With the growing needs on the healthcare industry, it’s no wonder that clinics and hospitals face major challenges nowadays. From protecting patient privacy to communication issues with their medical team, these institutions must overcome various obstacles to provide a good service.
However, there is hope for them! With new technology at their disposal, these facilities can deliver world-class care and increase their staff productivity.
In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the most common technology challenges facing the healthcare industry and offer you some tips for overcoming them. Let’s get started!
Clinical information is unprotected
One of the most pressing issues the healthcare industry faces is the protection of their patients’ information. At this time, when data breaches are becoming more frequent, hospitals and clinics must have robust security measures in place to protect the integrity of their medical records. They can protect their data from these cyberattacks, by using a software to encrypt all their patients’ information. This way, it will be more difficult for hackers to view and steal the data.
Another good practice is to ask the medical staff to use strong passwords on all their devices and accounts. For example, they can use a mixture of letters, numbers, and symbols to make it more difficult for someone to guess them.
Inadequate communication between the medical staff
Fluid communication between medical staff members is the key to provide a good health care service. If your team can’t communicate properly, it can cause confusion and wasted time for both patients and your team. There are several ways to solve this situation. One of them is to invest in a messaging system that facilitates communication and collaboration between all employees.
You should also monitor your staff’s credentials and make sure everyone has equal access to the information. You can do this by creating an intranet or implementing a program that allows you to control the users’ sessions.
Lack of technological resources in the healthcare industry
IT resources in the healthcare industry are usually insufficient because of their limited budgets. Thus, it’s difficult for these institutions to invest in new tools that help them improve patient care.
However, there are several ways to solve this problem. You can deploy cloud solutions that allow you to centrally manage all team requests. This means you won’t have to invest in new hardware, and your systems will always be up to date.
If you need new tools to streamline the work of your doctors, there is also the possibility of renting equipment. With this option, you will have access to the latest medical technology at a lower price.
The medical staff has not received computer training
The use of new technologies can benefit patients by providing them with quality service. However, all your medical staff must know how to use these tools properly. Otherwise, they may feel reluctant to employ them or may not know how to get the most out of their features.
One way to overcome this challenge is to offer continuing education and training. This can be done internally or by hiring an external trainer. This enables your employees be up to date with all the advances in medical technology.
Another option is to create a knowledge base, where your staff can clarify doubts and learn how all the digital tools available in the medical facility.
Healthcare facilities operate with inefficient processes
The ineffectiveness of operations is the nightmare of many medical managers. With so many processes in motion, it’s hard to keep track of every detail and make sure everything is working properly, when a healthcare facility is operating at full capacity.
You can prevent this problem by implementing a system that allows you to centrally manage the work of all your medical staff. As a result, it will be easier to identify the processes that you need to automate and monitor the work of your staff in real-time.
Likewise, we recommend you to evaluate the internal processes of your medical institution. By doing so, you can identify opportunities for improvement and ensure that your operational standards are adequate.
Dependency on paper to manage clinical information
Many healthcare facilities still rely on paper records to store their patients’ information. This can cause several problems, since these notes are difficult to organize and can be easily lost or damaged.
Although the transition to the digital age can be difficult, there are several strategies you can use to reduce the dependency on paper:
Digitize medical records: This will allow you to have better control of your database, and it will be easier to consult the patient’s information.
Use electronic forms: These formats will help you speed up your patients’ requests and reduce paper waste.
Invest in a system to manage your documents: With this tool, you can store, organize and track all your facility’s records in one place.
Outdated software
The lack of modern computer tools is a very common problem that affects the healthcare industry. This can lead to security vulnerabilities and restrict the exchange of data with other systems.
A Help desk software is the ideal tool to solve this problem. With these systems, you can control the daily operations of a medical center better and increase your team’s productivity. In addition, you will have the following benefits:
- Greater information protection: It allows you to protect your patients’ data and comply with HIPAA and GDPR security regulations.
- Increase the versatility of your staff: This solution has features that adapt to the needs of your medical staff and streamline your patients’ requests
- Facilitate the creation of reports: It will help you monitor in real-time the work of your team and create statistics to know their performance.
If you want to implement this solution, Freshdesk will certainly meet all your expectations. With this software, you can easily coordinate all your patients’ consultations and improve the efficiency of all your medical staff.
Additionally, it allows you to automate repetitive processes and create a knowledge base so that your medical team can receive training and take advantage of all the system’s features.
At GB Advisors, we help you integrate this and other technological solutions to simplify the processes of your healthcare center. You will also receive advice from our group of experts, who will guide you step by step so that these tools work correctly and help you achieve your goals.
What are you waiting for? Take your medical service to the next level. Contact us!
