Scott Magers

When considering technology investments, focus on these three points to yield value from an operational and clinical perspective: productivity, profitability and customer value.

In previous posts in this series, I emphasized the benefits of modern referral and medical records management and explained the value of delivering a paperless clinical environment for improved care.

However, digital transformation doesn’t end there. Organizations must take a deeper dive into the operations of other departments to uncover more strategic opportunities to adopt technology and add incremental value.

Looking forward

Choosing the right platform was step one.  Now it’s time to expand on the platform to conquer other use cases in different departments.

It’s simple: Follow the paper trail. A good first place to look is in the Human Resources department located in each care center.  

  • Is onboarding paper based?  
  • Are employee files stored in filing cabinets?  
  • How are policies and procedures handled? Are there opportunities to make communication and employee acknowledgement a more efficient process?  
  • Can any of the HR processes be centralized to the corporate office?  

Here are six capabilities technology can bring to human resources: 

Automating redundant tasks in the HR process, from tracking contact information, benefits, vacation and sick time as well as training, certifications and performance evaluations of nurses, doctors, medical technicians and support staff.

Managing the entire HR workflow, from interviews and on-boarding to the separation process so your organization can hire the best healthcare professionals faster while meeting all compliance requirements.

Helping establish a complete personnel record for every employee, including licenses, certifications and other documents, available immediately.

Recording and archiving policy acknowledgements. 

Integrating with your ERP, so your staff does not have to navigate away from core applications to search for employee information.

Perform accurate audits, running reports that show you what’s missing from employee folders so you can take action.

Accounts Payable is the next logical place to find archaic paper-based business processes.  

  • How are invoices received?  
  • Is the approval process manual at any of your facilities?  
  • How is the General Ledger kept up-to-date?
  • Can any of these processes be centralized to the corporate office?  

AP automation can significantly reduce your costs by eliminating manual data entry, reducing processing time and enabling more invoices to be processed per FTE.  You can dramatically reduce cost-per-invoice by as much as 69% with automation. Early pay discounts can also increase revenue to your bottom-line. 

Business process automation of these paper-based processes will create accountability across all departments. Look for a technology platform that scales to give you a lower total cost of ownership and provide value across all departments to drive productivity, profitability and customer value.