As a clinician, it is my hope that technology will improve patient care, outcomes and customer satisfaction across the entire continuum of care for all involved — patients, providers and payers. We are all in the episode of care together. Let’s all stay patient focused.
Technology should never be a sunk cost. The right platform will provide value with new efficiencies and accountability.
In my columns for McKnight’s this year, I discussed the new frontier of digital transformation taking place outside the walls of a hospital system, and the importance of finding technology that adds value to your organization’s productivity, profitability and customer value. I also wrote about emerging technology to move to a paperless environment both operationally and clinically.
The financial impact of such technologies should be recognized in time saved, better utilization of the time saved, and better decisions made faster. In healthcare, this should be the catalyst to better care delivered in all care settings.
The right technology should also provide value beyond the initial use case. Business process automation should be scalable across multiple use cases and multiple departments within the corporation. Total cost of ownership should be evaluated across all business processes being serviced by many different technology platforms to see what can be consolidated to one platform. It is more cost effective and simpler to maintain one technology platform.
2020 and beyond
Digital transformation in healthcare is here to stay. Hospital systems continue to build preferred provider networks, with many of these networks seeking and leveraging new technologies to make the transitions of care delivery more seamless. How is your organization leveraging technology to be a viable partner in these preferred networks?
Payment reform is happening and will continue to happen. This creates an even greater importance to see the complete patient picture for the episode of care from the preceding provider.
Capturing the correct diagnosis and all associated comorbidities prior to or at the start of care has never been more critical. Any missed communication at the transfer of care can lead to incorrect coding or incorrect care planning. How is your organization leveraging technology to properly manage payment reform?
Operational efficiency is critical to maintain the bottom line across all departments within a corporation. Inefficient use of time drains productivity and adversely increases cost, impacting your earnings before interest and taxes. The cost of paper storage and the loss of real estate for care also has a detrimental financial impact. How is your organization leveraging technology for business process automation, case management and workflows to eliminate the archaic, manual and paper-based business processes?
2020 can be your year for change and improved performance.
