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Contrary to what many assume, the modern healthcare industry is an increasingly digital one. Software is integral to everything from patient records to analyzing scans and data to help diagnose.
Today, the impact advanced software has within the healthcare industry is only growing. The pressure on providers to keep up with technology and provide the best possible care is intense. Competitive pressure is also pushing more administrations to streamline processes and cut costs through efficiency.
What is healthcare software?
Virtually any software used within the healthcare industry can be considered healthcare software. That said, the most common specialized tools are those used for management and administration. These include tools to help manage patient records, inventory, billing, and even scheduling. In other cases, this might be software that doctors and nurses use directly to aid in diagnosing and treating patients or in using advanced healthcare equipment.
What are the most important uses of healthcare software?
While the range of specific uses for healthcare software is vast, its primary functions all revolve around one thing: data. The way this software stores, manages, and analyzes data is fundamental to how it delivers value to providers and patients alike.
Better data management
Like nearly all businesses today, modern healthcare companies generate immense quantities of data every single day. The irony and the challenge is that without proper management, that data is totally useless. Advanced healthcare software is capable of organizing, tagging, and even scanning that data for potential abnormalities a human can manually review.
Then, the software can use advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms to scan and analyze all of that data to draw meaningful conclusions. It can also simply display the data in such a way that it becomes easily understandable to humans with limited time. This also applies to searching data sets, where better software can aid users in interpreting queries and uncovering the exact information they need.
Patient data storage
All the various ways healthcare software can manage and utilize data are great, but without proper security none of it is feasible. This is because of the strict regulations around the security and integrity of patient records. Any errors or security lapses can result in heavy fines, so healthcare software has to place an emphasis on impeccable data security and control over access.
That said, patient data also needs to be accessible when needed. Thus the trick for software is to balance the need for fast and efficient availability with high-quality security. For example, a doctor serving a patient will need easy access to their records. However, another doctor with no connection to that patient should not be able to access their records easily.
What is the most common healthcare software?
The most popular single type of software in the healthcare industry is Electronic Health Record
(EHR) software. These tools are built around the kind of data management and storage mentioned above and act as the backbone of nearly every healthcare organization today.
Hospital Management Systems (HMS) are another popular type of healthcare software designed to manage complex facilities and improve their productivity. Appointment scheduling software is another popular type, acting as a user friendly interface between patients and providers and integrating with EHR and HMS software to ensure smooth operations.
Medical billing software is also essential, as many healthcare organizations have complex billing processes which vary depending on procedures, insurance, and the professionals involved. Lastly, Electronic Prescription Software (EPC) is commonly used to issue, renew, cancel and generally track prescriptions. Here the benefits come from greater ease of use as well as improved compliance.
What are the pros and cons of using healthcare software?
In general, when considering whether to invest in developing or buying an off-the-shelf piece of healthcare software there are a few important considerations. The first is obviously cost. You always need to weigh the estimated benefits of a tool against its cost as well as against competing solutions.
But even more important than cost is compliance. Healthcare providers need to be absolutely certain their software meets regulatory requirements. It may be worthwhile to check with regulators or in-house specialists to confirm this.
Another important consideration is scalability. Some healthcare software is designed for massive hospitals or healthcare organizations and may not work as well for a small clinic. Likewise, some solutions may not be able to adapt or adjust well if your patient pool increases significantly. It’s worth thinking about your current needs and what those needs might look like years down the line.
Ensuring your software is ready for the future also requires looking at features. Ideally, you want tools that utilize cutting edge technology like Machine Learning (ML) algorithms for better data analysis and usage. Otherwise, you risk investing in a solution only to feel it’s not quite up to date after a short time.
