How Technology Trends in Healthcare Will Improve Workflow

Organizational decision-makers continue to make remarkable progress in leveraging technology to improve operations as well as patient treatment outcomes.

Long wait times are a well-known aspect of visiting emergency rooms in the United States. However, a growing number of institutions are leveraging technology to make ER visits more efficient.

Many nurses – tasked with a deluge of emergency room responsibilities – would appreciate access to information that enables them to provide better care. Fortunately, the data generated by patient interactions can enable nursing professionals to do just that.

Developing Better Interventions

Healthcare big data systems have helped service providers make phenomenal advances in precision medicine and clinical research. Fields such as cardiology, neurology, oncology and other specialties have witnessed rapid progress in developing personalized interventions and more accurate diagnostic capabilities.

Furthermore, the increasing proliferation of collaborative clinical decision-making tools makes it easier for physicians to treat potentially deadly conditions. For instance, the latest in genomic sequencing research has helped oncologists make remarkable strides in treating cancer patients.

Meanwhile, data enables researchers to develop pharmaceutical interventions faster. It also enables care providers to analyze a wealth of socioeconomic and lifestyle variables to treat complex or rare illnesses.

Today, specialists are tapping into new sources of information to conduct clinical trials more efficiently. Furthermore, researchers can use data analysis to better identify subjects for clinical trials.

As an example, the Million Veterans Program – in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health, Kaiser Permanente and Geisinger Health System – enables researchers to discover the genetic roots of illnesses by analyzing massive bio databanks. This ability reduces the cost and length of clinical research.

Real-Time Data Offers Real Solutions

The value-based care delivery model is driving service providers’ focus in improving the patient experience.  Resultantly, some service providers leverage real-time locating system (RTLS) technology to deliver patient-centric ambulatory care.

Patient-centered resources such as RTLS technology enable healthcare networks to place increased emphasis on the consumer experience as well as organizational efficiency. By doing so, healthcare organizations create a more satisfying experience for patients, while at the same time streamlining operations. RTLS also enables care providers to look at equipment and spaces as part of a facility ecosystem, helping them to monitor and improve the patient experience as well as staff member productivity.

Real-time locating system technology is not new. Care provider organizations have been leveraging RTLS technology for the past decade. However, the relatively recent emergence of big data systems has enabled care providers to use the wealth of information generated by RTLS to create a more patient-centric treatment environment.

Now, healthcare organizations can use RTLS to capture highly accurate workflow data. The systems enable care providers to analyze real-time information, such as patient and staff location, wait time, staff activities and other granular details. With this ability, organizational decision-makers can acquire a more accurate understanding of the real-time status of facility workflows.

Making Use of Big Data to Increase Efficiency

Big data systems are a part of nearly everyone’s life, especially in familiar constructs such as retail establishments and social media. Although consumers don’t realize it, they’ve come to expect the personalization made possible by big data technology. Whether in the store or online, people now demand personalized attention to their needs.

The healthcare vertical has lagged behind other industries in meeting the personalization demands of consumers. However, the field is quickly making progress in matching other verticals in leveraging big data technology to address consumer needs.

The value-based reimbursement model mandated by the Affordable Care Act also drives the new patient-centric environment in healthcare. Now, more organizations make data-informed decisions rather than using experience and intuition, according to healthcare experts.

The transition toward using data to make decisions couldn’t have come at a better time. Today, nearly all consumers generate a wealth of information that can inform the decision-making of care providers.

Now, physicians can develop treatment plans and perform interventions based on a patient’s healthcare data, rather than relying on one-size-fits-all statistical averages and generally accepted best practices. As more consumers embrace the idea of using wearables that share crucial medical information with service providers, the wealth of information that’s available to healthcare organizations will only grow larger, improving decision-making capabilities.

Big data analysis enables care provider organizations to improve the patient experience and better manage resources. Furthermore, technology enables decision-makers to pinpoint and resolve barriers to treatment, while at the same time leveraging metrics to ensure continuous quality of service.

Today, the patient experience is more important than ever before. Moving forward, a growing number of healthcare tools, such as real-time locating systems, will continue to feed service providers with an abundance of information that enables them to improve the well-being of the public.