FEATURE : DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Charles Cao , Head of Operations and Strategy at Colorado-based Conga , speaks to us about sustainability in healthcare and how Digital Transformation can help these organizations lower their carbon footprints .

The healthcare industry is no exception to this , not least because the NHS in the UK has been set the challenge of becoming one of the world ’ s first net zero carbon health services . The objective of the program , ‘ A Greener NHS ,’ is to cover the three pillars of sustainability – economic , environmental and social – which overlap each other to deliver the true goal of sustainability . For healthcare organizations to achieve their sustainable environmental goals , particularly amid a period of inflation and rising costs , they must integrate sustainability within their Digital Transformation initiatives .

The link between Digital Transformation and sustainability

At a basic level , Digital Transformation and sustainability initiatives are fundamentally linked , as Digital Transformation is an enabler of more efficient and sustainable practices . For example , if healthcare providers moved their entire supply chain to a cloudbased enterprise resource planning ( ERP ) system , they would benefit from greater insight , allowing them to fully optimize supply chain performance and improve overall efficiency . In doing so , they can better co-ordinate the demand for certain medicines and other healthcare supplies , minimizing waste or unnecessary recalls , which not only prevents supply chain disruption but also reduces overall energy output and can help suppliers track , report and reduce their overall carbon footprint . However , the reality is that many Digital Transformation initiatives are not considered successful , which could have a significant impact on meeting sustainability goals .

www . intelligentcio . com INTELLIGENTCIO NORTH AMERICA 53