ERP for Healthcare Industry – An Overview

After 2020, it would be unfair to discuss the healthcare industry without mentioning the Covid-19 pandemic. Besides disrupting normal life and every other industry, it revealed that the medical industry desperately needed an upgrade. The lack of medical supplies and inaccessibility to data were a few of the system’s drawbacks. Today stay abreast with the changing trends and remain competitive; the need for an ERP for healthcare industry is more prominent than ever. The medical landscape has changed drastically after 2020. The industry can no longer be a silent audience of technological advancement but must participate if they want to serve the customers. Hence, it is actively adopting ERPs for healthcare management systems.

What Does ERP Stand for in Healthcare?

ERP stands for enterprise resource planning system. It is a business management tool that helps the client organization streamline its business process, automate manual tasks, integrate different systems under one platform, and become more productive – all by leveraging modern technology.

ERP plays a significant role in the modern healthcare industry, where it irradiates manual tasks like appointment booking, improves reporting, helps supply chain management, enables data-driven decision-making, and more. The end goal of ERP solutions for healthcare Industry is to improve customer experience and patient care.

What are the Challenges the Healthcare Industry Faces?

The healthcare industry affects the lives of the entire community, and therefore addressing its challenges and finding a solution is of utmost importance. Five common challenges in the healthcare industry are:

Regulatory Changes in the Healthcare Industry

The healthcare industry faces frequent changes and has severe regulatory limitations. Sometimes the old and new regulations overlap and confuse the medical administrators. It causes massive uncertainty, unevenly raises the drug price, etc.

Payment Processing

In the digital age, most patients want to pay through cards or other forms of payment besides cash. However, if the medical service provider is not flexible, payment processing and invoicing can be cumbersome. Sometimes it leads to late payments also.

Growing Pharmaceutical Prices

Since there is a lack of set rules to determine drug prices, pharma companies are collectively driving up the prices of medicines. Therefore, patients are spending less on prescribed drugs.

Cyber Threat and Fraud

Hospitals or clinics use medical devices that can be accessed by malware and lead to malicious activities. Sensitive patient data can fall into the wrong hands, leading to a medical data breach. Per reports, 60% of the US population has its medical data stolen, and the numbers are estimated to rise in the future.

Rising Healthcare Costs

Healthcare is expensive as it is. The further rising cost is slowing down the sector. Even though the industry strives to offer people holistic healthcare, the soaring prices affect its revenue. Insurance companies and drug and medical supplies manufacturing companies also drive the prices. The expensive treatment, drugs, lab tests, and multiple follow-ups can burn a massive hole in the patient’s pocket.

Role of ERP in the Healthcare Industry

Today an ERP plays a vital role in the healthcare industry. Some of the major ones are:

Improved Productivity

An ERP for the healthcare industry can improve its productivity by automating manual tasks and streamlining business processes.

Informed Decision-Making

ERP gathers data from different sources and gives in-depth information that helps better decision-making. The best ERPs for healthcare have customized dashboard that allows users to share information with suppliers, distributors, and customers.

Patient Engagement Module

An ERP for the healthcare industry helps medical professionals and hospitals understand their patients better. Most ERPs have this module, providing the data user with accurate and complete information.

Business Intelligence

Modern ERPs are packed with new-age technological capabilities such as AI, real-time analytics, and detailed dashboards that help a hospital or pharma manufacturer to gather better business insight and data-driven decisions.

Better Supply Chain Management

Supply chain management in the healthcare industry can be boosted through ERP automation. It integrates with other applications and reduces manual tasks. It is highly beneficial for drug and medical supply manufacturing companies. An ERP can provide a clear overview of the industry, prepare for unforeseen situations like the Covid-19 pandemic, and avoid a supply shortage.

Benefits of ERP Software for Healthcare

There are plenty of benefits of ERP software for healthcare, including:

Improved Patient Care

The first and foremost benefit of ERP for the healthcare management system is improved patient care. The system reduces paperwork for doctors and minimizes the time for retrieving patient data. Therefore, they can significantly improve the patient service quality.

Better Data Storage

ERP for the healthcare industry lets hospitals and clinics store patient data such as their previous visits, the doctor they have been visiting, the treatments they were prescribed, and so on in a comprehensive platform. Medical professionals can retrieve such data in just a few clicks and offer better medical advice.

Lower Operating Cost

ERP software for healthcare increases process efficiencies through automation. It caters to different tasks, such as payroll, accounting, and human resources, and brings them under a shared database. It automates various back-end processes such as payroll management, account management, and inventory handling, reducing operation costs.

Data Security

ERPs for the healthcare industry proved exceptional data security. You can assign roles and control who can control what kind of data. An ERP can track the login and logout activities, indicating the system users. It is designed to point out unauthorized or malicious access.

Automated Payments

ERP Payment Gateway offers payment flexibility and versatility regarding payment acceptance. It allows the patients to pay using ACH (automated clearing house network), credit card, and debit card. It increases the revenue flow, accelerated by a variety of payment options. An ERP for healthcare management systems also decreases DSO (days sales outstanding).

You May Also Like to Read: ERP for Pharmaceutical Industry in the UK

Features of ERP Software in The Healthcare Industry

Comprehensive ERP solutions for healthcare are designed to monitor and manage different areas of the industry. They are often used by hospitals, healthcare providers and diagnostic centers. Some of its key features are:

Hospital Management System

One of the capabilities of an ERP for healthcare services is the hospital management system. It is tailored to manage all aspects of a hospital’s operations, including patient management, appointment scheduling, billing and financial reporting.

Radiology Information System

This feature is useful for the radiology department. It manages the radiology workflow, schedules appointments and treatment dates, and stores images and reports results. It can be integrated with other healthcare systems, like the electronic health record system, that gives a complete view of a patient’s health record. It improves the efficiency and accuracy of radiology operations, mitigates chances of errors and increases the speed of imaging results.

Electronic Health Record (EHR) System

It lets healthcare providers electrically store and manage patients’ medical records. Doctors can easily access a patient’s accurate and up-to-date information in a few clicks. It also integrates information from various sources., such as laboratory results, imaging studies, etc. The EHR also helps improve patient care by providing correct data at the right time.

Laboratory Information System

An ERP for the healthcare industry also has a laboratory information management feature that is made for clinical and medical laboratories. It automates laboratory workflows such as sample tracking, test ordering, and results management. It increases the efficiency of laboratory operations, diminishes the risk of errors and increases the speed of test results.

Supply Chain Management System

Supply chain management is crucial to the modern healthcare industry. From delivering medicines and healthcare supplies to stock keeping, the SCM system within the ERP for healthcare management system caters to a hospital’s inventory, purchasing and supplier relationship management.

Future Trends and Innovations in ERP for Healthcare – Cloud-Based ERP Solutions

New-age technologies are steadily making their way into the healthcare industry. Robotic surgeries, once a dream, are now a reality. Similarly, AI, ML, predictive analytics, and natural language processing will become a part of the healthcare industry. Here are three future trends in the cloud-based ERP for healthcare services:

AI and Machine Learning

AI and machine learning can help find insights faster and more accurately from large datasets. It will also improve operational efficiency by examining data patterns. Ultimately, AI will connect fragmented data from various sources and formats to get a comprehensive picture of the patient’s health records.

IoT

One of the benefits of IoT in the healthcare industry is remote patient monitoring. It can keep patients connected to healthcare providers from anywhere after discharge from the hospital or leaving the doctor’s office. They have various uses in health care, such as continuous blood glucose monitoring, sleep apnea treatment, depression and mood monitoring, and heart rate monitoring. ERP software for healthcare Industry can collect patient data from these devices and improve patient care.

Predictive Analytics and Real-Time Insights

Predictive analytics in healthcare can provide advanced care and support to patients. Healthcare providers can leverage data from electronic health records (EHRs), medical devices, and other sources and use predictive analytics to anticipate potential health issues and improve patient outcomes. Modern ERPs display real-time patient data, which comes in handy to medical professionals when deciding on a treatment course.

Consider Silver Touch as Your Healthcare ERP Software Development Partner

The success of ERP for the healthcare industry depends on its implementation. Most ERP implementations fail due to technical partners with half-baked knowledge and skills. If you want your ERP implementation to be successful, you need to choose an ERP implementation vendor with sound technical knowledge and industry experience.

At Silver Touch Technologies, we have a pool of ERP experts adept in the healthcare industry. We offer 360-degree services, including selecting the ERP, data migration, ERP implementation, consultation, employee training and more. If you want to leverage the benefits of ERP software for healthcare, contact us today!

Conclusion About ERP for Healthcare Industry

Today the healthcare industry is a competitive space, and their actions will have a direct impact on the well-being of the patients. Using legacy systems can spell disaster for the business and its customers. Moving on to an intelligent cloud-based ERP of the healthcare industry grants medical organizations the power to meet patient demands, access real-time data, and ensure accurate, timely and error-free test results. Due to its advanced features and ability to offer top-notch patient care without breaking the bank, ERP solutions for healthcare have achieved widespread adoption and implementation.

FAQs on ERP Software for Healthcare Industry