Hospitals are facing a deepening staffing crisis that threatens care delivery. More than 540,000 healthcare workers exited the field between February 2020 and September 2021, and hospital employment declined by nearly 94,000 during the same period. Projections indicate that over 6.5 million healthcare professionals could leave the workforce by 2026, creating a net shortfall exceeding 4 million roles. This growing gap is accelerating the adoption of healthcare automation as a critical solution to reduce clinician burden, minimize errors, and maintain consistent, patient-centered care. What does meaningful innovation look like when the stakes are life and death, and how can automation empower frontline teams without sacrificing the human touch? Part one of a two-part Highway to Health series, hosted by David Kemp, takes you into Omnicell’s Innovation Lab in Austin, Texas. David joins Omnicell’s Nish Parekh, SVP and Chief Product Officer, and Michael Garel, Senior Director: Innovation, to explore how robotics, human-centered design, and customer collaboration are reshaping medication workflows. The conversation underscores how healthcare automation, when paired with clinical insight, can reduce cognitive burden, restore patient focus, and help providers do what they came into healthcare to do—care. Key takeaways from the episode: Automation should enhance, not replace, care: Reducing repetitive tasks allows clinicians to focus more on meaningful patient interaction.Customer input drives real innovation: Omnicell co-designs solutions alongside healthcare workers to solve urgent, real-world challenges.Speed to solution saves lives: Timely, accurate medication delivery reduces errors, shortens hospital stays, and improves patient experience.Nish Parekh is a healthcare technology executive with over 15 years of experience leading product innovation across digital health, AI, and medication management. As SVP and Chief Product Officer at Omnicell, she oversees global product strategy, marketing, and operations, and previously led IBM Watson’s oncology product suite. Recognized as a Top 50 Woman Leader in Health Tech, she has been featured in Fast Company, eMarketer, and SXSW for her work in expanding access to healthcare innovation. Michael Garel is a seasoned product executive and entrepreneurial leader with deep expertise in building and scaling B2B software, hardware, and systems companies, particularly in healthcare, retail tech, and industrial computing. He has successfully led multimillion-dollar product development initiatives at companies like Omnicell, Accruent, Dell, and his own startup eyeQ—bringing disruptive technologies to market and forming strategic partnerships with major corporations such as IBM, Intel, and Samsung.
