Abstract
How can healthcare systems improve patient outcomes as they expand in scale, complexity and reliance on coordination? Healthcare operates as a large interconnected sociotechnical system that integrates advanced technologies, administrative leadership and clinical teams. As systems unite hospitals and leadership, they require seamless communication, collaboration and rapid decision-making across different professional groups. When these processes break down, the consequences become severe, particularly in emergency settings where clinicians must act with precision under extreme pressure. This project argues that improving patient outcomes requires both system-wide understanding along with targeted interventions that truly improve how care is delivered.
My technical research zooms in on one specific training gap within this broader system. Specifically, the lack of a digital training device for hemorrhage control in junctional (shoulder, neck and groin) wounds, where tourniquets cannot be applied. This project asks how training methods can better prepare providers to pack wounds under time-sensitive, high-pressure conditions, given that uncontrolled hemorrhage can lead to death in under just three minutes. To answer this question, I developed a wearable training device that simulates active bleeding and provides real-time feedback on technique. This approach builds hands-on, repeatable practice where trainees adjust their actions based on targeted feedback. The results show that a structured, feedback-driven device is effective in measuring user inputs and delivering usable information within critical time constraints, allowing it to be tested in the future with Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) students. Then, by standardizing and scaling the instruction of these skills, this work can contribute to improving clinical performance and collaboration in emergency scenarios.
My STS paper zooms out and takes a broader perspective, examining how the healthcare system is evolving, and the challenges that arise from its increasing complexity. The core problem stems from the fact that healthcare no longer functions as a set of isolated entities, but as a highly interconnected system involving technology, multiple professional teams, and changing care models. The paper asks how this expansion affects the ability of the system to deliver high quality care.
Using a sociotechnical framework, I analyze literature on healthcare integration, organizational restructuring and digital infrastructure to evaluate how these systems operate. My analysis shows that while healthcare organizations successfully consolidate institutions, implement shared technologies, and centralize governance, these structural changes do not directly improve communication or collaboration at the clinical level. Instead, systems prioritize financial performance, efficiency and expansion, which shape decision making and care delivery. As a result, integration produces alignment at the administrative level without resolving failures in clinical practice.
My technical research addresses a gap in training and offers a practical solution that can directly improve care. However, it is limited in scope by focusing on a single skill within a specific context; it does not fully account for how the broader healthcare system integrates this training. Conversely, my STS paper provides a comprehensive view of the system, identifying important challenges related to complexity and coordination but does not offer detailed interventions at the level of practice in the way my technical project does.
By combining both perspectives, my research argues that meaningful improvement requires both system-level understanding and targeted technical solutions. My work shows that administrative priorities often shape care delivery against clinical judgement, creating a gap between structural integration and actual care coordination. Future researchers should examine how large systems implement and measure specific interventions (such as physician- administrator co-leadership) to bridge this gap. Additionally, we must investigate how to redesign payment and care models to prioritize the patient over efficiency and money. Addressing these questions ensures that integration moves toward truly coordinated and equitable care.
