Empowering healthcare: How Europe can overcome its digital skills gap

digital skill gap Europe
Photo by Florian Steciuk on Unsplash

As healthcare technology continues to evolve, the demand for digitally skilled professionals is skyrocketing. However, many experts recognise that there is a significant mismatch between the skills required and those possessed by the current workforce.

In Europe, this gap poses a significant threat to the efficiency and advancement of healthcare services. Addressing this gap is not just crucial for technological advancement but also for ensuring quality patient care and maintaining competitive healthcare systems across the continent.

As a result, there is an urgent need to examine the extent and implications of this digital skills gap and what the industry can do to solve it.

The scope of the digital skills gap in healthcare

The digital skills gap is a pressing issue not just in healthcare but across all sectors. According to a report from the World Economic Forum, “half the global labour force might need reskilling by 2025.”

This critical issue is underscored by Alexis Hernot, co-founder & CEO of Calmedica, who provided some alarming statistics: “In France, 40 million people lack digital skills, and even some basic ones such as filling digital forms. Two-thirds of companies declare having difficulties recruiting digital experts.”

This talent shortage extends beyond national borders, affecting all of Europe, as evidenced by a recent report from ManPowerGroup spanning various industries.

These statistics are a stark reminder of the scale of the challenge we face, especially when considering the significant economic value at stake and the potential effects on patients.

According to a report by consulting firm McKinsey, if Europe’s lagging countries double their digital intensity, the continent could add €2.5 trillion to GDP by 2025, boosting annual GDP growth by 1 per cent over the next decade.

Understanding the specific digital skills needed is critical to narrowing this gap, addressing this widespread shortage, and realising the economic potential outlined in these reports.

Identifying key digital skills in demand

Several experts have their opinions on how the digital skills gap in healthcare could be reduced. 

Victoria Katona, Innovation Project Lead at GE HealthCare stressed the importance of understanding digital solutions and AI in healthcare. She highlights the need for high-quality practical education in healthcare technology, particularly in Central Europe where she observed the greatest need. 

Stephanie Truong, VP Europe at AI for Health, expands on this, pointing out that the complexity of the digital skills required in healthcare is not only technical, but also cultural, as healthcare practices and methods can vary greatly from country to country. She emphasized the need to democratize AI technology and ensure that healthcare professionals are equipped to use these tools effectively.

Christian Chabrerie, Development Project Manager at the French engineering school Epita, also highlights the strong demand for specialists in AI and imaging. He mentioned the introduction of specific training programs in his school to meet this demand, noting that “there is a pull from the market for engineers on AI specifically.”

To address the digital skills gap implementing several strategies is important. 

Internal strategies for addressing digital skills gap

GE Healthcare has implemented several strategies to address the digital skills gap internally. Katona explains how integrating IT and medical professionals has been a significant focus. Programs like HelloAI, designed to educate and inspire new talent in collaboration with digital health accelerators and startups, are essential for creating a workforce capable of navigating both the IT and medical domains.

“Our experience is that it’s a hard step for either IT professionals or medical professionals to start moving towards the other direction, but it is a very important step in their careers,” she notes.

Truong emphasizes the importance of practical, user-centric, and patient-centric training to bridge the gap between hard sciences and medical sciences. This approach helps new employees understand the pressures and vocabulary of healthcare settings, making them more effective in their roles.

Hernot also shares this approach, which in his company includes mandatory hospital rotations for new employees to familiarize them with the healthcare environment. 

“The gap between hard sciences and medical sciences is real. In our company, any new employee goes to a hospital for half a day, works with surgeons, nurses and doctors to understand how they work, what it feels like to have the pressure of having people coming from all parts of the hospital asking questions at the same time, and also getting a sense of the vocabulary.”

He also explains that “in all software we develop, it’s compulsory to use the medical vocabulary. We don’t use a standard vocabulary; we use the vocabulary that will be used by nurses, doctors, and so on, which, in fact, makes it very familiar for developers and head of product leaders.“

Hernot also notes that internal upskilling of talent is significantly more cost-effective than recruiting new employees and could be an effective strategy for the healthcare industry.

Educational innovations to bridge the gap

Educational institutions are also playing a pivotal role in addressing the digital skills gap.

Chabrerie discusses Epita’s strategy, which includes collaboration with French hospitals to provide real-world training for students. By integrating medical professionals into their teaching staff, Epita also ensures that computer science students are well-versed in the nuances of healthcare, enhancing their ability to work alongside medical doctors.

“I think it’s unique in engineering school, and especially in computer science,” he concludes. “At the end, we have students that can speak with a medical doctor and that makes a difference.”

Encouraging interdisciplinary training and collaboration between engineering and medical fields has yielded positive results, with students gaining a deeper understanding of the practical applications of their skills in healthcare settings, but other issues remain.

Addressing gender disparity in digital skills

Gender disparity is another significant issue within the digital skills gap. In 2021, women represented only around 25% of the engineering workforce in Europe. This percentage is even lower in computer science, with some institutions like Epita reporting less than 5% female enrollment.

Efforts are being made to attract and retain female talent in engineering and IT. “Just to take a real example, we have about 600 students per year and they need to pay for their studies,” explains Chabrerie. “We offered 10 women to study for free. If you remove the barrier of the cost of your studies, you should logically have thousands of people coming, and it’s not the case.”

Cultural challenges remain a significant obstacle in computer science. One strategy discussed involves redirecting female talents who missed entry into medical programs towards digital healthcare majors, leveraging their interest in healthcare. “In France, about 80% of the medical students are women. One of our plans with the healthcare major is to attract the students that barely missed the medical exam and reserve some places in our healthcare major for them.”

Overcoming the talent retention challenge

Retention of talent is another critical challenge. Many European graduates move abroad for better opportunities. Truong pointed out that improving the attractiveness of the healthcare industry in Europe, including better financing and wages, is essential for retaining talent. 

Important disparities within Europe also create internal competition. Katona notes that students from Central and Eastern Europe are much more inclined to look for jobs in France or Germany for instance, where the salary is substantially higher.

Katona also adds that remote work opportunities could help retain talent within Europe by offering the flexibility that appeals to many professionals, especially in IT, where most tasks can be performed remotely.

Bridging the digital skills gap in healthcare requires a collaborative effort from industry leaders, educators, and policymakers. By investing in practical training, interdisciplinary education, and targeted strategies to attract and retain talent, Europe can ensure its healthcare sector remains competitive and capable of meeting future challenges. The potential economic and social benefits make this a crucial endeavour for the continent’s future.

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