ATLANTA, April 18, 2023 – Cox Communications commissioned a survey of US-based hospital executives to understand their perceptions and adoption of smart hospital trends and technologies. Key findings illuminated how hospitals plan to invest over the next two years both operationally and clinically.

Hospitals are under immense pressure to increase efficiencies while being faced with staff shortages and more dynamic patient expectations. In the operations space, the top investments healthcare leaders plan to make over the next two years include:

• 5G networks and connectivity solutions (60 percent)
• Cloud-based technology (50 percent)
• Real-time location services – RTLS (40 percent)

As for clinical investments, artificial intelligence (Al) & machine learning (ML) tools (57 percent) and virtual care platforms (53 percent) scored best for investment within the next two years. Consumer facing technology like ChatGPT has brought AI recognition and credibility among the general population, and hospitals are looking to leverage the automation and savings of AI.

Smart Hospital solutions within the Cox healthcare portfolio can relieve pressure by realizing the tremendous benefits of new digital technology. These benefits have needle-moving impact for staff, prospective patients and payer networks. Eighty-four percent of hospital executives said these initiatives have a strong or positive impact on attracting and retaining clinical staff. Additionally, 74 percent said these initiatives have a strong or positive impact on attracting new patients and payer networks.

"The irony isn't lost on hospitals - leadership is rolling out new technology that's meant to make operations more efficient, but the services they've selected can be so complicated to implement and manage that they're ultimately counterproductive,” shared George Valentine, assistant vice president at Cox Communications and general manager of Cox Prosight. "Our full stack of modern healthcare IT solutions are not only cost-effective and easy to use, but supports facilities who want to effectively manage, share and synthesize data, with a goal of enhancing both the patient and hospital staff experience.”

Half (50 percent) of the survey participants plan to invest in cloud within the next two years, in addition to the 43 percent currently investing. The explosion of data and AI created by exponentially increasing demand means the cloud is even more essential. RapidScale’s cloud solutions empower healthcare businesses of every size to improve doctor-patient connections and enable secure data sharing. To bring compute closer to where data is created, CoxEdge provides cloud services from local proximity data centers near clinical facilities and the patient’s home.

Sixty percent of hospital executives are planning to invest in private and public 5G networks within the next two years. Cox Private Networks uses both LTE/5G and fixed wireless access, creating customized solutions tailored for healthcare that not only meet the need for speed but also address latency, security and stability.

Sixty percent of respondents said RTLS is a very important aspect of a smart hospital, and 10 percent emphasize it is the most important investment hospital leadership can make. Cox Prosight is designed to streamline and modernize hospital operations and patient experiences through RTLS: improving the ability to quickly find medical devices, creating safer spaces through location tracking that automatically alerts security teams, even helping visitors to easily find their way through a complex hospital campus.

The combined capabilities of a partner like Cox provide an experienced ally to lead the transformation journey, bringing together the necessary IoT solutions for indoor and outdoor problem solving. Cox connects all unique environments to evolve digital experiences and provide easily accessible data to enhance decision making.

Connect with the Cox team and learn more about the survey insights at the HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition April 17 - 20. Cox will be showcasing its full suite of healthcare technology solutions at booth 202.

About Cox Communications
Cox Communications is committed to creating meaningful moments of human connection through technology. The largest private broadband company in America, we proudly serve nearly seven million homes and businesses across 18 states. We're dedicated to empowering others to build a better future and celebrate diverse products, people, suppliers, communities and the characteristics that make each one unique. Cox Communications is the largest division of Cox Enterprises, a family-owned business founded in 1898 by Governor James M. Cox.

The commercial services division of Cox Communications, Cox Business, provides fiber-based network and managed and cloud solutions that support applications and create connected environments for more than 370,000 businesses nationwide, including health care providers, K−12 and higher education, financial institutions and government organizations. We also serve most of the top-tier wireless and wireline telecom carriers in the U.S. through our wholesale division. For more information, visit www.coxbusiness.com. 

Contact:
Kari Saunders
kari.saunders@cox.com
470-692-3373