us to get through an incredibly challenging year. You are our heroes, and we applaud your unwavering efforts in keeping us safe and healthy. 

We look forward to sharing some of the amazing stories of healthcare heroes just like you at HIMSS and beyond.    

1. Ponemon “Cost of a Data Breach 2020” 
2. Cisco 2020 CSR Report 
3. Zendesk “Millennials vs. Gen Z: How their customer service expectations compare” 

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