Inaugural lecture Prof. dr. Marieke Spreeuwenberg

"De belofte van hybride zorg; van innovatie naar impact"

Healthcare is under pressure. That’s why part of our care is increasingly being organized in a hybrid way—a mix of in-person and remote digital care—under the motto: “do it yourself if possible, at home if possible, and digitally if possible.” For example, monitoring COPD patients in their home environment so that they need to visit the hospital far less often.

Although digital healthcare had already made its entrance before the COVID-19 pandemic, it was during this crisis that the true impact and added value of digital care became clear. Digital care fulfilled its promise. Healthcare organizations then enthusiastically began embedding and scaling up digital, hybrid care within their own institutions. But that process doesn’t happen automatically. There are numerous barriers that arise when trying to embed hybrid care as a standard form of care.

In my inaugural lecture, I will take you through the rapid pace of digitalization in our society and the opportunities it brings for healthcare that are right at our feet. I will show the impressive steps healthcare organizations are currently taking to digitally transform the way they deliver care—and the potential risks that come with it. I will also show how, in education, we are training our future bridge-builders, who are of strategic value in shaping this transformation.

Click here for the live stream.