“Transformation is Needed”: Top 5 Reasons to Implement Technology in Healthcare
We witnessed the chaos of our healthcare ecosystem during the COVID-19 pandemic.
And with zero doubt, a low-grade and time-consuming approach is responsible for thousands of lives.
Do you think that our healthcare industry is able to confront another pandemic?
No chance. Not with the same approach.
Means, a change is must needed in order to not let sink the hope of millions of people into the deep ocean of the inferior healthcare system.
Technology bears the immense potential to shatter all the obstacles.
Top 5 reasons to adopt technology in healthcare
1. Better access to healthcare services
Problem:
The USA, Canada, the UK, and many more other developed countries have poor access to care solutions.
Patients with chronic conditions suffer the most in that situation, especially people from remote areas.
And staff shortage is the prior reason behind that. (Source)
Value tech delivers:
But telemedicine has emerged as a definitive solution to address all the concerns.
Using telemedicine, patients can connect with medical specialists at any time from anywhere via chat, voice, or video conferencing.
As a result, it is beneficial for both patients and their care providers.
For instance,
- A patient can get the care they need from their homes
- It saves time for both doctors and patients.
- Reduces the administrative and clinical work of the doctors
- Saves operational and resource costs for the clinics
However, due to the misconception about the cost of telemedicine, many healthcare professionals avoid implementing it in their care solutions.
2. Lowers the work burden and burnout of medical professionals
Problem:
Source: Etactics
Healthcare workers are exhausted!
High work burden, repetitive tasks, and the old-age procedure are impacting their mental health and overall wellbeing.
Value tech delivers:
Technology is well-equipped in order to break it.
For instance, RPA is a robust tech that is built with the high potential to bring peace of mind into healthcare workers’ lives.
Don’t believe it? Here is the case study. (Source)
- Company: Helse Vest
- Need: Wanted to reduce administrative tasks in order to let medical staff spend their productive time with patients
- Result: Saved 14K hours and $550,000 in a year!
This is how RPA alone is able to reduce the work burden and burnout of healthcare workers while under the same roof saves time, resources, and costs for the healthcare organization or entities.
3. Improves patient care experience and satisfaction
Traditional healthcare approach:
- Need to travel
- Longer waiting time
- Documentation hassle
- Time-consuming care
- Need to travel for pharmacy
No matter how quality care healthcare professionals have delivered but at the end of the day, it doesn’t count.
And remember,
“Patients can’t measure the quality of care but they can measure the quality of experience”!
Technology comes up with the extra layer:
A glimpse of some of the common technology solutions that enhance care experience and satisfaction with ease.
- Appointment booking apps and virtual care save time and cost for a patient
- Patient intake solutions eliminate the waiting room needs
- EMR/EHR and other health tech solutions speed up the care delivery and improve the accuracy
- Pharmacy apps that let patients order medicines or prescriptions at their doorstep
Still, if you have doubts, the below image showcases how enhanced patient care experience has been driving digital health funding in the past few years. (Source)
4. Better safety
Medical errors!
A two-word that takes the lives of almost 440,000 patients and costs $17 billion to $29 billion per year.
But what are the reasons?
- Tons of paperwork
- Miscommunication
- Manual data entry
- Inadequate staffing
As a result, it directly affects patient outcomes, clinical workflows, and medical and operational costs.
Technology holds the answer:
Here is how.
- RPA eliminates the data entry process
- AI & ML algorithms detect the error in clinical data
- Automated dispensing systems
- Barcode scanner
- EMR/EHR, patient portal, and other health tech solutions that eliminates the paperwork
- Scheduling software that streamlines the tasks and reduces the strain on the healthcare professionals
5. Improves the care outcomes in the true sense
A big concern:
Ideal care outcome is something that lacks in the traditional healthcare approach.
A typical and manual process restricts healthcare workers to deliver care in a faster, more effective, and more efficient manner.
What’s more important is that they almost spend 60% of their time on other healthcare responsibilities.
Means, they don’t have time to understand patients’ care needs and create a more adequate and outcome-driven care plan.
Technology scales up healthcare outcomes with ease!
Let’s understand with examples.
- RPM (Remote Patient Monitoring) allows healthcare workers to analyze the patient’s health conditions and can give suggestions based on the data at any time from anywhere.
- IoT (Internet of Things) lets patients understand their medical condition and can connect with medical specialists for any queries
- AI & ML assist in clinical decision-making, predict outcomes, speed up drug development, and lowers the chances of errors
So, this is how technology in healthcare brings smiles on the face of patients, healthcare professionals, and stakeholders.
Final words
Technology is a helping hand!
Relying on it for every need is not going to work every time.
But a combination of robust technology, a solid mindset, and dedication transform healthcare can do wonders for your organization.
