Managing changes following introduction of digital technologies in inpatient medical organizations: Moscow’s experience

Abstract

Digital transformation of healthcare is a factor accelerating the change in the healthcare system in response to the challenges introduced by global demographic, technological and socio-economic trends. There are no technological barriers for digital transformation; however, there are organizational, legal and social limitations that need to be dealt with. In this article, digital technologies are presented as the main driver for the change development, ensuring the availability, speed and continuity of medical care provision, automation of routine processes and the processing of objective data for making management decisions. From the viewpoint of the established change management practice the article presents the current state of healthcare informatization and digital transformation experience of Moscow inpatient care by implementing the Unified Medical Information and Analytical System (EMIAS). Authors also present the general approach to change management developed by the Moscow Healthcare Department for all types of medical organizations, which is stipulated in regulatory documents. The article determines the main mechanisms of change management, certain limitations and ways to overcome them. Authors also describe the levels of digital transformation of Moscow’s medical organizations and propose the guiding principles for developing introduction measures for digital technology.