5 Compelling Reasons Why You Need a Hospital Information System
The system primarily ensures discipline in managing and tracking operations which is invaluable
The decision to automate your hospital processes and implement a Hospital Information System(HIS) is a big one. Not just because of the cost involved but also because it is going to be an irreversible culture change. While contemplating whether you really need an automated Hospital Information System implemented in your hospital, take a look at these 5 improvements that HIS invariably brings in:
1. Speed Up Processes & Results
Processes on HIS means that the standard operating procedures are strictly followed and there is no deviation from it. This also means better patient care with access to real time patient information as well as past clinical data that offers better patient outcomes. The overall speed of an integrated hospital processes increase and improve operational efficiency that impact the hospital positively in multiple ways.
2. Cost Effective
HIS cuts out a lot of manual work that are performed in hospitals especially the ones where documentation and record keeping is required. HIS helps in cutting down manpower costs because majority of work gets automated and does not require manual intervention to store or analyze the information. HIS also helps save on storage and related costs. A well implemented HIS makes a hospital paper free. Only the legally mandatory documents need to be maintained on paper to comply with the rules.
3. Lowered Errors
Because processes on HIS are automated and a lot of tasks are assigned to the software to perform with utmost accuracy and with minimal human intervention, the scope of error is reduced significantly. For instance, while generating the final bill of an IPD patient, in HIS implemented hospital every test that was performed on the patientor the samples is already billed under patient’s unique hospital ID and the billing executive need not comb the entire IPD file to enter every test to prevent revenue loss during billing. Chances of missing a service or of double entries are higher in manual entries. The billing in a HIS is faster, easier, transparent and accurate.
4. Better Data Retrieve-ability
In the age of evidence-based medicine, data availability and ability to retrieve it is extremely important. Retrieve-ability of data stored on a HIS server or Cloud is easy and only a matter of few clicks to ensure you have access to clinical, operational or even financial data of the hospital.
5. Improved Operational Effectiveness
Improved access to patient data and improved work efficiency means better and faster clinical decisions. The faster the clinician gets the diagnostic reports and the quicker her orders are implemented, the faster is the patient’s recovery and the better it is on the patient care index. With automation, all departments in the hospitals are integrated and inter-connected and the easy access to information further improves the quality of patient care and the resultant bed turnover in the hospital.
Among many reasons that validate the need of HIS in a hospital, we found these five as the most structural reasons why Directors/ COOs and CEOs decide in favor of implementing HIS. Above all, HIS helps hospital offers better patient care due to availability of clean, error free data that can make all the difference in a medical emergency situation.