Sunil Dadlani

No industry is arguably as disrupted today as the healthcare sector. From implementation of new, cutting-edge technologies such as AI and extended reality to tackling ever-increasing cybersecurity threats and adhering to regulatory requirements, healthcare organisations are facing no end of challenges.

One of the largest non-profit health care networks operating in the tri-state area of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York, Atlantic Health System is powered by approximately 19,000 team members with 5,440 affiliated physicians and serves more than six million community members and consumers.

The health system provides a full care continuum to meet the health needs of its communities with six nationally recognised hospitals, 400-plus ambulatory sites, urgent cares, telehealth, rehab institutions and visiting nurses, with a core mission to design and deliver the highest quality of innovative and personalised healthcare to build healthier communities and improve lives of patients, consumers and caregivers, thereby making healthcare more affordable, accessible and equitable.

Helping Atlantic Health achieve these goals is Sunil Dadlani, its Chief Information and Digital Officer, who is responsible for leading and driving the organisation’s digital transformation and technology innovations.

With over 25 years of experience in the industry, Dadlani’s career has spanned across a diverse range of sectors including healthcare, life science, medical device, high-tech, telecom and ecommerce. He has worked globally with Fortune 500 companies and leading digital transformation and innovation initiatives, slowly translating to the public sector and also for nonprofit organisations.

Before assuming his current role with Atlantic Health System, Dadlani spearheaded one of the most ambitious digital transformation projects in the public sector for the New York State Department of Health. “This was one of the largest public sector digital transformations in the healthcare sector and its main aim was to revolutionise healthcare delivery and administration within the state of New York for 19m New Yorkers,” he explains.

“My experience with this position was instrumental in shaping my skill set and managing large teams, navigating through government structures and also implementing cutting-edge technologies in the public sector environment.”

Today, Dadlani describes how technology is making inroads in every facet of the healthcare industry, from diagnostics to preventive care to early treatments, precision medicine and personalised medicine. “In every single area from revenue cycle management, patient experience and engagement, technology touches almost every single facet of the healthcare industry,” he says.

However this technology transformation does not come without its challenges, starting from the cybersecurity threat. 

“Healthcare organisations are prime targets for cybersecurity threats because of the sensitive and valuable patient data that we hold,” Dadlani explains. “And with this comes a large responsibility to stay compliant, to meet regulatory mandates and, most importantly, to maintain the trust of the patients and of our team members.”

Second comes the challenge of integrating emerging technologies. “All healthcare technologies or systems have legacy systems. So, how you integrate new emerging technologies with the existing technology footprint is a consistent challenge, and that brings us to the next challenge of interoperability. Healthcare systems are diverse with multiple stakeholders. No single stakeholder holds the entire patient data. So, how you make sure that the systems are talking to each other and the data is truly interoperable is a key challenge.”

In a modern world, providing the best patient experience is essential too. “Now, cross-functional industries are playing a key role in healthcare consumers' experience, and they want healthcare to be as seamless as using Netflix or Amazon. Meeting those experiences – and having safeguards with the cybersecurity around those experiences – is a consistent challenge.”

Read the full story HERE. 

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