The Healthcare Technology Hierarchy of Needs

Every endeavor requires strong footing.  Abraham Maslow applied the same canon to human psychological development.  I see Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as a guiding principle for our use and implementation of AI and all technology in healthcare.  Simply stated, we can only reach our full potential after our most basic needs are met.  In Maslow’s terms, only once physiological needs and safety and security are assured, can we grow as humans in love, self-esteem, and self-actualization.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Similarly, to achieve the best of what healthcare technology promises, we must first build a strong foundation of network infrastructure, storage, communications, and wireless access.  Once that sturdy footing is in place and secure from physical and cybersecurity threats, we can build applications, business intelligence, and patient engagement tools to deliver outstanding healthcare.  When all of those foundational elements and processes are in place, AI can bring value to the entire pyramid or healthcare technology stack and lead to transcendent healthcare.

Healthcare Technology Hierarchy of Needs

We crawl before we walk and walk before we run.  To borrow a common phrase, building good and useful healthcare technology is truly a marathon and not a sprint.  To continue this analogy, most of us could not wake up the morning of a marathon, put on the latest technology carbon fiber shoes, and run the race.  Preparation requires months of work and many foundational miles in basic running shoes so that, on race day, going the distance is a given and those carbon fiber shoes make the runner three percent faster.  It is easy to think that simply buying shoes will make us great runners.  Similarly, in healthcare, we must commit to years of careful planning to build foundational technology and follow with skillful implementation and steady maintenance to create a solid platform on which advanced data science can rest.  Only with that sturdy foundation can we reach the promise of AI to make healthcare more efficient, safe, and, yes, transcendent.  After we run the miles, we can lace up and reap the benefit of our advanced shoes.

A well-managed technology stack with thoughtful application of AI has the power to deliver a unified continuum of quality care and comfort to patients while helping create an environment where clinicians can engage in the joyful practice of medicine. Only once we build these important foundational layers of our healthcare hierarchy can AI help our people achieve the full potential of transcendent healthcare delivery.