++
In This Chapter
Technology as a Health Equity Lever
Empowering Nurses to Own Our Pivotal Role in Advancing Technology, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship for Health Equity and Healthcare Transformation
The Benefits of Nurse-Led Innovation and the Barriers to Overcome
Technology Improvements to Promote Digital Health Equity
Innovation Approaches to Increasing Equity and Decreasing Harm
++
Nurses possess the insight to improvise when resources are scarce, and that improvisation is appropriately viewed as innovation, especially since these nurse-initiated solutions improve health outcomes. Additionally, nurses lend their talents to the improvement of technology and move industries forward through entrepreneurship. As the world moves forward in the battle against disease, discrimination, and disparities, nurse ingenuity has the power and reputation to positively influence technology—from electronic health records to social media. We have a duty to disrupt the inequities perpetuated through, by, and because of technology (or lack thereof) that uphold and reinforce health inequities. And as nurses, we are perfectly poised to do so.
++
Consider the following questions as you read the essays about health equity and innovation and entrepreneurship:
++
In what ways can technology perpetuate health inequities?
How can nurses leverage their skills to become successful entrepreneurs?
How can technology play a role in improving health outcomes?
How do biases in technology affect health equity?
Describe nursing innovations that promote health equity.
+++
TECHNOLOGY AS A HEALTH EQUITY LEVER
++
++
Nurse Economist, Healthtech Specialist
++
Host, SEE YOU NOW podcast
++
Technology and digital connectivity have become a powerful, measurable determinant of health, education, opportunity, and prosperity—something of a public utility—almost like oxygen. They are so utterly essential to many parts of contemporary lifestyles, infrastructure, and economies. And by all accounts—surveys, reports, trends, and expert opinion—technology will become even more prevalent, running ambiently and continuously in every aspect of our waking and sleeping lives. According to the Pew Research Center, 42% of Americans say they have used technology in a way that has helped them personally be more independent or improve their quality of life (Strauss, 2020).
++
The year 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic mark an important inflection point when healthcare learned with certainty that technology, tech-enabled people, and devices make it possible to accomplish big, complex, transformational projects—and accomplish them safely, swiftly, and effectively (Slotkin et al., 2021). COVID-19 also served as a forcing mechanism where we relied mightily, in some instances exclusively, on technology to respond to the health crisis and as well as enable a swift pivot to a remote, digital-first approach to our ongoing, non-crisis care, accomplishing in months what had previously taken years to achieve. It was during this sudden shift that healthcare also experienced, at scale and with unusual immediacy, the glaring realities, consequences, and inequities of the digital divide—the gap between those who have affordable ...