At the intersection between patient treatment and business operations lies healthcare technology management. This area of the medical and IT industries helps care providers and their patients with many things, but it's a field that requires the skillful application of years of training and knowledge. This is only one of the adversities that healthcare organizations deal with when looking for help with implementing technology.
The right healthcare IT solutions partner can resolve almost any challenge that organizations face. These consultants have skilled teams and managers who can keep projects on schedule, work with existing IT staff, and have knowledge of the latest innovations.
The Challenges of Healthcare Technology Management
Before satisfying the needs of patients and staff, a healthcare provider must first understand the specific challenges that their organization needs to overcome. Providers have to work with technology in several ways to meet their needs.
Remaining Compliant with Federal Regulations
Healthcare organizations must maintain compliance with several federal regulations, including the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act. Passed by the government in 2009, the HITECH Act has several goals, but the ones that affected healthcare technology the most were:
- Strengthening Penalties for Violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)
- Encouraging the Adoption of Certified Electronic Health Records (EHR) and Improving Privacy and Security of Patient Data
Protecting Patient's Data
The information in patient records is highly sought after by criminal organizations. The HITECH Act encourages healthcare providers to not only transition to certified EHR systems but also invest in encryption and secure databases to protect against data theft.
It can be challenging to keep patient data safe, as bad actors are always finding ways around existing protections. Your IT staff must remain current on the latest software and security practices to stay ahead of them.
Ensuring That Patients Still Have Access to Their Data
You’ll need to balance security with access to medical information for the patient. This is usually achieved through an online patient portal. Healthcare technology management experts can find a balance between keeping patients informed and securing protected health information (PHI).
Hospitals and healthcare providers can go one of two ways with their patient portals. They can buy software from one of several companies offering online portal software and database management services, such as OtterSoft. Alternatively, large organizations may have their own IT staff create a custom portal and set up private servers. In the latter case, the IT staff may need to spend an excessive amount of time building the portal and maintaining the server system.
Streamlining Data Management and Organization
Keeping the patient's files well-organized and easy for medical providers to access is challenging. This data must be available to doctors and medical staff at a moment's notice and convenient for patients to access. There will also be data that isn't PHI but still needs to be kept secure, such as contact information, billing and payroll, and staff records.
Healthcare organizations may opt for an onsite server or a private server offsite or pay for cloud storage with a healthcare technology solutions partner.
How Healthcare Technology Consultants Ease the Burden
An outside healthcare technology management consultant can ease the weight of responsibility. These specialists will take over the need to research and implement new IT for your organization, and the right consultancy will offer several services in one team.
As experts with in-depth training and knowledge of healthcare technology and federal regulations, they can direct your staff toward the most effective IT solutions. Many of these consultancies also maintain their own staff or work with additional contractors on a regular basis. They have taken care of hiring IT experts and managers already, saving healthcare administrators time and stress. Consultancies also handle payroll for these IT experts, saving additional effort for your HR department.
A healthcare technology consultant can handle the entire process of implementing new software and hardware, including scheduling, planning, and doing the due diligence on technology or security processes. When the organization is ready to begin implementation, these experts also take care of installing the healthcare technology.
If needed, these consultancies can provide ongoing services for healthcare organizations. This often includes training existing staff members on the use of the new technology and setting up accounts for staff and healthcare workers. Consultants may also provide maintenance and IT service requests to keep the new healthcare technology operating effectively.
Healthcare organizations must use technology to best serve their patients, from creating EHRs to setting up an online patient portal. However, these processes can seem daunting for an organization that's already busy taking care of patients. A healthcare technology management consultant can help organizations meet these challenges more readily while also streamlining the schedule and budget.
Here at OtterSoft, we help healthcare technology providers drive innovation and integrate smoothly with legacy systems to keep things in motion, address the challenges of healthcare innovation, and seamlessly sync information. To see how we can help you overcome the challenges of healthcare innovation, contact us today!
