There’s an old saying that the more things change, the more they stay the same. This statement is so true for healthcare organizations trying to manage compliance, patient safety and risk in the face of mergers, changes in regulations and new technologies.
Technologies, such as Internet of Things (IoT) in healthcare, artificial intelligence (AI), EHRs and software platforms for document management and big data, hit the market on a regular basis. Hospital leaders must be the eyes and ears of the organization; always looking for ways to increase efficiency and reduce risk. Meanwhile, healthcare is becoming more complex which means more opportunities for something to slip through the cracks.
To meet these challenges head on, healthcare leaders need to stay up-to-date on relevant topics, so they can devise plans to minimize risk, maximize response, educate staff and quickly adapt to a rapidly evolving industry.
The HealthCare Executive Group, a national network of select healthcare executives, thought leaders and experts of various disciplines, identified the to 10 challenges/issues/opportunities in healthcare for 2019.
- Data and Analytics – leveraging all types of data especially clinical data
- Total Consumer Health – improving members’ overall well-being
- Population Health Services – community-based health strategy, addressing barriers to health
- Valued-based Payments – targeting specific medical conditions to manage cost and improve quality of care
- The Digital Healthcare Organization – HSAs, patient portals, CRM, wearables
- Rising Pharmacy Costs
- External Market Disruption – Amazon, Walmart, Apple for example
- Operational Effectiveness – lean quality programs, process efficiency, robotics automation
- Opioid Management
- Cybersecurity
Let’s delve into Operations Effectiveness and specifically robotic automation and document management. Automation is the key to managing policies and procedures and mitigating risk. Automation is the use of technology that reduces the need for human work. Tasks that are automated, such as the workflow approval process for policies and procedures, reduces administrative workloads; thus, cutting down on paperwork, reducing staffing hours associated with policies and procedures and increasing operational efficiency.
The healthcare industry is already fraught with risk. New technologies, regulations, and market forces only add to the complexities and challenges that hospital leaders face. To minimize the adverse effects of these trends and maximize their organization’s responsiveness to an evolving business environment, healthcare leaders must ensure they have the knowledge, resources, and systems in place to handle whatever comes next.
To learn more about how MCN Healthcare helps hospital leaders stay on top of document management challenges , schedule a Free Demo of Policy Manager to learn about MCN’s Policy Manager, Contract Manager, Policy Library, StayAlert! and eLearning solutions.