(Newswire.net — June 28, 2018) — The need for Healthcare Information Systems is on the rise as pressure from all areas continue to push the industry toward connectivity, integration, and security, among other factors. Essentially, as with other sectors, businesses require enterprise architecture to connect business processes or functions with information technology (IT) not only for automation of these processes, but also for the collection, storage, analysis, and use of data. This is true in all types of industries, and the healthcare sector also benefits from such tools.
The successful incorporation of such tools involves much more than just the implementation of technology. The reality is much different. If automation is incorporated on top of inefficient processes, the said automation will only compound the problem by magnifying inefficiencies. Technology itself is not a solution, but a tool. For the tool to be successful, it must be used properly and that includes having business processes that are aligned with the tool (technology), a support structure for managing the tool, and people that are trained in the operation of the tool. Businesses that synergistically align these components have a successful solution. However, the absence of such an alignment will produce negative results. This is an important distinction as most technology implementations fail, and such failure is tied directly to this idea.
The first step for successful implementation it to understand all business processes that will be affected by the technology. Businesses can gain this understanding by following each business process and standardizing the activity. Once the process is standardized, experts should detect redundancy and inefficiencies and implement improvements. This is repeated by monitoring the activities with the incorporated improvements in multiple iterations and continuing with additional improvements. Afterward, businesses can incorporate the tool into the improved functions. However, companies still need to pay close attention to a critical element. If users are not trained or do not buy into the idea, no matter how efficient the tool is, failure is imminent. Therefore, businesses need to obtain user buy-in, and they can achieve this by ensuring that important users are part of the standardization process. Once this acceptance is achieved, organizations will have an easier time with developing employees to maintain, use, and successfully improve the systems.
Because of these reasons, hospital administrators, health centers, and others in the healthcare industry need to count on a panel of experts that can provide personalized assistance and consulting to ensure that successful implementation is achieved. This will not only assist in improving inefficient processes, it will also help ensure that all critical areas of concern are addressed. This panel of experts should cover all areas, including risk management and security. Each section in health care may have different conditions that require customized solutions. While some areas have a higher risk in the management of data, others may have a higher risk in the management of actual patient interaction. Characteristics such as infrastructure would differ in these cases and, therefore, each would be addressed differently. For example, businesses that have a risk in patient care would focus on avoiding or preventing accidents or lawsuits, while other organizations that have a high risk in managing information on patient medical history would focus on preventing data breaches. With an RN to BSN degree program, some universities are improving degrees to assist the growing demand and meet the expectations of the marketplace.
Ultimately, each business needs to understand the characteristics, functions, and details of their business processes to ensure that each is working at optimal levels of efficiency. Furthermore, if these businesses do not have the technical know-how or level of expertise needed to manage risk and automation, the organizations will need to look for a value-based healthcare consultant. Today, reputation for all businesses is paramount, especially in the healthcare industry.