In the first Agilisys podcast episode, we caught up with Paul Malcolm, Head of Healthcare at Agilisys, to discuss why interoperability holds the key to integrated care systems – and how we can achieve it.

With new models of care constantly emerging, existing models evolving, the rate of digital transformation accelerating and demand for far more integrated healthcare models growing, the topic of interoperability is a hot one.

Speaking at the NHS Expo earlier this year, Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care stated: “Our technology landscape is very heterogeneous and interoperability is poor. This increases costs because we are not taking advantage of economies of scale, increases errors and introduces delays in the transmission of data from one system to another, which in turn has patient safety implications, and delays the digitisation of those parts of the system still very poorly served by technology.”

In this podcast, Paul Malcolm, Head of Healthcare at Agilisys shares his thoughts on the importance of interoperability and why information sharing is vital if patient outcomes and quality of care are to be optimised and the future vision of care is to be realised.

Topics discussed include:

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• The impact of Covid-19 on information sharing and integrated systems
  
• What interoperability means in the changing world of healthcare
  
• The need to bring data, people, processes and organisations from across multiple sectors together to achieve interoperability
  
• Why me must focus on patient care and outcomes when
  
• The benefits of rethinking the way an integrated healthcare system is funded
  
• How Paul predicts moves to interoperability will gather pace over the coming months
  

Paul Malcolm

Paul Malcolm is head of healthcare at Agilisys, and has nearly two decades of experience in the healthcare technology and transformation sector, specialising in digital transformation and the 'Cloud First' agenda.

Paul has worked with numerous healthcare organisations to help them migrate, operate and support their services in the Cloud, while developing strategies to drive workforce productivity, including implementation and optimisation of Office365 across the NHS.

Paul also has an increasing focus on AI and Robotic Process Automation and how it can help create more time for both front line and back office staff to deliver meaningful work, rather than repetitive admin tasks.

Austin Clark

Austin Clark is an experienced content writer and journalist specialising in organisational transformation and digital solutions, specifically in local government and healthcare.

Austin is former editor of GovTech Leaders (DigitalbyDefault) and has written features, hosted podcasts and presented events for numerous leading public sector titles during a 20-year career.