The use of IT solutions is a great ally when it comes to managing public health efficiently. It means the implementation of a complete health management system aimed at the public sector enables the automation of processes, organization of the flow of care, and, of course, humanized assistance to the patient.
Public health managers face some challenges in their daily lives, such as, for example, overcrowding of care units; difficulty in organizing the management of beds, medicines, and supplies; among others. However, the good news is that these barriers can be overcome with the implementation of a complete and integrated health management system.
In today’s article, you will see 5 tips to avoid mistakes in the adoption of technology in the health management of your municipality.
How to make an efficient health management system
Having an efficient health information management system is essential to obtain satisfactory results in the management of the institution and, thus, promoting humanization in patient care and consequent improvement in the user experience.
Therefore, we have separated some tips for you to avoid mistakes when deploying an IT solution.
Raise the health unit’s problems
The first step in which the manager must be attentive refers to the survey of the real needs of the institution. Only with the main points that are deficient at hand will it be possible to analyze what will be the solution to be implemented that best meets the demands of the health unit. It is common to first think about the technological solution, only to then adapt it to reality. However, there is a big mistake, because without knowing the real problems faced daily, it is more difficult to find an adequate solution.
The tip here is to survey the health institution’s problems and needs to consider the most appropriate IT solution.
Know the local IT infrastructure
Another point that deserves attention is related to the information technology (IT) infrastructure of the service unit. Is there computerization in the institution? Is Electronic Health Record available? How is the workflow organized? Is the internet connection stable? Are the computers in good condition? These are some questions that must be evaluated by managers while considering the implementation of a health management system.
Carry out a planning
Planning goes hand in hand with the steps we mentioned earlier. With the knowledge about the needs and infrastructure that the institution has, the process of evaluating and deciding the next steps that will be taken can be better planned, avoiding waste of financial resources and time. Bringing together the team of collaborators, carrying out strategic planning, analysis of hospital indicators and SWOT analysis allows the bottlenecks that can be optimized by technology to be identified.
After the identification of the main points and indicators, the need to assess is the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) comes into play, that is, what is the minimum that the solution can bring benefits when implemented?
Manage resources, supplies, and medicines
Efficient management also concerns the management of resources, inputs, and medicines, to avoid waste and unnecessary procurement bidding processes. Not having tools for managing and automating processes reflects an unsafe scenario since errors and waste can happen more often. Medicines lose their validity and become unusable; equipment, devices, and beds can be damaged for some reason. With the daily rush, managers may find it difficult to control and manage these items.
Therefore, having a complete health management system that has a pharmacy management module is essential for efficient management. With the tool, there is the registration of inflows and outflows of resources and medicines, in real-time, and, thus, greater control with reduction of losses and waste.
Integrate the sectors of the institution
Keeping the sectors of the institution integrated and harmonious is another challenge that managers face. Each sector of the health unit must indeed be clearly defined together with the activities developed by each one. However, there must be integration between all sectors so that productivity is improved and patient safety regarding the services provided is increased. Teams must be aligned and engaged. For this to happen in the best way, it is interesting that the information is democratized in the organization, in addition to the dissemination of the mission, vision, and values, so that everyone is in accordance with the organizational culture.
With the improvement of the IT infrastructure, communication is facilitated, the processes are integrated and the teams work in a more harmonious and aligned manner.