Turning data into better patient care: A conversation with medical technology leaders

On 8 September 2026, the IHF hosted a webinar exploring how hospitals can use patient data, connected technologies and command centres to support better care. Chaired by Dr Sai Praveen Haranath of Apollo Hospitals Group, the session brought together leaders from Medical Informatics Corp, Medtronic, and Convatec.

The discussion focused on a practical challenge: how can hospitals move from collecting more data to identifying what matters, getting that information to the right people and ensuring a clear clinical response?

From data to insight

Bikram Day, Director of Informatics at Medical Informatics Corp, described how data from monitors and medical devices can be combined with laboratory results, medications and other clinical information to give teams a fuller picture of the patient.

More data, however, does not necessarily make clinical decisions easier. Hospitals need to filter large volumes of information and surface what requires attention.

Jason Case, Vice President, Acute Care & Monitoring, R&D at Medtronic, put the challenge simply: “Data isn’t terribly valuable. What’s valuable is insight.” He pointed to AI-based decision support as a way to spot patterns and potentially recognize deterioration earlier, while noting that its impact still needs to be demonstrated in practice.

Bikram Day added that AI could also help filter the noise, surfacing the signals most likely to affect a patient’s care.

Monitoring beyond the bedside

Jason Case described a “monitoring cliff” between highly monitored settings such as operating theatres and intensive care units, and lower levels of monitoring on general wards or at home. Medical-grade wearables and remote monitoring could help bridge that gap across the patient journey.

Drawing on Convatec’s work in long-term conditions, Judith Hargreaves, Director, Global Market Access, highlighted the opportunity for digital technologies to support people in the community and enable greater self-management of care.

She also brought a sustainability perspective to the discussion: changes in care pathways that reduce avoidable hospital visits and resource use could benefit patients and the environment, without compromising quality of care.

“Technology is only part of that shift. Care pathways need to change too.” – Judith Hargreaves

Turning monitoring into action

Apollo Hospitals Group provided an example of how this can work at scale. Dr Sai Praveen Haranath described an ecosystem of around 11,000 hospital beds, with additional beds connected through wearable monitoring.

Data feeds into a central care platform, where clinical teams and AI-supported prioritization can identify signs of deterioration and direct attention to patients who may need intervention.

The value of a command centre is therefore not simply in seeing more data, but in linking that information to a clear clinical response.

Bikram Day noted that this is where implementation becomes critical. The technology itself may be increasingly achievable, but hospitals still need to define “what is your escalation, and what is your staffing model, and how is your governance?”

Start with the problem, not the technology

For Jason Case, hospitals should first define the clinical problem and the patient group they want to help, then ensure that technology fits into existing workflows.

If clinicians need extra devices, applications or steps to access information, technology can quickly become a barrier rather than a support.

The same principle applies when hospitals work with technology companies. Judith Hargreaves encouraged hospitals and suppliers to agree first on the problem they are trying to solve. Bikram Day pointed to interoperability, including how well suppliers work with systems they did not build, while Jason Case stressed the importance of agreeing on clinical and economic outcomes from the outset.

Overall, the webinar showed that better patient monitoring is not simply about collecting more data. Hospitals need to decide what information matters, who needs to see it and what should happen next.

As monitoring becomes more continuous and care extends beyond hospital walls, the challenge is to turn that information into timely decisions and meaningful action for patients.

Watch the full webinar recording to hear more from the speakers.