Lot of companies are providing the application software in healthcare management and information system, both of which are integral and critical parts of a smart healthcare system project. The idea is to bring the functions of all departments onto a unified platform from a reporting, data collation and data analysis perspective. If healthcare system is integrated and managed through a proper information and management system, then anybody can get access of it starting from primary healthcare unit to specialty centre, both from patient care and administrative perspective. In the process , it becomes much easier for the government to provide much better healthcare services. The need was already there, but only a few states have actually come up for adopting best of IT systems for healthcare.In general terms what basically these software are based on open source software with proprietary database at the backend. The software provides most flexible options in terms of reduced total cost of ownership, maintainability , vendor independency and in addition, it runs on a variety of operating systems. From an architecture perspective , it is extremely scalable and can be easily modified.
Areas like drug and material distribution, inventorying, purchasing and facility management have largely benefited through use of IT. The application also helps to standardize and define different protocols in the system as and when required. All these synchronies towards a significant enhanced quality healthcare service. Equity issues are taken care of by the public sector for those who cannot afford. Private sector is more or less differentiator. Sixty to seventy percent of work is left on the public sector. We need to increase the spending from current 4% to at least double by that. While healthcare IT spending in most emerging Asian economies has increased appreciably, yet certain developed and emerging nations are still lagging behind. Considering the global aspect, judging by the percentage of healthcare IT spending as part of overall national IT spending, Australia tops the chart , followed by China, Malaysia, New zealand, Philippines and Vietnam. The trends and spending patterns of Australia have been found to be most typical in the region, resulting in sustained growth of the market, at a pace that is even higher than many of the currently emerging economies. Public Sector institutions continue to slog or rather decay on account of lack of monitoring mechanisms, lack of management controls system and lack of accountability. In India, public health sector sees highest absentees. Still their incentives are very high. We need to have very strong management controls and IT enabled mechanism to monitor the output. Just Deploying thousands of doctors in the rural areas such as Gujarat is not enough
IT
The Evolution Of Healthcare Services & Software Development
How Healthcare Industry has evolved till now?
Digitization of the healthcare system has been an inevitable change just like in any other industry. Any organization when it expands, irrespective of the industry, needs to manage a lot of internal departments for coordination & smooth operations. In healthcare industry for example, there are a lot of challenges that requires the role of Healthcare Business Intelligence.
Adoption of IT came in different phases in the industry. Healthcare Software Development changed & improved with every phase.
The first phase brought technology into tasks which were repetitive and could do with standardization & automation like software for accounting & HR ( which includes payroll, hiring, reimbursements etc.).
Then came the phase where IT was evolved in two major ways. Firstly there was better coordination between various departments within an organization. And, secondly healthcare companies could easily integrate with their suppliers thus helping them a great deal in supply chain management. The healthcare application services & software that was introduced then may not have made an impact immediately, but was certainly a foundation for the healthcare software development in the years to come.
The third phase which is the ongoing phase for those looking after healthcare business intelligence. Many organizations have entered into this phase where there is complete digitization of processes & channels. The technology today has more power than in simply help in complete normal functions of an organization. technology has enabled people to do the tasks more valuable for them, letting the healthcare application services , say in the healthcare industry, take care of the rest.
The third phase focused more on the needs & convenience of the patients and less on the processes unlike the first two phases. This helped build a fully integrated & proper digitized healthcare system.
Now that even the patients are getting the hang of the healthcare IT system and in fact finding it more handy, it’s time institutions to get completely acquainted with technology and go all in.
It’s incorrect if hospitals and other healthcare institutes still believe that patients don’t want to utilize healthcare application services as it involves medical care which is a sensitive issue, and only use them specific cases. On the other hand, the lack of use of services is due to the nature of the services provided & not medical care. What is needed then isn’t a change of mindset, which has already taken place after the digitization of every other industry, but to bring improvement in the healthcare software development.
Healthcare IT Solutions A Win-Win for All Stakeholders
Information technology (IT) has helped change the face of many industries. It is because of IT, that many organizations have had to face a strategic inflection point in their business cycle, for the better. Sure, the change was initially difficult but eventually IT has only proved to be an excellent solution to the many challenges that an organization faces.
When it comes to the field of healthcare, industry professionals are better off focusing on their core competency, rather than channel their energies to other functions of the organization in order to ensure completion of tasks. This is the reason why outsourcing of hospital IT infrastructure is taking place across the industry. There are immense benefits once this activity is outsourced, since the hospital administration can then dedicate its focus to the patient’s well being.
Healthcare IT solutions provide benefits like the application of industry best practices, control of operating costs, ease in coordination between various functions of the organization, eventually leading to superior customer service, etc. Healthcare IT provides valuable information on a real-time basis, and patient records can be viewed by the stakeholders with ease. Outsourcing of healthcare information technology will also help the organization have an effective IT strategy in place that is in alignment with organizational goals. Also, outsourcing of IT-related services makes a lot of business sense for the organization, since upfront investments in IT and the creation of IT infrastructure is an expensive undertaking.
Medical IT is beneficial for patients, too. Electronic Health Records, which is one of the technologies, ensures that patients can conveniently access their medical reports online, thus reducing paperwork. The same reports can be viewed by their doctor which helps them make quick decisions. This can come in handy, especially during emergency situations. In cases where a patient may have to see multiple specialists for a particular illness, each of them can view the same report, once they have access to view it.
Hence, the emergence of IT in healthcare is a boon for all the stakeholders and helps a healthcare organization achieve a sustainable competitive advantage in the industry.