With a projected shortfall of 10 million health workers by 2030, paired with escalating costs and regulatory pressures, the healthcare industry is in desperate need of solutions. But it’s not all downside. Technology is reshaping healthcare delivery to be more efficient through telemedicine, automated processes and digital supply chain management.
Despite innovative solutions coming to the fore, many healthcare providers find themselves grappling with a complex web of IT systems, both old and new. This often hinders the ability of these providers to fully embrace digital transformation and reap its benefits.
The solution is an approach that breaks down silos and provides real-time operational insights: Enterprise Architecture (EA) offers a comprehensive framework that maps out an organisation’s technology, systems and processes.
Importantly, thanks to the breakout of scalable SaaS platforms that provide a comprehensive view of EA, the discipline has now become more widespread and accessible. These platforms allow healthcare and pharma leaders to visualise their current operations and pinpoint inefficiencies or bottlenecks. Their use cases in the healthcare industry are high-impact and vast, from streamlined workflows and simplified compliance to improved patient outcomes and better medical research-all powered by data-driven insights. Once these use cases are broken down, it’s clear to see how EA presents a powerful proposition for healthcare organisations in 2025.
Improved patient experiences
In our mobile-first world, overall patient satisfaction is closely tied to the seamlessness of digital interactions with healthcare providers. EA platforms drive better outcomes. They can be used to monitor patient-facing applications and services in real-time, allowing IT teams to quickly identify and address any issues. Additionally, these platforms enable organisations to simulate and test digital changes before they are implemented, reducing the risk of change leading to unintended negative patient experiences.
Healthcare organisations regularly struggle with unifying fragmented data from disparate sources across departments and teams. EA platforms offer a solution by integrating data from disparate systems into a holistic view that unifies the business and IT landscapes. Modern SaaS platforms contextualise this data with compelling dashboards and integrations with communication channels – facilitating the design of better business processes, strategic transformation and the identification and removal of redundancy in the IT estate.
Reducing technical debt
Many healthcare providers are burdened by technical debt – the cost of fixing issues with outdated IT assets that only stack up as these assets age. Legacy systems, even if functional, can become a serious drag on IT resources which slows the adoption of new technologies.
The disconnect between ageing systems and modern applications also often results in data lying underutilised and an increased likelihood of IT failures. However, EA solutions bridge this gap, offering a unified view of all technological assets within an organisation. Their holistic view, stretching across the whole IT estate, enables IT teams to address tech debt in a managed, strategic way that factors in wider organisational factors.
EA: Driving healthcare breakthroughs
For the complex transformation challenges that the healthcare industry faces, EA offers a compelling solution. It accelerates innovation while ensuring every technology investment delivers measurable value and remains guided by business goals and strategy. Its unified and comprehensive approach enables healthcare providers to improve patient experiences and operational outcomes. That should be a compelling prospect for any healthcare organisation in 2025 and beyond.
Rupert Colbourne
Rupert Colbourne is Chief Technology Office at Orbus Software – a global technology company specialising in market-leading software solutions for Enterprise Architecture, Business Process Analysis and IT Asset Management across many vertical sectors.
