TAMPA 鈥� It鈥檚 not every day you鈥檙e asked to contribute to a key global science summit and speak at a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA-77) to address an innovative way to achieve a U.N. Sustainable Development Goal.
For USF Muma College of Business Professor of Instruction Matthew Mullarkey, that opportunity came last month when he addressed the grand challenge of healthcare technology adoption in public and private healthcare systems at the 77th United Nations General Assembly.
Mullarkey serves as the director of USF's Doctor of Business Administration degree program, the executive director of the USF-TGH People Development Institute, and is a researcher in the design of digital transformation of organization at USF.
Mullarkey鈥檚 presentation was part of the Science Summit Session on the Digital Transformation of Healthcare. His address was uniquely invited to propose a novel approach to the adoption of digital technologies that are transforming patient outcomes and healthcare effectiveness.
His research offered an alternative approach to technology adoption needed to achieve the third U.N. Sustainable Development Goal: To ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all ages.
In this 8th edition of the Science Summit, Mullarkey鈥檚 presentation was well-received. 鈥淢y research explored the way that COVID has taught us to challenge and replace the paradigm of the traditional 鈥榥ormal adoption curve鈥� with an entirely new innovative paradigm for rapid, 鈥榖inary鈥�, transformational adoption of innovative technology in health care,鈥� he said.
The opportunity to contribute was the result of his advisory role to the Innovation Value Institute at the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, Ireland. Mullarkey鈥檚 research benefited from funding for multiple COVID-related research through the USF COVID-19 Rapid Response Grant Program and observations made around the adoption of healthcare technological advances during and post-COVID.
The Science Summit segment, 鈥淭he Digital Transition for Healthcare 鈥� Stay Left, Shift Left 鈥� 10x- A paradigm, policy, platform and prescription for wellness and better health,鈥� was convened by the Health Services Executive Agency, the publicly funded healthcare system in Ireland, and Blackrock Health, a private hospital group in Ireland.
The session鈥檚 overview summed up presentation objective this way: 鈥淲e propose that countries move their healthcare systems from paper and presence-based systems to digital, virtual and cloud-based systems where healthcare takes place primarily in the home and community.鈥�
鈥淎s we continue the work of the Science Summit, Tampa Bay is uniquely positioned to host the next iteration of the Science Summit with a focus on the digital transformation of healthcare through the unique partnerships between the USF Muma College of Business and the USF-TGH People Development Institute, Tampa General Hospital, USF Health, and the broader Tampa Bay technology ecosystem,鈥� said Mullarkey.
Overall, the Science Summit featured 20 keynote lectures, four plenary sessions, and 12 thematic days where more than 100,000 participants attended either in person or online.