5 Cost Benefits of adopting a Smart Hospital Management Software
November 3, 2020To ensure quality healthcare for your patients and a safe environment for your staff, keeping costs under control is essential. The changing regulatory landscape and shortage of skilled labor can complicate budgeting at your medical practice.
The answer lies in adopting technology that reduces operational costs and improves healthcare expenditures. As NBER puts it, just by adopting Electronic Medical Records, hospitals could reduce their costs by a third.
Similarly, using the right healthcare IT software for managing daily processes such as patient scheduling, tracking supplies, and staff management, can significantly cut costs. Let’s see how!
5 Ways Healthcare IT is Cutting Costs at Medical Care Centres
1. Digital Automation for increasing Physician Productivity
A study found that physicians were expending more than 63% of their time in doing manual paper-based administrative tasks. This means that their actual productivity would be very low and the number of patients they can treat will be extremely compromised.
Digitized hospital software can automate data entry, track patient appointments, and schedule the physician’s day. This can reduce manual intervention by up to 70%.
With increased time for patients, the costs associated with each Physician will also be reduced, and the overall productivity will be enhanced. If each physician gets to see 50% more patients daily, your entire hospital’s productivity will get a great boost.
2. Centralized Tracking for Reducing Manual Labour Costs
The scarcity of medical professionals is deeply felt in the industry and in most medical care centres, staff turnover is an evergreen challenge.
To address high staff turnover and reduce manual labor, which accounts for over 50% of hospital costs, software automation is essential.
Hospital Management Software reduces reliance on staff for clerical tasks like scheduling appointments, checking registers, and tracking inventory. One administrator can manage the entire workflow, eliminating the need for a team of ward boys.
Lower staffing levels and longer employee tenures can help reduce costs associated with recruitment and lost salaries.
3. Improve Revenue with Smart Public Outreach
The good part of going digital is that you can reach a larger number of people with sophisticated targeting.
Digital outreach can greatly improve local and community presence. This will not only attract the tech-savvy audience but also increase patient registrations.
A growing number of hospitals are using online Self Scheduling Systems wherein the patient’s book appointments on their own. This saves the hospital’s precious time.
Furthermore, better marketing ultimately results in better revenues for the hospital at inexpensive costs.
4. Reduce Claim Processing Overheads
The process of submitting and accrediting a claim requires the collaboration of multiple institutions which makes it an uphill task. For a medical centre, this means increased labour costs.
In a study, it was found that the hospitals that have digitized the Insurance Claim process can save costs up to 90%. This is possible because of healthcare IT software that bridges the gaps between disparate systems and makes the claim process pretty simple.
With collaborative data sharing amongst the Insurance Company, your Hospital and Patient’s Bank, the claim can be easily verified, and quickly settled.
5. Smart Supply Chain Management
Most hospital supplies that are not properly tracked, managed and utilized end up contributing to increased costs. The key reason behind is the lack of a central system that can monitor the entire supply chain from end-to-end.
By introducing smart supply chain management, you can keep an eye on every little instrument entering your hospital and ensure that it is not wasted. This will increase the cost-efficiency of the medical supplies and bring down wastage by a great margin.
Smart hospital management software (HMS) helps you monitor supplies automatically with the help of barcode scanners, automated invoices and vendor tracking systems.
SoftClinic Software
SoftClinic provides an all-encompassing healthcare solution for hospitals and clinics that combines the efficiency of technology with innovation in medical process management to reduce the overall costs. It features modules for all the 5 ways you have learned in this article to steer your medical center towards profitability.
Conclusion
Increasing pressure on the medical staff and shrinking profits can only be fought back with smart technology. Choosing the right hospital software can help you reduce wastage, and ensure maximum resource utilization so that you can churn out the profitability you’re aiming at. Upgrade to professional healthcare IT software and start cutting down on avoidable costs today.
Also Read: 4 Undeniable Benefits of Virtual Care for Both Patients and Doctors