Health Technology, Digital Healthcare
Article | August 16, 2023
Introduction
Healthcare supply chains are highly regulated, high-margin domains with stringent quality criteria, such as the demand for cold-chain storage and shipping. In addition, due to a lack of adequate understanding of the complicated rules governing healthcare products and services, medical aid providers are encountering inefficiencies while outsourcing capabilities to logistics service providers (LSPs).
In today's value-based care paradigm, healthcare leaders are tasked with improving patient outcomes while decreasing costs. With surging globalization, the growing cross-border nature of several medical products, and rising complexities in healthcare logistics, the need for building a robust supply chain is rapidly increasing across the healthcare industry.
Key Ways to Enhance Healthcare Supply Chain
A resilient supply chain plays a vital role in managing supplies, procuring resources, and shipping medical goods, among others, which assists in improving patient outcomes, enhancing service efficiency, and declining costs. Healthcare organizations are aiming to strengthen their supply chain to enjoy these benefits such as increased reimbursement, improved quality control, reduced inventory and overhead costs, and better collaboration with suppliers.
Here are some of the key ways to assist medical aid providers in building a strong healthcare supply chain
Develop effective inventory management
Manufacturers frequently encounter difficulties with timely inventory movement through their supply chains. Revenue is lost, and profit margins are harmed when products expire because they are not used adequately. This is why it is crucial to effectively manage the inventory process.
Hence, healthcare executives should deploy a high-quality equipment management system and increase collaboration between organizations, suppliers, and manufacturers to assist them in controlling inventory levels and effective inventory management.
Use technology and analytics to make operations run smoother
When it comes to supply chain management automation, the healthcare sector continues to lag behind other sectors. This is true for both the enterprise resource planning (ERP) functions and data analytics use for making decisions about forecasting and product choice.
Healthcare executives should make use of efficient technologies, such as solid analytics, in order to successfully improve a supply chain. Implementing data analytics and automation tools can assist in making healthcare supply chain management more efficient and effortless.
Widen and strengthen the supplier base
One of the most effective ways to build a robust healthcare supply chain is by increasing the number of suppliers and enhancing supplier base management.
Manufacturers and purchasers should abandon using single-or limited-source supply chains for raw materials and finished goods. This will assist healthcare companies in expanding their network of raw material suppliers and helps in careful consideration of which suppliers to use for procuring which resources.
Improve order accuracy and order cycle times to lower costs
Healthcare providers sometimes encounter a large number of errors during the ordering process. When incorrect products are ordered, the facilities face losses in revenue and are sometimes unable to deliver specific services due to the unavailability of products they need. Errors in placing orders can also result in medication errors. This can lead to a decrease in patient outcomes and negatively impact the company’s revenue growth.
To reduce the frequency of errors, these providers should deploy a computerized provider entry system. This will help improve order accuracy, increase supply chain efficiencies, and shorten turnaround times in healthcare ordering processes.
Consistently track and calibrate performance
Regardless of the size of the healthcare facility, it is of great importance for medical aid providers to carefully track and calibrate their performance frequently or on a specified timeline. This enables clinically integrated supply chains in healthcare to use key performance indicators (KPIs) to compare outcomes in terms of cost and quality and make decisions about products.
What’s Next?
The rising integration of novel disruptive technologies such as data analytics, the internet of things, artificial intelligence, and blockchain into healthcare supply chain management software is facilitating smooth operations, transparency, growth, and security across the life-science industry.
With a growing need for enhancing supply chains, healthcare providers are focusing on deploying advanced supply chain management solutions, such as healthcare logistics software, to strengthen their supply chains. As the trend continues to grow, the sales of healthcare supply chain management software and services are anticipated to rise from the US$2.2 billion registered in 2020 to US$3.3 billion by 2025.
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Health Technology, AI
Article | July 18, 2023
Stay at the forefront of the digital healthcare revolution by mastering EHR analytics. Discover the top EHR certifications that provide comprehensive training and industry-recognized credentials.
As healthcare organizations increasingly embrace digital solutions, the demand for skilled professionals well-versed in EHR analytics continues to soar. Numerous certifications and courses have emerged to meet this demand, offering comprehensive training and industry-recognized credentials.
This article delves into the top EHR certifications and courses, exploring their unique features, advantages, and opportunities for professional growth and advancement.
1. Certified Electronic Health Records Specialist
By pursuing this course, participants will gain knowledge and practical skills in EHR, medical billing & coding, anatomy & physiology, medical terminology, medical law and ethics, and health insurance in the United States. This electronic health record specialist certification includes hands-on exercises using specialized software to create patient records, generate lab reports, and take notes & codes. Furthermore, it emphasizes the legal aspects of patient confidentiality and the responsible disclosure of medical records, ensuring a solid understanding of privacy regulations and ethical obligations within the healthcare industry.
2. Deep learning in Electronic Health Records - CDSS 2
The course provides a comprehensive overview of the fundamental principles of electronic health records (EHR) while also addressing the challenges of applying time-series classification methods to EHR data, such as missing values and variable heterogeneity. Professionals will learn various imputation techniques and encoding strategies to handle these challenges effectively. Upon completion of the course, University of Glasgow awards a certificate. Additionally, this electronic health records certification explores the role of clinical decision support systems (CDSS) in analyzing data to aid healthcare providers in making informed decisions and improving patient care.
3. Introduction to Electronic Health Records
The course aims to provide an introduction to the field of digital health, covering essential concepts and definitions in this emerging area. It encompasses various vital topics, including Learning Health Systems, EHR, and a wide range of digital health technologies such as mobile applications, wearable devices, health information systems, telehealth, telemedicine, ML, AI, and big data. The EHR analytics course evaluates these technologies by examining the opportunities and challenges they present and the evidence of their effectiveness in the context of digital health, both globally and within public health and healthcare domains. This electronic health record certification includes a case study on using digital health technologies to address various aspects of the global response to COVID-19.
4. Interprofessional Healthcare Informatics
This course is offered jointly by the University of Minnesota and its National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education. It provides a hands-on and interactive exploration of fundamental informatics tools and techniques, incorporating technology-enabled educational innovations to enhance the learning experience. The ten modules in the course will help participants create an online learning community and a functioning healthcare informatics network. The EHR analytics course covers multiple topics, such as emerging technologies, telehealth, gaming, simulations, and eScience. It aims to collectively imagine and shape the future of healthcare informatics within the rapidly evolving landscape. The course welcomes healthcare professionals and IT enthusiasts, encouraging a diverse and interdisciplinary approach to learning.
5. Certified Electronic Health Records Specialist
The Certified Electronic Health Records Specialist (CEHRS) course is a fully-online program designed to train individuals to become certified specialists in electronic health records. It equips participants with the necessary skills to navigate EHR systems and pass the CEHR certification exam. In this EHR certification program, professionals will learn essential tasks such as auditing patient records for compliance, extracting clinical information, coding for reimbursement claims, processing medical record requests, reviewing documents for accuracy, collecting patient data, and facilitating communication with healthcare professionals and insurance providers. The course focuses on hands-on experience with actual EHR software, provides an overview of EHR systems, emphasizes compliance with HIPAA regulations, explores various medical record components, and trains students to track vital patient information and report public health data effectively.
6. Electronic Healthcare Records Basics, Plain & Simple
This EHR analytics course emphasizes the critical role EHRs play in improving healthcare services. The course holds immense importance as it delves into topics such as the comparison between digital and paper patient records, definitions of EMR, EHR, and PHR, the necessity for a unified view of records, the critical components of EHR systems, perspectives from both patients and clinicians, technology-related challenges, the concept of meaningful use, and the impact of the 21st Century Cures Act in facilitating advancements in healthcare. By undertaking this course, participants will acquire comprehensive knowledge as well as an understanding of EHR systems and their potential for revolutionizing healthcare delivery.
7. Records and Health Information Management
This comprehensive EHR training certification program has been designed for professionals looking to advance their careers or seeking to stay up-to-date in the medical field and prepare for industry-standard certification exams. The course covers essential skills such as processing patient admission and discharge documents, accurately recording and maintaining information in the electronic medical record (EMR), understanding third-party reimbursement terminology and concepts, and utilizing computer hardware as well as software to enter and process data using medical record software. Learners can get an excellent opportunity to gain comprehensive insights into electronic health records and enhance career prospects in the healthcare industry.
Closing Lines
The EHR analytics certifications discussed in this article offer healthcare professionals invaluable opportunities for long-term success and growth in the evolving realm of healthcare informatics. By acquiring the necessary skills and knowledge through these programs, professionals can enhance their proficiency in managing and utilizing EHR systems, positioning themselves as highly sought-after assets within the healthcare industry.
The comprehensive EHR certification training provided by these certifications and courses not only equips individuals with the technical know-how but also grants them industry-recognized credentials that validate their expertise. This recognition opens doors to diverse career pathways, including positions in healthcare organizations, consulting firms, research institutions, and governmental agencies. Moreover, staying abreast of the latest developments in EHR systems through continuous education ensures professionals remain at the forefront of technological advancements, enabling them to adapt and thrive in a fast-paced digital healthcare landscape.
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Healthtech Security
Article | August 31, 2023
Rural, community, and independent hospitals are constantly facing mounting challenges in the form of staff shortages, accessibility to patient care and a multitude of cost concerns. Getting even one of these areas under control can help hospitals drastically boost their outcomes.
Here are three areas of IT investment that hospitals must control to go beyond staying functional and create an excellent patient experience.
Telehealth for Staff Shortage
Healthcare currently face massive staff shortage with a projected gap of up to 48,000 primary care physicians and up to 77,100 specialty physicians till 2034.
The effects of this shortage could be lessened by using virtual care, which would allow hospitals to care for patients through remote staffing.
Digitalizing Patient Care with Asynchronous Telehealth
Async telehealth of patients sending photos and videos to fast-track diagnosis. Async telehealth makes it easier for doctors to connect with more patients. This shortens the time it takes to see specialists and get important care services.
Remote Patient Monitoring
According to a CDC report, 90% of all healthcare spending goes into treating chronic conditions. Considering that U.S. nonmetropolitan areas have a high number of patients diagnosed with chronic conditions, accessibility is one of the contributing factors.
Remote patient monitoring enhances patient care for people with chronic conditions. Wearable medical devices are already driving the move towards remote patient monitoring. Whether it’s through wearable weight scales, heart monitors, blood pressure bands, or pulse oximeters, clinicians can generate regular updates about a patient’s health readings and ensure a timely response in order to avert complications.
Conclusion
There is much to be achieved on the healthcare front when it comes to digitalizing care. The above technologies are enabling healthcare providers take delivery of medical care further than ever and ensure they generate more traction from their IT investments in these areas of medtech.
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Future of Healthcare
Article | January 10, 2022
It is no doubt that the disappointment of a failed launch or campaign is one that is costly, especially in the healthcare industry. However, becoming acquainted with the possible flaws in your marketing strategy is the first way to remedy the situation and achieve your business goals.
With the new rise of post-pandemic integration of businesses into online systems, consumers have become more selective than ever when it comes to the brands they are willing to buy from and support. Healthcare businesses are re-orienting into greater awareness about their online presence and visibility.
No Marketing Strategy
The first mistake one could make is having no marketing strategy to begin with. Some healthcare businesses think that they can DIY their online content marketing strategy. I’m here to tell you that could not be farther from the truth. Putting strategy on the back burner is the equivalent of flushing money down the drain.
Having a custom marketing strategy that takes your readers through a journey on your website ending in your desired conversion is essential for success online. The same content strategy is one that needs to be implemented effectively across all your social media platforms, and used to hit your target audience at multiple touch points.
No Target Consumer
Generalising information and attempting to create content for everyone is the second most common mistake. A lack of targeted action is bound to decrease the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns. One of the most essential parts of establishing a content strategy that increases your revenue, is specifying your target group. For a brand that sells health enhancing supplements, this could be 50-70 year old African American men and women who want to live longer and healthier.
The next step after identifying your target consumer, is to create an avatar profile that includes all details about your customer’s age, gender, marital status, income, residence, their daily struggles and needs and many more. Personalising the service and products you provide, and tailoring them in this way is going to get you more engagement and clicks, which will convert into red hot leads.
Inconsistent Branding
The third most common marketing mistake you may be making is lack of consistency with branding. This one is important because your reputation as a health business is vital to your success in the industry. Logos are meant to have stories behind them that constitute the mission that brought about the creation of your brand.
But it’s not just logos, every piece of content on your website needs to be created with your strategic business objectives and aims in mind. You need to question if your brand promise aligns fully with your values and the level of service you are providing to your consumer. How is your brand contributing to their lives in unique ways? Is your brand easily recognisable to your target consumers?
Ignoring Credibility
It comes as a surprise that most health brands often neglect this strong aspect of marketing their business. If your services are not fully supported with a backbone of credible subject matter experts who are well known in their communities, your brand will not be recognised as an authority in your field, adding to the growing mistrust that consumers already feel.
One way you can improve this is to reach out to the influencers your target consumer already follows and knows, and involve them as part of your outreach. This will increase brand awareness and lead to more sales and more trust.
Another factor to never underestimate, is the power of positive reviews. Consumers trust each other more than they trust you, so enabling them to have conversations involving your service or products, including the ability to give a rating, is the optimum for increasing engagement, building trust and brand loyalty.
Lack of Healthcare Specific Approach
This is where you can assess your website to see if the content there is appealing to your patients or customers. Is it accessible and simple to understand for the average person, or is it full of medical jargon and complicated, dense information?
Many businesses forget that the core purpose of the healthcare industry as a whole, is still ‘care’. So are you caring and catering to your consumers by providing not just any information, but the information that they are specifically looking for? Are you answering their questions and tending to their concerns in a way that they understand and comprehend? Are you enabling them and empowering them to make informed decisions about their health?
These are all aspects that help build a long-lasting relationship with your customer in which they consistently turn to your services and products, because you have made your marketing strategy centered around them. You have made it easy for them to get the help they need.
By regularly providing content that is useful and full of value, search engines will begin to automatically direct more traffic to your website.
Lack of Relevant Metrics
Regularly assessing and improving on the efficiency of your marketing initiatives, is what will propel your business into new heights.
In the words of H. James Harrington, “measurement is the first step that leads to control and eventually to improvement”. You need to identify the metrics that directly correlate with your business objectives, and start actively examining them against your marketing campaign aims.
This will enable you to identify what messaging works on your consumers, leading to better outcomes for your campaigns.
The Bottom Line
Tweaking just one detail in your marketing strategy could be the key to multiplied revenue for your business. This is why it is important to work with experts in order to make sure you are aligned with your highest potential, enabling you to invest your time into the other aspects of your business that need it.If you would like to continue the conversation about how health content marketing could help your brand, feel free to reach out to me.
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