Electronic Health Reporter

Guest post by Saqib Ayaz, co-founder, Workflow Management and Optimization.

Then you are seriously in need of healthcare IT solutions.

With advancements in technology, the healthcare sector is becoming digitized. The focus is on personalized and patient-centric technology, which can help in accelerating the process of treatment.

Healthcare IT solutions are meant for delivering the best service to the patients as well as to enhance operational efficiency. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was passed to provide $19 billion for the purpose of promoting the use of EHR technology in hospitals and medical practices. This proves the growing importance of healthcare IT solutions.

Healthcare IT includes the latest technologies like analytics, cloud computing, electronic health record systems, as well as data management systems. A growing number of institutions are successfully implementing healthcare IT solutions to improve their efficiency. It has been observed that manual entering of data and health records of patients are taking up too much time of the administrative staff as well as the medical personnel. This time can be utilized to provide better services to the patients.

Here are some of the benefits of using healthcare IT:

EHR technology –– Electronic health records are part of the digital revolution that has taken over the healthcare sector. EHRs make the whole process of keeping patient records very streamlined and efficient. Data can be accessed both by the doctors as well as the patients because it is available on an electronic platform. The personal health records portal helps in management of patient information. Medical personnel can take better care of the patients when they have all the information on one platform. Time and effort spent on manually entering the data are saved so that doctors can provide better treatment to the patients and can serve the people who are in need of doctor care.

Better coordination of patient care — Healthcare IT solutions help in better coordination between physicians, specialists, nursing staff, lab technicians and other medical personnel. Vital information regarding the patient’s health is available to all of them. When the same data can be accessed by everyone, the problems of duplicate tests, contradictory medication prescription and miscommunication can be avoided. This saves time and minimizes the chances of errors leading to improvement in the overall quality of care that is provided to the patients.

Patient empowerment– When the patient has access to all his personal health records, he can play a more active role in managing his overall well being and determine the outcome of the treatment that he receives. All the lab results, medical history records as well as drug information are available on an online platform for the patient. The EHR system allows the patient to schedule appointments, communicate with the doctor as well as to refill prescriptions. Such healthcare IT solutions increase patient satisfaction.

Cost savings — Healthcare IT not only saves time, but expenses too. Easier documentation reduces the administrative cost and increases the number of patients that a medical facility can treat. This leads to an overall increase in revenue generation.

Improvement in outcomes of patient care — Healthcare IT solutions provide a central source of information to the medical personnel which can be accessed from any setting. Equipped with accurate data, doctors and specialists can deliver effective treatment to the patients. Information regarding allergies, medical history as well as the current medication taken by the patient is available through the EHR technology. This helps in making an accurate diagnosis and prognosis for the patient. The prospects of the patient getting treated become better Healthcare IT not only helps in individual case management, it also aids the medical personnel to provide better healthcare facilities to the whole population in general. This is possible through the data that is captured on the EHR system through which patient care trends and results can be accessed immediately. Medical precedents play a very important role in the future treatment of similar cases.

Reducing the length of stay for patients — The improvement in functional efficiency due to healthcare IT solutions leads to better care and treatment of the patients. This in turn causes the reduction in the duration of the patients stay at the medical facility. Such acceleration in the treatment process can help the doctors to serve more patients and improve the standard of Healthcare services.

Practice management — The healthcare IT solutions benefit both the patient as well as medical personnel. Specialists and physicians can use the tools for keeping electronics schedules. This helps in efficient management of patient appointments and staff duties. Invoice making is also made easy with the help of healthcare IT which leads to a reduction in the administrative burden significantly. The modern healthcare IT solutions are all compliant with HIPPA security standards so that medical facilities can use them without worrying about any legal backlash.

Even claims can be managed with the help of this technology. They can be tracked and reimbursed within the given time, which increases the prestige of the healthcare provider. Underperforming areas can be identified with the help of healthcare IT solutions. Monitoring of operational costs and accounts is possible with the help of workflow analysis. This helps in improving the performance of the medical facility in all the aspects. The year on year performance can also be accessed to find out areas for improvement.

Healthcare IT solutions are necessary for all medical facilities. The concept of connected health that has emerged in the recent years is here to stay because of the prospects of an increase in efficiency and quality that it offers. It is important to make use of healthcare IT and spread awareness regarding it so that maximum people can take advantage of it.

Smart technology can help in achieving healthcare goals faster and improve the healthcare scenario for the future.

Why continue with outdated modes of operation when you can take the help of healthcare IT solutions to save time, effort and money?