Today’s patients expect more than clinical expertise; they seek a Phygital experience—seamless interactions that span both the physical environment (facilities) and the digital environment (virtual interactions).

To achieve a seamless Phygital experience, healthcare organizations are increasingly investing in technology that enhances human connection and explores alternative sites of care as part of a broader strategy to improve patient outcomes and efficient healthcare delivery.

As a result, strategic capital allocation is a critical lever for organizations aiming to meet growth needs, enhance patient care, and drive innovation within and beyond the walls of the health system. As healthcare leaders grapple with competing priorities, they are tasked to allocate capital judiciously across diverse areas, including the built environment and alternative digital sites of care.

Organizations in the United States are navigating this complex terrain and forging partnerships to fund and execute their strategic capital initiatives.

“No Margin, No Mission.” This adage acknowledges the natural tension between service, sustainability and innovation while underscoring the fundamental truth that healthcare organizations cannot fulfill their strategic mission without sound financial decision-making. The other side of the canvas is painted by a pandemic that painfully illustrates the consequences of a healthcare environment where providers and patients do not connect on a human level.

To bridge this gap, healthcare organizations are leveraging technology to enhance empathy and communication.

The art of investment in healthcare is not just about funding the next big innovation; it’s about crafting a strategy where growth is nurtured, capital is safeguarded, and time is respected, ensuring a future where both patients and providers thrive.

Investments in the built environment—the physical care space (Hospitals, Medical Office Buildings (MOBs), Ambulatory Care Centers, Urgent Care Centers, Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs) hospitals, clinics, and other medical facilities)—are essential for expanding capacity, improving patient access, and enhancing care delivery. Whether constructing new facilities or renovating existing ones, allocating capital to create healing environments with the goals of modernization, enhanced patient experience and flexibility/adaptability all address the changing expectations of the patient-consumer.

Healthcare investment is a delicate dance between the bold steps of innovation and the measured rhythm of resource management. Healthcare organizations need to find the sweet spot where visionary initiatives and capital constraints move in unison.

Adding to the complexity, this rhythm changes constantly as healthcare organizations seek to remain viable against competition from non-traditional healthcare disruptors making advances in patient care spaces.

Specifically, patient-consumer expectations of the built environment center around a few key tenets:

Similarly, the Digital Care Environment is experiencing accelerated transformation driven by the same expectations of clinical care providers and the patient-consumer. This digital revolution has reshaped healthcare, emphasizing the need for robust technology investments to satisfy the new patient-consumer mindset while staying true to the culture of the organization.

“Organizational culture shapes our workflows—whether we embrace the digital revolution with open arms or cling to familiar routines. When we revert to old habits, it’s our culture that pulls us back to our comfort zone. Planning for and managing the change is a huge opportunity to integrate innovation seamlessly into our organizational mindset. We strive to honor clinical excellence while embracing transformative tech.” Capital allocations in the digital care environment now must encompass solutions that enable frictionless, personalized care experiences no matter where the clinical care encounter takes place. Innovations in ZeroUI/Ambient Intelligence (Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing) and Remote Patient Monitoring are bridging the gap between patients and healthcare providers, strengthening the Patient-Provider Connection and improving clinical outcomes.

Transforming the built and digital care environments to function in concert with one another is extremely complicated and costly. At the same time, aligning financial and human capital, timelines and expertise across departments and capital initiatives is imperative for success. Construction projects can rarely accommodate the litany of design and technology elements desired for next-generation patient care. Simply put, there is rarely enough time or funding available within the scope of a single capital project.

However, aligning with expertise and resources from technology, digital, innovation and human experience initiatives, we create a confluence of construction, technology and aligned investment to impact human connection within a Phygital care environment. As healthcare organizations allocate capital, they must balance growth imperatives with their core mission—compassionate patient care.

The bottom line: the future lies in seamlessly integrating technology with construction capital projects, creating a built environment that prioritizes both innovation and healing.

In this dynamic landscape, healthcare organizations must navigate the delicate balance between construction and technology initiatives by fostering partnerships and aligning incentives.

Sutter Health’s Wilt noted: “Our collaborative ventures into the Phygital domain are more than just joint efforts; they’re a fusion of expertise and vision, creating a healthcare environment where technology supports the patient journey in its entirety.” Through this approach, Sutter believes they can build a resilient healthcare system that creates seamless, frictionless, convenient and efficient experiences, serving patients, providers, and communities alike.

Healthcare organizations that recognize innovation requires collaboration, both internally and externally, are charting the path to achieving next-generation patient care experience. Many are essentially redefining the “Product” of care delivery by focusing on patient-centric care, with a hint of personalization to begin to create the seamless, frictionless, convenient, and efficient experiences patient-consumers are seeking. This means:

• Placing the patient-consumer at the center of health care and delivering integrated solutions of products, services and data that enable personalized experience and better health outcomes.
• Unifying healthcare infrastructure (physical and digital) to revolve around the patient consumer, rather than the patient-consumer having to navigate a static and largely physical venue-based system.
• Partner to build transparent, integrated and resilient venues of care that can support personalized care models.
• Demonstrate value by embracing data driven human-centered thinking; combining and using clinical and non-clinical data to improve health outcomes. The combination of clinical and non-clinical evidence will make a huge difference in how we apply physical and digital assets to enhance clinical care and outcomes.

Some healthcare organizations have seen success partnering with technology innovators, venture capital, and private equity investors:

1. Strategic Alliances

Healthcare organizations can collaborate with technology companies, startups, and research institutions. These partnerships foster knowledge exchange, accelerate product development, and drive adoption. By collaborating with innovators, healthcare providers gain access to cutting-edge solutions that enhance patient outcomes.

“Our partnerships with external technology companies and our IT leadership team are pivotal in transforming patient care via robust communications infrastructure and complex care integration,” said Guxia. “These alliances are fueling the creation of a Phygital ecosystem where the boundaries between physical and digital health are seamlessly blended.”

2. Co-Creation and Co-Investment

Health infrastructure must change to revolve around patients, rather than patients navigating a static and largely physical-based care environment.

As leading organizations focus on the patient-consumer at the center of health care, they begin to deliver patients integrated solutions of products, services and data that deliver the best personalized health outcomes. Some healthcare organizations actively participate in co-creation initiatives. They work closely with technology partners to design customized solutions that address specific challenges.

Co-investment models allow healthcare providers to share risks and rewards with investors. By aligning interests, these collaborations drive sustainable innovation.

“Co-creation is the heartbeat of our digital strategy,” Wilt said. “A great example for us is Scout by Sutter Health, a personalized digital program that helps teens and young adults build resilience to better manage everyday mental health. Through our technology incubator, we’re not just witnessing innovation; we’re actively delivering it, ensuring that all our digital advancement echoes the collective voice of our healthcare community.”

3. Venture Capital and Private Equity

Venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) firms play a crucial role in funding healthcare technology initiatives and have enabled successful construction initiatives as well.

Investing in the Phygital space is more than a financial venture; it’s a commitment to a future where healthcare is omnipresent, blending in-person and virtual care through the strategic use of alternative capital to foster a more accessible and integrated healthcare experience.

These investors recognize the potential of disruptive solutions and provide capital for research, development, and commercialization. In return, they seek promising returns on their investments. Some Healthcare organizations actively engage with VC and PE firms to identify high-potential startups and fuel innovation.

The advent of alternative capital funding is a game-changer for the Phygital care environment, allowing us to transcend traditional financial models and invest in a future where healthcare transcends physical boundaries and becomes a truly integrated experience.

Successful organizations are not flying solo. Instead, they have partnered around defined visions to build transparent, integrated and resilient care environments that can support the next generation of personalized care models.

Healthcare organizations are at the forefront of a digital revolution. By investing in technology that enhances human connection and enables alternative sites of care, they pave the way for a more accessible, resilient, and patient-centric future. Collaborations with innovators and investors fuel this transformation, while smart integration with capital construction ensures that healthcare facilities remain adaptable and efficient.

As we build for the future, we should remember that every brick laid, every line of code written, and every coordinated dollar invested contributes to a healthier, more connected world.

Contributors:

• Carl Fleming, Healthcare Strategist, DPR Construction
• Clara Guixa, VP Applications and Deputy CIO, Boston Children’s Hospital
• Laura Wilt, Chief Digital Officer, Sutter Health

Photo: Sdecoret/shutterstock.com