Improving Patient Care Through Technology
by Erik Riffel, Account Manager
From electronic medical records (EMR) to practice management systems, from advanced nurse call systems to wireless communication and patient tracking, today’s technology is poised to make an impact on the patient like no other time in history.
 Electronic medical records can improve healthcare quality and patient safety, promote, coordinate and bring greater continuity to the care of the patient.
By assisting in the clinical decision-making process and using evidenced based guidelines EMRs can improve patient satisfaction and safety. EMR can also be used to track and monitor the results of recommended exams and provide critical feedback on the results of those exams assisting physicians in making decisions regarding the treatment of future patients resulting in better care.
Practice management is another evolving technology that will affect the quality and satisfaction of the patient experience. As practices develop greater efficiencies, patients will benefit by receiving better information and gain a higher level of medical compliance. Patients will then receive more accurate billing and reduce the confusion surrounding an already challenging time for them. By sending invoices to patients after the insurer has paid their portion further reduces stress and anxiety and increases accuracy for the patients portion of the bill.
As private practice becomes paperless there is an even greater need to protect patient information. Data storage and backup hardware will become a vital component of the practice. Patient imaging and medical records need to be replicated in an instant even if the practice has had a disaster scenario. HIPAA requires that the patient data be encrypted and stored in multi-site repositories. By meeting these requirements patient information remains secure and accessible at all times. Better record management ensures that the patients’ information is readily available to practitioners. This type of failsafe technology provides the patient safe secure access to their records.
Cloud computing is a cutting edge technology that is sure to change the landscape for the entire medical community. As a hospital or practice grows, so does its need for access to services and systems utilized by the networks servers. Typically the expense associated with this growth quickly reaches into the tens of thousands of dollars. Cloud computing allows for scalable expansion within minutes allowing a facility to add server capabilities to meet their needs for systems such as hosted EMR integration. By providing fast, cost effective expansion of system services patient care is improved.
These are just some of the technologies that are being implemented and delivered to the patient to provide better care through greater efficiency and productivity. By increasing compliance, ensuring greater comfort and safety and delivering improved methods of care today’s patient is experiencing a greater quality of care than ever before.
In order for the provider to deliver a higher standard of for their patients they should look at their internal systems and processes and determine what technologies they need to improve their standard of care. Starting with an inventory of their current hardware to gain a sense of where to begin would be the most obvious. Secondly look to other practices and organizations that they belong to for assistance in choosing the best software and how it will integrate with what they have currently and what will need to be upgraded. Seek the advice from a trusted advisor in the industry to tailor and end to end solution. In the end it is the patients’ quality of care that will determine the success of the provider.
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