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How to Improve Healthcare Workflow Efficiency with Process

The healthcare industry is yet to embrace innovative and latest technologies. The organizations are grasping the advantages of it and adopting it faster than ever. Clinical workflow efficiency is one of the top requirements for the healthcare industry. In a situation full of chaos, EHRs (Electronic Health Records) come as a rational alternative, although it is still not entirely accepted by the medical sector.

The traditional methods will take time to fade out. We need to understand that poorly operating solutions are not an advantage to our work system; rather, it hinders the clinical workflow efficiency. Therefore, one must evaluate the actual potential of a solution first before considering it as a prime choice from the new technological solutions. 

The large healthcare systems contain complex workflow variations ranging from appointment scheduling to storing patients' records. The list of services knows no bounds. In a highly-loaded work atmosphere where plenty of fields need to be taken care of, a poorly-designed piece of technology can sabotage the process of documentation, communications, and other day-to-day chores. From patients to staff, everything needs to well-organized and managed. Inefficient coordination is one of the prime causes of low-quality patient outcomes. A smooth execution enables the workplace to have better services and patient treatment. Therefore, it enhances clinical care too.

As per a survey by the American Society for Quality (ASQ), for 78 percent of healthcare experts, factors like enhanced clinical workflow and efficiency are the causes that boost health information technology quality. It is evident that workflow challenges are not easy to overcome, especially in an industry where regulations like HIPAA (Health Insurance Probability and Accountability Act) are strictly regulated. However, by attempting to manage workflow at one place at a time, rather than taking up everything to solve as a whole, the situation can be worked.

The new workflow agenda will bring job satisfaction and productivity among the team of healthcare professionals. This will also result in rendering better services to the patients and elevating their experiences. At last, we can even say it will benefit the financial sphere too of the healthcare industry.

The question arises, what can healthcare professionals do to improve workflow efficiency at large?

#1. Build EHR Practices: The trending and most useful advancement are EHRs, also known as Electronic Health Records. In the U.S., it is gaining continuous adoption; however, worldwide, it is still struggling to receive a warm welcome. Some sectors of the healthcare industry view EHRs as a hindrance to advancement than a help to their system. They consider it expensive and of low utility. However, the fact lies straight that EHRs are one permanent solution to workflow efficiency of the healthcare sector and hold a sturdy foundation to stand for the future years.

  Image Source: https://www.softwareadvice.com/resources/top-advantages-of-emr-adoption/

The healthcare professionals need to ensure the technology investments are integrated to enhance the patient's experience at most and help administrations and operation processes to run smoothly. It will optimize healthcare workflow and improve coordination in the hospitals. The clinical documentation and care team will be on the same page and streamline their functions responsibly.

#2. Say Goodbye to Traditional Paper Work Processes: Gone are the days when hospitals and clinics recorded patient details on papers. Interoperability is a constant challenge for the smooth operation of the workflow of medical documentation of the organization. This means the existence of outdated technologies can be a significant cause for draining out productivity and efficiency.

Alternates like the fax machine, pagers, paper records, etc. are the old methods for serving organizations in keeping the work records. They need to be substituted by newer technologies that are fast, smooth and off-load the unnecessary work from the shoulders of the healthcare professionals. 

A study claims that fax accounts for 75 percent of all medical communication. In today's digitalized era, when medical practices need to comply with HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) privacy and security regulations, this is a remarkable statistic. We witness a hesitation to evolve or change.

Let us follow an example of a traditional workflow management method from a primary healthcare system, where fax machines are widely used. It must be noted that they are expensive, time-taking, reduce productivity, and increase wastage of paper. There's always a risk that pages can be misfiled, leading to confusion in appointments, tests, medical reports, or schedules.

The healthcare system has successfully replaced the traditional fax machine method with the latest and modern alternative, called Cloud Fax. It is more secured and fully HIPAA-compliant. The cloud fax is comparatively cost-effective for healthcare organizations like hospitals and clinics. Henceforth, it is helpful in major and minor medical practices. 

Image Source: https://softlinx.com/healthcare-fax/

The new method of cloud fax comes with a list of advantageous features that efficiently facilitate streamlined workflows, and the faxes are sent and received directly from the official app. This means there's no money wasted in printing, scanning, and shredding of paper. The time is also saved.

Please Note:

- It reduces the chances of errors as the papers cannot get mixed up altogether.

- The administrators and executives can work comfortably by securing work under different document types and locations.

- With the help of a cloud fax, you can share digitally signed files, forward them, and customize all on a single tap.

- Assigning the received documents to the correct folders, data, and location.

Cloud fax accelerates the healthcare workflows by substituting the demand for primary fax machines and fax servers. This will enhance the working of the healthcare organizations and strategize their digital mode of operations

#3. Increase The Appointments and Decrease the Downtime: According to Ideas and examples for improving workflow, the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests, it is essential to take severe initiatives towards a patient's appointment scheduling. For healthcare professionals, staff, and patients, a clean and well-arranged appointment system is crucial.

It is necessary to increase the patient's appointments and decrease the downtime that happens due to patients not showing up. The EHR system creates a seamless experience for the patient and service providers. The healthcare organizations must encourage the use of EHRs to ensure a satisfactory result. 

#4. Adopt New Workflows: In situations when your workflow isn't serving your organization well, it is time to change the plan. Look up to a plan that smoothens your workflow. Like a professional sports team requires to practice the game until it becomes fit for the win. Similarly, you must make time to train your staff and healthcare professionals well to do their role individually. This practice session will act as a process from beginning to an end to rectify the mistakes and work upon improving the workflow for a successful journey.

"When your workflow system becomes second nature to your employees, your workflow will act like a finely tuned engine. Your team members will make lesser errors and enhance productivity," Improved pharmacy workflow in six steps, Elements Magazine, twitter: @elementsmag.

#5. Involve Machinery Process: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Augmented Realty (AR) are the ongoing trending topics in the healthcare sphere for quite some time now. Since the benefits and its results are reflected widely and recognized by the industry, many companies are likely to adopt an AI-built system for the efficient workflow to improve medical practices.

Image Source: https://exigotech.com.au/business-process-automation/

A recent popular article on AMA has pointed out three ways medical AI can benefit in improving the workflow for physicians:

Point 1: Personalized Services – Artificial Intelligence can personalize content delivery to physicians based on frequent clinical questions. In order to decrease the time spent seeking relevant information online, AI brings quick solutions.

Point 2: Medical Documentation – AI can record complete documentation tasks at a much lesser time. It can extract vital information from a physician's narrative and insert it into correct data fields.

Point 3: Quality Reporting – Artificial Intelligence can substitute manual data collection method by extracting details and creating quality reports to fill up the missing data fields. This will save extra hours spent every day by the physician in collecting the reports on a paper-based document.

Survey Report: Around 37 percent of pharmaceutical companies have already adopted artificial intelligence in one way or another. It is anticipated that in the coming five years, about 54 percent of healthcare companies will be welcoming AI at large. We can say that AI has made the workflow efficient for all prevailing industries and create a buzz too. It is no less than an asset to companies in improving their work operations.

#6. Understanding the Client's Expectations: It is pivotal that the healthcare industry aims to understand the client's expectations while designing the workflow. At last, it all depends on the patients.

"In an integrated medical system, analyzing the patients' initial and ongoing experience moves throughout the procedure of polices, and medical activities are the key to keep in mind while designing the workflow system. It must engage and respond to the needs of the patients in all the manners. The best approach to comprehend the needs is by adhering to the policies and procedures that each client has to go through. By personally going through it, one can identify the needs of a client/patient. Some companies have been following the process and have received an invaluable workflow as a result. A healthcare organization's workflow must be aligned with the PBHCI initiative's objective, which includes a close analysis of the following queries related to the ideal processes and procedures." – Workflow designing: A focus on the experience of the recipient of the services, SAMHSA-HRSA Centre for Integrated Healthcare Solutions: twitter: @samhsagov.

#7. Laboratory Decision-Making System: By acknowledging the clinical laboratory information system, you can help in the complex decision-making process.

"With the use of automation and standardizing the process of decision-making through the implementation of clinical lab information systems, the lab can automatically diminish the margin of human errors and elevate the quality of results.

Any new clinical information system and advanced technology must be allowed for constant checking of the functions commanded by alerting the tech at any money the aspect of the test is compromised. It will simplify the tricky decision making and management process. The data management method helps determine the cost of errors caused by inefficient work and aims to minimize it in the future. By keeping track of the work as well as the outcomes provided, the lab can attempt to see a diminished work duplication, errors, and underutilization of the resources provided for use." – Advance Staff, five ways to improve the lab workflow, Elite learning, twitter: @EliteCME.

#8. Look for the Right Technology Partners: "Look out for service providers who have expertise in IT and also nurses and physicians on staff who can reflect their real-world expertise. They can help your hospital's professionals too. Before deciding on the technology, inquire your vendors to conduct a healthcare workflow assessment to showcase their solutions on various platforms.

By identifying the gaps in the process, you can understand how technology will be executed at critical points in the patient care aspect. The healthcare technology service providers must acknowledge the importance of security and have insights about the latest regulations and privacy protocols that persist. Ensure to check the past working experience of the vendor with other hospitals and healthcare systems. Also, ask for the list of security credentials as they must have earned by past work." – Four tips for improving healthcare technology, twitter: @BeckersHR

Concluding Note: 

Successful management requires a consolidated plan and accurate information from various sources and platforms. These include EHRs, clinical claims, authorization, technology advancements, service provider's list, and a potential strategy development team. It is vital to support the healthcare goals for improving the workflow, enhancing patient experience, generating better revenue, providing quality services, expanding service growth, and decreasing the cost and error rates at a gradual span. 

Designing a workflow is a tricky endeavor as the complexity of healthcare organization are vast. The healthcare industry is a service-based field that is flexible and dependent on the patient's needs. To establish a fluent and effortless workflow over time, it is essential to respond to the demands, tasks, and resources available at your end. The latest technological adoptions in the organizational workflow should not be treated as a hindrance but an opportunity to elevate the quality of services and provide proper care to patients under any existing circumstances. 

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