Five ERP Software Trends to Watch in the Healthcare Industry

Healthcare industry has been evolving at a speedy rate lately. This transformation is necessary to gain an edge in the competitive market. Healthcare organizations are investing in technologies to reduce the cost of operation, improve medical facilities, ensure patient’s data security, and enhance access to healthcare facilities.

ERP software is also a part of the technology that has attracted huge investment from the healthcare industry. And why not? It helps in improving hospital management and patient care processes with automation. It speeds up the information sharing procedure and a paperless environment is created by executing all possible work on the system.

The change in the healthcare industry calls for a modification in ERP software as well to fit the industry changes.

So, here are five key ERP software trends to watch out for fulfilling the changing requirements of the healthcare sector:

Enlarge the scope of telemedicine

Telemedicine is receiving so much love from the people around the world. Telemedicine isn’t favourable to patients only but is a boon for healthcare organizations as well. It helps them in streamlining their services by providing medication-related reminders, and keeping a track of patient’s health indicators such as sugar level, blood pressure. Not only this, patient’s maintenance becomes easy as daily support can be given w.r.t ongoing health problems virtually.

One of the most important benefits is cost reduction in terms of healthcare processes. As per one of the studies conducted on 17,000 telemedicine participants, patient’s admission in hospital reduced by 30% and doctor’s unnecessary visit by 60%.

More focus on security

The numbers related to healthcare data breaches is alarming and scary. Through data breaches, hackers get access to all the personal information of a patient. And security breach is not confined to only small clinics or large healthcare organization but also imaging centres. No wonder if data security features become a priority of every ERP developer, as these are the need of the hour. At present, developers are using methods like encryption keys, eye/voice/fingerprint scanning to secure data. However, protecting medical records in the encrypted blocks (blockchain) is the new trend which is creating enough buzz in the healthcare sector.

Take research to the next level

An ERP software can help you know about the latest medical trends in just a few clicks. As per the latest medical trend, medical practitioners can track the cause of diseases, symptoms and provide the best preventive measures. They can find out a pattern in diseases, if any. For instance, a particular virus is affecting only a certain age group of people, or during a certain period of the year.

Predictive capabilities will eliminate readmission penalties

ERP software will include predictive analysis power i.e. before discharging hospital will know if there are any chances of the patient coming back to the hospital anytime sooner or ever? Using ERP software with predictive analysis module is a bliss for hospitals. Doctors can now calculate the probability of re-admission for a patient.

As per one of the reports, 1 in 5 patients in the U.S was readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of discharge. The reason behind this is that the hospital doesn’t better handoff patient while he or she is making a transition from hospital to home. They fail to properly communicate about the regimen, medical routine, and diet that patients should follow.

An ERP software will prove to be advantageous as it will help them identify cases of readmission and put a full stop to them.

Upgrade software to stay at par or ahead of their competitors

Healthcare industry is no different than other business organization. It aims at generating revenue while improving the quality of customer (patient) care services. All of it is possible only if a healthcare unit is using state of the art technology to achieve its goals. And therefore, it is necessary to let go of your old ERP software and invest in its upgradation. Not only it will help you in meeting the targets but give you a competitive edge over other healthcare centres.

So, it seems that there are chances of a lot coming up in this year from the ERP software for healthcare industry. And it will indeed be worth investing in a new or upgraded version of the software!

Written By

Aditi Lohia 

Aditi is a graduate from the University of Delhi with a degree in Bachelor of commerce. While studying CA she found respite in writing poems and her once hobby has turned into a full time profession. Her 'Introduction to creative writing' course at British Council of India has given her a broad base to approach many areas. She is an eclectic writer, who turns her observation into prose that resonates with readers. She is a movie buff, a voracious reader who never misses an opportunity to travel!