Critics in the medical industry have historically shown a skeptical attitude toward the implementation of new technology in healthcare. Their most common arguments take several forms: that technology burdens physicians, that it is too expensive, and that it’s not personal enough to put patients at ease.
However, none of these arguments address a universal truth of modern day life: technology is everywhere, and it is only becoming more pervasive. Rather than theorizing about why technology might get in the way of quality care or existing business processes, it’s far more productive to concentrate on how an organization or individual might put new technology to work for them.
Many emerging technologies possess the capacity to help healthcare professionals streamline workflows, improve data collection and utilization, and actually provide better care for their patients.
How the Proper Application of Technology Can Create Meaningful Benefits Without Disrupting Care Delivery
Patient care is obviously the priority for healthcare professionals — but new technology shouldn’t prevent doctors from delivering personalized attention or maintaining their bedside manner. The key is to implement technology in the health system so that it makes facilities more efficient without being imminently noticeable by patients. The right technology should work primarily behind the scenes so that healthcare can still have a relatable human face. After all, nobody wants to be cared for by robots.
Solutions that reduce administrative time can actually increase the personal attention that medical practitioners can give each patient. Few doctors would complain about spending less time in front of a computer screen. Similarly, a technology that promotes communication and transparency would make hospitals and clinics more community-oriented environments as a whole: allowing professionals to exchange notes with peers and staff or share medical information with patients for educational purposes.
For those reasons, physician-facing technology solutions represent a valuable opportunity to improve processes and patient care simultaneously.
An Economic Approach to Enhancing Hospital Workflows
The notion that care providers might be overwhelmed or burdened by technology goes against the years of education they receive. The medical field has long been driven by advancements in technology, including telemedicine and electronic medical records. But it’s true that clinicians don’t go to medical school to learn coding or complicated computer software. IT solutions that minimize administrative time and maximize patient time have been priorities for healthcare organizations since the first practices moved from paper to EMR.
Performance analytics systems can also empower facilities to measure the success of their providers and eliminate redundancy in their work — all without negatively impacting a patient’s visit. Solutions that offer insights at all organizational levels can be used not only as a training tool for physicians but also to help increase the consistency of care delivery.
Finally, the cost of implementing such technologies is likely to be offset by the money and time saved when clients use them to address clinical documentation and procedure billing, reduce audit risk, and provide better, more personalized care for patients. As such, the use of these systems allows them to pay for themselves over time.
Nothing to Fear from IT Integration
Hospitals, clinics, and other patient care facilities have no reason to avoid the use of technology that can help organize their vital information and deliver better care. In fact, such tools can only make these facilities more efficient and improve the lives of the patients who rely on them.
Companies such as Ingenious Med are paving the way forward for hospitals by eliminating unnecessary or imperfect paper charge capture processes and replacing them with a state of the art mobile solution that fits into the physician workflow and provides actionable analytics for clinician and organizational performance.
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