by John Deutsch - Bridge Patient Portal
Technology has a lot of potential to improve efficiency and health outcomes in the complex practice of healthcare, from time-sensitive interventions in the hospital environment to long-term preventative measures among patient populations. Diagnostics, data management, patient engagement, and personalized medicine all stand to benefit from greater technology integration in a holistic, connected care model. Despite this, there are many hurdles that prevent technology from being adopted as quickly or effectively as it could be. Let’s take a look at the challenges contemporary healthcare organizations face:
1. Learning Curve and Tech Literacy
Medical staff may be great at their care roles, but lack the technical expertise to use the various systems that could ultimately be adopted to streamline their work. The same is true for patient populations who may not be tech literate. To overcome this, it is necessary to introduce a tech training and development program (and ideally, bring on some IT experts for support) to get your staff up to speed on using digital tools and offer simple training instructions to patients for patient-facing applications.
2. Physical Environment and Layout
When integrating specialist equipment and machines into a clinical setting, think–is this in the right place? Can it be accessed quickly and easily by the people who need it or could it get in the way? Connected care is all about getting the right information to the right person at the right time. Positioning, layout and ambiance all have an effect on tech integration in the workplace, and this is doubly important in a high-pressure environment like a hospital or clinic. When incorporating new technologies and systems, the first step must be to analyze existing workflows and plan to position technology where it enhances rather than impedes it.
3. Data Integration and Interoperability
The flow of data is as important as the flow of people. One common issue in connected care is a lack of data standardization, in which the different platforms used by different departments are not mutually readable or easily transferable. This results in data silos, blocks productivity, and worse, can lead to misunderstandings or errors. That’s why it’s important to start with a comprehensive IT strategy that establishes a common standard for storing and sharing data in the organization.
4. Financial Costs
Connected care requires considerable financial investments, including hardware, software, and staff training. Even with the efficiency savings that technology brings, these can represent considerable upfront costs for smaller practices. Some financial incentive is provided, however, by federal programs that encourage the appropriate use of technology under a value-based care framework. Thus, the initial investments will end up saving the organization money and improving patient outcomes in the long term.
5. Privacy and Security
The healthcare industry is subject to strict privacy and security controls to ensure that sensitive data is protected, especially electronic patient health information (ePHI). At the same time, effective use of technology mandates data sharing, and modern solutions often leverage cloud technology to do this. This is why a healthcare organization needs strict security protocols and database administrators that are well-versed in cybersecurity. In all cases, the platforms used must be HIPAA compliant, and a BAA agreement with the technology vendor must be signed.
About the Author
John Deutsch
John is CEO of Bridge Patient Portal with 20 years of healthcare IT business ownership experience specializing in patient engagement, marketing, and software development.
Check out Bridge's recent webinar with FQHC Connect where they talked about Taking Patient Engagement to the Next Level with Telehealth, Mobile, & Other Patient Engagement Initiatives.
About Bridge Patient Portal
Bridge is an enterprise patient portal and patient engagement solution for healthcare organizations. The platform is ideal for health centers seeking to replace their existing EHR’s patient portal, connect disparate EHR environments, consolidate costly patient engagement tools, offer telemedicine services, and/or publish a mobile app.
Bridge is a community sponsor of FQHC Connect and has a number of FQHCs using their platform. They are constantly seeking to improve their technology and collaborate with FQHCs to find new and creative ways to advance patient engagement in FQHCs.
Learn more at www.bridgepatientportal.com.
