Technology can be both a huge relief and a huge burden for healthcare organizations. For every high-tech breakthrough that makes treating patients and running your office easier, there always seems to be one more security risk or accompanying regulation to worry about.
Here is how you can benefit from new technologies in your medical office. These tips will help you save time, care for a greater number of patients, and benefit from the most recent advances in cybersecurity.
Medical Office Technology
Whether you are a doctor or an executive, if you help run the office of any medical practice or facility, you undoubtedly know how overwhelming the workflow can be when you have to juggle patients, insurance companies, regulations, and the underlying tasks necessary to keep the business running.
This type of non-stop environment can easily consume your time and money, as well as affect the quality of the services you provide to patients. But investing in the right I.T. can help you keep your business running smoothly while reducing stress and ultimately saving money.
The Best Technologies for Your Medical Office
There are so many new technologies that can be beneficial to your medical office. But the question that always has to be answered is: Which ones would the best specifically for your medical office? This is one vital area where your I.T. managed service provider should be able to help you find the right fit.
Choosing the best I.T. solutions for your business should never be a one-size-fits-all equation. Depending on the type and size of your medical office, as well as your goals for maintenance and growth, you can choose which technologies you need to implement first and which I.T. solutions can wait until you’ve reached the next level of business maturity.
What Makes Medical Office Technology Valuable for Your Business?
There are three main ways that medical office technology can benefit your business:
Examples of Medical Office Technology
1. Office Management Software
Office management software helps reduce paperwork and streamlines both patient care and clerical tasks. Such software will help you:
2. Software for Vital Signs
This type of software includes things like heart-rate monitors and brain-scanning software. It should sync with your medical records software, automating the process of updating patient records.
3. Software for Medical Records
That kind of software differs from general office management software by being specifically built to store EMRs. It will also facilitate the sharing of EMRs with other medical offices and hospitals. Make sure that the software you choose also has a redundant backup feature to make retrieval and restoration of all records easy if anything accidentally lost.
4. Clinical Documentation Software
Clinical documentation software is essential in tracking the changes your patients are experiencing from one appointment to another, illustrating the success of ongoing treatment plans.
5. Software for Point-of-Care Tests
This software saves time over waiting for a specimen to be transferred to and from and analyzed in a laboratory. For example, the culture-media-tests required before prescribing anti-biotics can be performed by point-of-care testing software.
6. Software for Other Tasks
Many clerical tasks that don’t require the expertise of a doctor can be sped up or simplified by medical software services:
Cybersecurity
With the high-risk circumstances surrounding the storage and sharing of patients’ medical records (EMRs), it’s a must to consider high-quality cybersecurity services to ensure your data is stored safely, shared securely, and that both are done in accordance with HIPAA.
Why does cybersecurity matter so much? Well, statistics reported by both the American Office of Civil Rights, and the U.S. Department of Health show that the privacy of more than 113 million EMRs, and 116 million EMRs, were violated in 2013 and 2016, respectively.
The Best Cybersecurity Services for Your Business
Here is how to choose the best cybersecurity service for your business:
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Protection
Choose a cybersecurity solution that prioritizes protecting the information of your patients, both inside your private network and while sharing with other networks or devices.
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Full Encryption & Full Management
Ensure that the service you choose provides full-encryption. In addition, ensure having full management and inspection rights.
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Who Is Allowed to Access Your Network?
The service you choose must provide for multi-factor identification and authentication of an encrypted identity.
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HIPAA Regulations and Configurations
Ensure that the technology you choose completely complies with HIPAA configurations, including the internal network of your organization, inter-connections with concerned pharmacies and other offices, restricting access to your network to authorized parties, and all mobile devices and applications that access your network.
A Few Other Vital Pieces for Your Cybersecurity Solution:
Regulation
While technology is changing the global healthcare industry, a significant gap still exists between many cutting-edge technologies and the strict regulations governing healthcare.
Paying attention to compliance and regulations will affect how much your business benefits from innovative technologies such as A.I. Remember, for example, that some clinical trials take years to be approved by the FDA in spite of having proven effectiveness from the first.
Consider Broadening Your Market to Prepare for the Future
In the U.S., rural areas are expected to be a growing market for healthcare services provided with the help of artificial intelligence (A.I.) and deep learning (D.L.).
On top of that, according to a recent report, the number of people whose ages range from 55-75 years are expected to increase by 30% of the whole population of rural areas, by 2020, which means a higher opportunity for healthcare businesses geared towards those persons.
Conclusion
Medical office technology and software are helpful in saving the time and efforts of your doctors and office staff, enabling them to serve more patients faster. Your I.T. MSP should help you choose the technologies that best fit your office, depending on the type, size, and complexity of your medical practice or facility.
In addition, high-quality cybersecurity service is a must for every healthcare business. The best cybersecurity service should comply with HIPAA and should provide you with full encryption and ongoing monitoring.
To learn more about how to choose the best I.T. for your healthcare business, contact JMARK today by calling 844-44-JMARK, or via email at [email protected].
