Impact of Technology on Community Providers

Steve Walsh moderated a conversation with Colin McHugh, Christine Schuster RN and Allen Smith MD about how community health systems can adopt sophisticated technology without losing the accessibility and personal relationships that make local care valuable in the first place.

Smith described the competitive reality for South Shore Health, located close enough to Boston that patients can readily reach globally recognized academic hospitals. Community providers therefore have to deliver high-quality care while being clear about which services belong locally and which need referral. Schuster brought the perspective of a community hospital leader balancing innovation, workforce realities and the high-touch care patients expect.

McHugh offered an example of how operational problems often extend beyond medicine. By convening community leaders in greater Nashua, his organization surfaced guardianship delays that were keeping patients in hospital beds even after their clinical needs had been addressed.

He also closed with something decidedly low-tech. Southern New Hampshire Health asks employees to walk with people who appear lost rather than simply pointing down a hallway. The lesson was not technology versus people. Community healthcare needs both.