The Dutch healthcare system is under increasing pressure. The number of patients is growing, while fewer healthcare professionals are available. If we want to keep high-quality healthcare accessible and affordable, we need to organise it differently. Researchers at the University of Twente are working with healthcare professionals and technology companies to help bring about that change. And to do so, they are looking beyond the walls of the hospital.
The hospital of the future starts at home
Hospitals will not disappear. They will remain indispensable for surgery, emergency care and complex treatments. But do you really need to visit a hospital for every check-up, measurement or step in your recovery? Increasingly, some of that care can take place at home, in the community or digitally. Technology can support patients remotely, help healthcare professionals identify problems earlier and give patients more control over their own recovery. The hospital of the future is therefore not necessarily a bigger or more technologically advanced building. The key question is a different one: which care needs to take place in hospital, and which care can we organise closer to the patient?
Recovering from a broken hip with the help of sensors
Research involving older people with a broken hip offers an example of what this could look like. Han Hegeman, a researcher at the University of Twente (UT) and Ziekenhuisgroep Twente (ZGT), and his team are investigating how smart sensors can help monitor patients’ recovery more effectively. Such sensors can collect information about how much and how someone moves during rehabilitation. This gives healthcare professionals better insight into a patient’s recovery and could help them identify at an earlier stage when recovery is not progressing as expected.
This could help tailor treatment more closely to the individual patient. At the same time, patients would not need to travel to hospital for every measurement. In this way, technology supports healthcare professionals while giving patients more opportunity to recover at home.
Technology is not always a device
When you think of the hospital of the future, robots, artificial intelligence and smart sensors may immediately come to mind. But healthcare innovation can also be surprisingly simple. UT researchers Geke Ludden and Thomas van Rompay, for example, are studying how the environment in which people receive care can influence their health and recovery. In so-called healing environments, they investigate the effects of natural elements such as greenery, daylight and exposure to nature. These elements can help reduce stress and improve patients’ wellbeing. That, too, is part of the healthcare of the future. It is not about technology for technology’s sake, but about solutions that meet the needs of patients and healthcare professionals.
From the same care for everyone to care that suits you
Another development is the move towards increasingly personalised treatments. After all, what works well for one patient may not be the best solution for another. This can be seen, for example, in research by UT and ZGT researcher Anique Bellos Grob and her team into pelvic organ prolapse. Using MRI and ultrasound, they are investigating how the pelvic floor functions and what changes after surgery or the use of a pessary. With this knowledge, researchers aim to better determine which treatment is most suitable for each patient. Step by step, healthcare is shifting away from a standard approach towards treatment that better reflects the individual body and personal circumstances.
But how does a good idea reach the patient?
A smart sensor, a new diagnostic method or a different way of designing a hospital may hold great promise. But a successful trial does not automatically mean that an innovation will be used in every hospital tomorrow. This is one of the major challenges. New technology needs to be safe and reliable, but it must also fit into healthcare professionals’ daily routines. Patients need to be able and willing to use it. And healthcare organisations need to be able to implement the technology in practice. That is why healthcare innovation is not just about inventing new things. It is equally important to investigate how innovations work in practice and how successful solutions can be implemented more widely.
A hospital without walls?
So, will we still need hospitals in the future? Absolutely. But perhaps we need to rethink what a hospital actually is. Some care will remain within hospital walls. Other care will move into people’s homes, their communities or digital environments. Technology can help support patients remotely, make treatments more personalised, and give healthcare professionals the time and information they need to focus on the care where they are needed most. The future of the hospital may therefore be less about the building itself and more about organising the right care, in the right place, for the right patient. And sometimes, that place is simply home.
