2018103113:25:56

How to choose the best Hospital Management System (HMS)

Published by: Sanjana

Introduction:

In the past few years, the HMS market has exponentially developed. Private healthcare hospitals and providers are interested in different investment opportunities and are looking for intuitive ways to enhance their ROI (Return On Investment).

Private and public hospitals & providers need to take the right decision regarding the investment in the right Hospital management system as well as demanding an excellent analysis deal. They should check whether HMS is capable of fulfilling their objective goals to provide exceptional support to their financial gains and their patients.

Let’s check for the several criteria you need to consider while choosing HMS system.

Brainstorming With Stakeholders
HMS Software Demo
HMS Customization & Stability
Data Transactions & HMS Software Setup
Upgradation & Support

Brainstorming With Stakeholders:

Before you go for getting the right hospital management system, please make sure you do some brainstorming with the stakeholders and vendors so that you will be able to choose the right HMS system for your hospital. Make sure every person in your hospital management is clear off getting the right things they need from the software.

Discuss and list out the ‘Need to have’ feature requirements so that you can choose the right HMS system without any confusion, and this will also provide a clear-cut knowledge of comparing the different pros and cons of various HMS vendors.

HMS Software Demo:

Do not get the Hospital management system from the Vendors without processing an online demo as they are considered to be the best method of validating the specifications of your products, and you can also know whether the HMS system will reliably useful for your hospital and patients.

Ensure you have a list of concerns and significant pain points in your hand before checking the online demo. During the demo, you should get a clear understanding about HMS System, how it can be used for delivering useful results and how to sort out different problems with this simple HMS System.

HMS Customization and Stability:

Even though you choose the HMS system after checking out different features carefully, there are high chances of HMS system to missing some essential specialty you need. So it's important you go for the customized Hospital management system to sort out these problems.

Customization is considered to be the inevitable part of your automation journey, stick to the HMS system only if the vendors can develop the software to be customized as per the private or public hospital workflow.

Data Transitions and HMS Software Setup:

An entire implementation of the HMS system will include pilot testing, basic setup and staff training. The conventional approach is that to get started with a deferential start and then reaching the greater prospection level of automation. Apart from that, the phased approach to effective HMS implementation means that they are capable of reducing the hospital operations taken the day-to-day.

Its good to follow all the above factors before picking a HMS system for your private or public hospital, make sure you get prepared to know about the features to make the transitions of data painless and smooth.

Upgradation and Support

The HMS System, exposed to real-time scenarios and loads that mandate the hospital staff’s reputation after HMS software sale and implementation completion. There are many unanticipated and spontaneous issues which need to be handled correctly within the right service level agreement (SLA). Hospital reputation is essential for the organization to grow, in this case, HMS Vendor provides the proper support for the success. HMS systems include regular upgrade like other software, and therefore HMS software support is one of the primary vital factors to be contemplated when evaluating the proper HMS system.

Visit Mocdoc HMS to know more

Related Blogs

When searching for software, almost everyone looks for free ones. If you simply type in the name of any random software, you’ll probably see a google autocomplete suggestion “free download”. In some cases, it does make a lot of sense in using free software. Why pay for something when you can get it for free?

Searches for downloading free EMR software have increased with government legislation mandating their use in hospitals. Let us look into why this is a bad idea.

If you’re not paying for it, you’re the product

As a general rule, nobody ever gives you something for free. As economists would say, “If you’re not paying for the product, you are the product”. In the case of most free software, this is the case. Recently it was found that most of the free antivirus apps in the Google Play store actually did nothing. Their purpose? Probably to collect data from your device. This may not affect an average person very much, but if you’re concerned about privacy, you should probably stay away from these software. And when you’re dealing with a hospital management software, this is a key aspect. Data security is a very important aspect especially when you handle patient data. A data leak, however small has the potential to damage the reputation of your hospital.

Lack of accountability

A hospital management system has to have certain qualifications that assure you that a particular software can fit your needs. When you purchase a software, it is possible for you to verify if these software fit the criteria. But when you download a software for free, there is no way for you to be sure if these software fit the criteria. And since there is no monetary transaction between you and the software provider, it will be difficult to hold them accountable.

The lack of accountability will be an issue if the software faces any glitches. If the software crashes, customer support is not provided for the system, and you will be on your own. A software glitch in a free android app may be annoying, and will not cause any huge problems even if is not resolved. In case of a hospital, the software handles sensitive patient information and a software glitch can compromise this data, and with no tech support from the providers, it can cause a lot of problems.

Upgrades? Nope

As government regulations change, and as the technology improves, you may face the need for a better software. If you’re relying on a free software for very important tasks, such as managing your hospital, you may find yourself stuck with an old software. Free software rarely provide any upgrades for long durations. And when you want an upgrade, you may find yourself searching for a new software, and you’ll have to import the existing data into the new software which will require additional resources.

The story of the open source software

A commonly trusted free software are the open source software. Ubuntu is an example of an open source software. They are usually made by developers across the world, and their source code is available for free, and you’re free to change or modify the code as you wish. Since the source code is available for everyone, it is unlikely that the software can have malicious intents. And as long as the developers continue to improve the software, it will remain up to date with the required features. Open source software appears to offer a very good deal, and they do, in the case of most of the software. But in the case of a hospital management system, it is never a good idea to use an open source software. This is because of a combination of reasons discussed above. First of all, there are no hospital management software with the kind of community that a software like Ubuntu has. If you face any issues, you’re on your own. In the case of popular softwares, there may be forums in which users can discuss issues, and they may get resolved. But for a hospital management software, there are no such forums, and when you’re managing a hospital, you cannot afford to wait for a solution that may never come. And as we discussed, updates will be available for open source software only as long as the developers are working on the project.

What about the free trials?

If you have been looking for free HMS downloads, you may have come across many SaaS healthcare software companies offering lite or trial versions of their software for free, or maybe the complete version of their software, but for a limited time period. These software are generally secure and will be much more robust than software from other software providers. They may even offer regular updates. But remember that these trial versions are just for that. They will be severely limited in their capabilities, and you will definitely have to upgrade at some point. And the providers may not provide tech support if you’re using the free version. But they do provide an easy way to evaluate a software and if available, they serve as a demo for the complete version.

Lack of customization

Generally across hospitals, or even across departments, there is no uniform workflow. Each department head has their own workflows, and this is the reason why hospital management systems are highly customized. However such customization is not at all possible in a hospital management system, and if implemented, could affect the functioning of the hospital and may prove to be counterproductive.

To know more about hospital management software, visit MocDoc Hospital Information System.

Why you should never down...

When searching for software, almost everyone looks for free o.....

Published by: Steve 2019070617:50:30

Hospital Management Software is considered to be the current trend and boom to every hospital administrations and management. An HMS is a web-based or computer-based software system which helps to control different complex workflows and processes which are inherent to the normal working of any hospital.

The HMS acts as the frontiers for various hospital stakeholders to access, capture, report, and manage every single information happening in the functioning of your hospital. Today let’s check how the Hospital Management System enhances your hospital quality.

Why is HMS mandatory for your hospitals and how does it improve your clinic quality?

A Hospital Management System provides you with different advantages like adaptive, innovation, affordability, and more. A quality HMS needs to have provisions for managing and documenting the hospital aspects like doctors, billing, patients, inventory, insurance, pharmacy, support staff, HR, diagnostics, radiology, reports, etc.

Some of the benefits of the HMS for your clinic include

● Quick and easy access to the records and other data of the patient.

● Automation brings efficiency

● Accuracy

● Patient satisfaction

● Speedy services

● Coordination between different departments

● Paperless record system.

Secure your data:

The Hospital Database Management System makes it unfeasible for any personnel who are unauthorized to access private and sensitive information, particularly in dealing with the records of the patients. It decreases data theft and similar possibilities and therefore you will be able to secure your data and thus an improvement in the hospital quality.

Making treatment and diagnosis simpler:

The Hospital Management System offers useful dashboards and reports, through which caregivers and doctors can have quick and simple access to the test results and records of the patients. It increases the competency of your hospital legitimately and also helps to improve your hospital quality.

Enhance quality ratings of the hospitals:

If the HMS is implemented in your hospital, then there is no worry about your clinic quality. It enhances your standing with quality circles and insurance companies significantly.

Run your hospital effectively:

The amount of effort and time you will save by implementing the Hospital Management System is surprising. These savings make for the smooth and efficient operation of your clinic.

Tracks for better financials:

Implementing a Hospital Management System in your hospital means there is a more significant benefit for the department of finance. It’s easy to track outflows, receivables, revenues, and debts better when HMS is implemented. The HMS generates a financial report that will have an accurate health picture of your hospital.

Eliminate errors:

There is a chance for many errors to occur if you are maintaining the manual or older method in your hospital. With HMS automation processes, you can easily avoid mistakes, and the workflow will go excellently when compared to the older or manual methods.

Higher patient satisfaction:

The hospital management system decreases the time taken for procedures and processes at all stages of patient interaction, namely discharge, billing, and registration, thus, it makes your clients and patients happy.

Paperless Operation:

The advent of the hospital management system is that it makes use of electronic records rather than physical files, which leads to a happier outcome when it comes to maintaining your hospital quality. It’s expected for hospitals to become paperless completely with further development in the hospital management system.

Start your research, reach for a reputable EMR vendor like MocDoc, and make the quality of your hospital rick and user-friendly.

How HMS improves the qual...

Hospital Management Software is considered to be the cur.....

Published by: Sanjana 2019093013:01:47

What is an integrated hospital management system? How could it help the hospitals?

There are multiple departments in hospitals that carry out numerous activities daily. There is a lot of communication that takes place and information to share between departments which are crucial and need to be stored in a system with a good user interface. Hospitals use heterogeneous management systems like appointment scheduling software, telemedicine software, diagnostic software, EHR software, billing software, and more. It's a tedious task to maintain all this software and make a single report from various collections. Now, this requires a huge team! But what if a single management system could replace these heterogeneous systems efficiently?

An integrated hospital management system is one such system. Like any other hospital management system, it does not just store information but also connects all the departments under a single interface. It supports the various departments of a hospital such as a laboratory, clinic, and pharmacy in a single interface, making it easy for the departments to interact and share patient information.

Interoperability is the constant chain in any hospital as on average, a patient visiting a hospital engages at least with two departments. Well, taking the chain of interoperability digital with an integrated hospital management system will help the hospital attain efficiency in its core aspects. Here are a few points on how this helps the patients and the hospital.

Patients part:
1. Appointment: Make appointment booking hassle-free by letting your patients book appointments online via the website/mobile app.
2. On the dot: Share electronic patient records with departments or patients themselves in no time.
3. Reduce no-shows: Send SMS or email reminders to your patients, reminding them of their upcoming appointments.
4. Personalized: Send health tips or diet plans to your patients based on their health conditions.
Hospitals part:
1. One for all: An integrated hospital management system will eradicate the need for different systems as it combines all the department modules.
2. Performance Report: Generate weekly, monthly, or yearly performance reports of the hospital in a snap of fingers (No! You don't need a team to do this.)
3. Reference: Makes it easy to manage and estimate referral payments to clinics and outsourced laboratory tests.
4. Marketing: Conduct medical camps remotely with the help of offline camp management modules and let your patients know through email.

Thus, integration is crucial between all the departments of the hospital owing to interoperability. Integration between the departments will take their communication on a digital pathway, making the hospital's workflow seamless and easy. Here are the various areas of integration regarding a hospital.

Hospital-Laboratory: Have you ever had a phase where the laboratory used different software from that of the hospital? If yes, then you must know how time-consuming each process with the laboratory could get. However, an integrated hospital management system will allow you to share patient health records and required tests with the laboratory. Likewise, the laboratory can send you the patient's electronic test results in no time. This eliminates paperwork and other possible manual work.

Hospital-Pharmacy: How different is a hospital’s pharmacy from a standalone pharmacy? A pharmacy integrated with a hospital can get patients' e-prescriptions from doctors and provide timely medications to the in-patients. Further, the pharmacy can even take care of the supplements that are to be provided to the OT department. This integration allows the doctor to know about the availability of medicine in the pharmacy or its alternative before prescribing it to the patients.

Hospital-Clinic: Well, parent hospitals do have multi-location clinics, and these clinics can be integrated with the hospital in a single interface, cases that need prior attention are often shifted to the hospital and this lets the hospital learn about the patient's history quickly through the health records. An integrated hospital management system allows the hospital to overlook the functioning of its multi-location clinics by just switching between the identities of the organization.

Centralized Data vs Distributed Data: (Point of discussion)

Centralized Data or Distributed Data, you have got data to handle. Data needs to be taken care of efficiently for the smooth everyday functioning of the hospital. But which is the better way to do so?

When every department is integrated into a single software, the data is centralized. Thus a patient ID once created is just carried forward by every department, whereas in the dominance of heterogeneous software, a patient has to get themselves registered, with every department attended.

Organizing data and generating revenue or performance reports is very easy when the data is centralized. Most of the integrated patient management systems have the feature of an analytic dashboard which lets the management create weekly, monthly, or yearly performance reports of the hospital. When the data is distributed, it takes a lot of time to collect and organize them. This process is quite a lengthy one and requires a huge team at work.

Cost-wise advantage: Software has different types of pricing patterns, which may be budget-friendly or not. Like subscription-based, a percent of your revenue is based on the number of patients visiting. Having different software is going to charge you in different ways and might end up very expensive too. On the other side, when just a single piece of software is in use by all the departments, you are charged by a standard pattern. This gives you the advantage of forecasting the cost you might have to endure and if it's budget-friendly

Patient Experience: Patient satisfaction is a goal that any hospital wishes to achieve. It is the key to the productivity of the hospital. Perhaps, it creates the goodwill of the hospital. But how can software keep you far from achieving this?

Turnaround time: No hospital wishes to increase a patient's turnaround time, Neither do you. But this might be happening unintentionally by the use of different software by departments. For instance, A patient has to manually take all the health records to the laboratory and get themselves registered for a test. On receiving the test results, the patient will again have to take the results to the doctor, themself. This whole process is time-consuming for the patients, and such issues can be solved by using a single software.

Technical Issues: Diving into a scenario where a hospital maintains a separate billing software. Owing to a few technical issues the software turned faulty, which caused chaos at the reception. Problems like these are Stressful for the patients and are more likely to affect the reputation of the hospital. Such scenarios could be avoided with a cloud-based Hospital Management System where the cloud has a backup cloud to ensure such nightmares don't come true.

Flexible Meeting: With all the changes the recent time has brought, Telemedicine has become a need. Patients now prefer the telemedicine facility for smaller health issues so that long and discomfort travels can be avoided. Hospitals should adapt themselves to this method of patient appointment and make sure that their software supports telemedicine. This makes things easy for patients who are old or who reside far from the hospital. And also helps the hospital in obtaining patient satisfaction.

Ease for doctors and workers inside the hospital:

Integrating every department of the hospital will ease down a lot of work for the doctors and other workers of the hospital.

Generating analytical reports with the help of a dashboard.
Reduce manual paperwork by sharing electronic health records.
Effective marketing Via email and SMS.

The right software will increase the efficiency and productivity of the hospital. Hope you found this blog on the Integrated Hospital management system insightful.

Why use an integrated hos...

What is an integrated hospital management system? How could .....

Published by: Rithika S 2021030815:40:30

Hospitals are rarely a single department entity. They usually span multiple specialties focusing on different treatment areas, such as pediatrics, neurosciences, gynecology, etc.

There are also various departments taking care of the day-to-day running of the hospital, such as maintenance, accounting, billing, operation theatre, and management. Each of these departments consists of many people carrying out various tasks, ranging in complexity from brain surgeries to fixing overhead lamps.

A single organization may have hospitals across multiple locations, making it difficult to manage them all. A hospital management system helps you manage the enormous complexities of efficiently managing the hospital sustainably.

Even though hospitals span several different areas, in the beginning, it usually involves only a few departments and just the primary number of people required to manage them all.

In such a case, a simple management system with the capacity to deal with relatively less data would work. But as a hospital starts growing, incorporating more specialties and treatment facilities, this system may not be able to deal with the massive flow of data.

A hospital management system could make this process much faster and easier.

As the number of departments and employees grows, the management system would also extend to accommodate the conditions created by the growth, thus aiding the development of the hospital instead of being a hindrance.

Scale up - The role of a cloud-based system

A cloud-based online system has many advantages compared to an offline system regarding scaling up. Instead of making changes in all systems in a hospital network, the differences would have to be made only by the software providers. They could easily be updated to add more departments and employees without reinstalling the updated version in all the systems in a hospital. And since the software and its interface remain the same, there is no need to allocate extra resources to train the users.

A cloud-based system would also be much more efficient in the case of hospitals in multiple locations. The data generated from all the hospitals run by the same organization could be integrated and analyzed to improve overall performance. As new sites come up, the software is updated, and the existing management network can seamlessly integrate without additional training.

This option would allow for better purchase decisions, as requirements for the entire chain of hospitals could be understood and remedied in bulk, thus helping make much better business transactions and improving efficiency for the whole network.

Resource management and reduction of wastage :

A sound hospital management system would also help prevent unwanted waste of resources. Efficient management of the various equipment and disposables inventory would cut short the resources otherwise wasted. In scaling up, there is usually an increased wastage of resources due to purchasing excess materials to prevent a shortage. With an efficient system, such wastages could easily be detected and avoided. This option could provide a smooth scale-up from a small hospital to an extensive network without excessive spending.

Scaling up - Understanding the data generated :

A common problem associated with the scaling up of any system is the overwhelming amount of data generated from the various subsystems. Every bit of data has to be analyzed and compiled in a manner that is easy to understand to make correct decisions at every corner. A scale-up could be a headache for a hospital with a large amount of data generated without an adequate system to manage the data.

An efficient hospital management system would make this entire process a cakewalk by managing the data generated in real time smoothly and quickly. In a sound hospital management system, all the data from the various departments regarding all the matters from procurement of materials, human resources, and energy requirements to billing, accounting, and inventory management is compiled and represented in a meaningful manner.

This leads to a quicker and easier decision-making process and, therefore, a more accessible, smoother, and efficient scale-up.

Management of the extra human resources required for scale-up :

The efficient running of a hospital requires that all the stakeholders play their roles, and to enable this; they should be able to manage their work quickly and intuitively. A sound hospital management system allows smooth work delegation and easy access to the information required for the task.

For example, it should allow a doctor to enter information regarding a patient and their treatment regime and enable the pharmacist to track the inventory quickly. With an efficient system, it would also be able to evaluate the work done by them. Such easy management of the entire workforce, without causing any hindrance to them, but help them with this, would enable the hospital to grow.

In short, a sound hospital management system would make it easier to scale up the hospital network by efficiently managing the resources, avoiding waste, creating an efficient workforce, and better data management. Such a system could provide hassle-free patient care, making everyone’s work much more manageable.

Scalable Hospital Managem...

Hospitals are rarely a single department entity. They usual.....

Published by: Steve 2019031619:30:08