Health and Digital Transformation Maastricht University

Overview

The healthcare sector faces complex challenges, such as rising costs and a shortage of skilled workers. Health expenditures are increasing due to an ageing population, morbidity, and changes in patients’ expectations towards healthcare delivery.

Digital and data-driven solutions can offer a solution to these challenges and make healthcare more affordable, more accessible and of a better quality. There is a lot of attention to new technologies, such as e-health, artificial intelligence, automation, robotics and smart home services. However, the transition to a more digital care process is not self-evident. Technical and digital applications do not always get off the ground or disappear after a while. Additionally, developers lack an understanding of the needs and experiences of end-users in healthcare.

The digital transformation requires bridge builders who understand both the domain of data science and the domain of healthcare. This programme equips you with the knowledge and tools to facilitate the digital transformation in healthcare. You learn how to collaborate and communicate with different stakeholders and how to initiate and lead organisational change.

This programme is for you if you are interested in:

• building bridges between healthcare, data science, and digital technology;
• strategically navigating the digital transformation of healthcare;

• ensuring that healthcare is innovative, sustainable and affordable.

The digital transformation of healthcare

The digital transformation of healthcare is necessary to ensure that healthcare is innovative, sustainable, and affordable. This requires a change in the interaction between technology and health professionals. Digital technology is often developed without involving end-users such as patients and caregivers. It is therefore important to understand the problems and wishes of the end-users to develop innovations that are useful and easy to use. As a student, you gain in-depth knowledge of data science and information technology. Additionally, you gain an understanding of digital technologies in healthcare and learn how to design, implement and evaluate digital technology and AI in healthcare.

Building bridges between technology and healthcare

Health and Digital Transformation educates bridge builders. Healthcare professionals who are eager to make the connection between IT specialists and data scientists and who ensure the adoption of new technologies in daily healthcare practices. Bringing about sustainable change requires knowledge of change management, organisational development and management issues, all of which are covered in this programme. You learn to communicate and collaborate, bringing various stakeholders together, such as consumers, businesses, and policymakers. Moreover, it is important to be ethically responsible when using (personal) data, and you learn how to handle and store data based on the responsibility framework.

Blend of theory and practice

Health and Digital Transformation is a unique programme with one overarching, interdisciplinary project. In a team of 4 to 5 students, you will be working on one project throughout the year. In collaboration with a healthcare institute, research institute or the industry you tackle a real-life problem. In each course, the acquired theoretical knowledge is immediately applied in this overarching project. This enhances your capabilities to effectively communicate with different stakeholders and work in multidisciplinary teams, preparing you for your career as a bridge builder. During the project, you are guided by a personal mentor and receive regular, formative feedback.

Career opportunities:

The opportunities for  Maastricht University 's Health and Digital Transformation experts are expected to grow substantially over the coming years as more experts are needed who understand the possibilities but also the limitations of digital technology to help transform healthcare in an innovative and sustainable way. After your Master's degree, there are a lot of options for your future career.

• With this multidisciplinary background, graduates will find employment in a wide range of sectors, such as healthcare, consultancy, business, industry and government.

• Within healthcare organisations, graduates can be involved in the selection, use and safety aspects of (medical) digital aids and technological innovations.

• As a consultant, they may connect developers of technology with the healthcare market. They can advise healthcare organisations, healthcare providers and clients/patients on a variety of issues related to the implementation of digital innovations in healthcare.

• As a project manager within the business community or at health insurance companies, they can initiate the development of novel digital products for clients/patients.

• As policy advisors, they can also assist and advise organisations in strategically navigating the digital transformation of healthcare.

• As a researcher (within universities, hospitals, health insurers or healthtech companies), research can be done into the implementation, testing and evaluation of innovative digital technologies. Finally, as entrepreneurs, they may start their own healthtech start-up to bring a (digital) innovation to the market.