From a business and operations standpoint, ROI is one of the most important metrics for healthcare organizations. Virtually every department is tasked with improving the facility’s ROI, whether it be by improving efficiency/productivity or controlling costs. In this article, we’ll take a look at five tips for maximizing healthcare ROI:
- Integrate effectively and seamlessly
- Boost productivity and efficiency
- Utilize real-time information
- Ensure accuracy & accountability
- Improve communication & collaboration
Integrate Effectively and Seamlessly
Healthcare providers are inundated with countless systems and solutions. A recent survey found that 60% of health systems use over 50 software solutions in operations alone. Many of these different systems are siloed, leading to cumbersome, inefficient processes. Disparate systems cost healthcare workers time, delay patient care, and lead to lower ROI.
Integrating data and systems is key to reducing workloads, giving employees more time to focus on more important tasks, such as increasing patient throughput. A modern care navigation hub that centralizes both patient and facility data helps providers see the full picture and act faster and more effectively. When data from multiple sources is easily accessible and shareable, healthcare is much more effective.
Integration itself can be a time-consuming process, so it’s important to work with software vendors who have a proven track record of quick integration and implementation. A commitment to customer service is also paramount when choosing a software vendor.
Check out this list of five healthcare integration challenges to help your integration initiatives run smoother.
Boost Productivity and Efficiency
A great way to maximize ROI is to boost productivity and efficiency. It goes without saying that when processes are more efficient and employees are more productive, more revenue can be collected as more patients can be seen. As discussed in the previous section, integrating disparate systems and data into a single care navigation hub is one way to improve efficiency and boost productivity. Others include:
- Utilizing AI and robotic process automation (RPA) to automate routine tasks
- Incorporating SMS-based patient engagement such as appointment reminders and procedure instructions via text
- Outsourcing time-consuming tasks such as prior authorization
- Improving the ambulatory order process with order validation and transparency and clinical decision support
More efficient processes can also have a positive impact on the patient experience, which can lead to higher patient satisfaction and loyalty. This can improve a provider’s reputation, leading to more referrals and more revenue, boosting ROI even further. It’s no wonder that tech that boosts productivity is in high demand according to a recent report by Klas Research and Bain & Company.
Utilize Real-Time Information
A common theme so far in our tips for maximizing healthcare ROI is improving speed and efficiency. Utilizing real-time information is another way to accomplish this. Real-time analytics throughout the organization can help improve ROI and lower costs. Examples include:
- Dashboards displaying bed capacity, upcoming appointments, order status, and employee schedules allow for most cost-efficient staffing practices.
- Reports showing readmission rates, reasons for readmission, claim denials and more can help minimize readmissions and claim denials and maximize reimbursements.
- Patient monitoring devices enable caregivers to act quickly and plan accordingly, improving the patient experience and quality of care, further boosting the provider’s reputation.
Real-time information can help improve many areas of healthcare, from patient experience to the revenue cycle, making it an ideal initiative on which to focus.
Ensure Accuracy & Accountability
Ensuring accuracy and accountability should be a priority for any healthcare provider. In addition to being paramount for patient safety, ensuring accuracy and accountability can help reduce costs and improve healthcare ROI in a number of ways:
- Reduced errors result in fewer no-shows, back-and-forth calls to clarify information, and claim denials
- Accurate planning and scheduling results in more efficient staffing and patient throughput
- Questions regarding orders, patient information, or medication can be answered more quickly with proper accountability
- Automated and digitized data collection eliminates the need for duplicate entry, freeing up staff to focus on more ROI-effective tasks
Tools for ensuring accuracy and accountability include:
- Medical order software featuring order validation and complete transparency
- Clinical decision support mechanisms, or qCDSMs
- Speech recognition and transcription software
If you’re looking to improve your organization’s accuracy and accountability, be sure to ask software vendors how their solutions address these initiatives.
Improve Communication & Collaboration
The final tip for maximizing healthcare ROI is to improve communication and collaboration. Fortunately, this initiative is reinforced by some of the others we’ve discussed, particularly integrating seamlessly and effectively and utilizing real-time information. Both of these initiatives improve communication and collaboration among staff and between staff and patients. This in turn helps achieve the other two tips we’ve discussed: boosting productivity and efficiency and ensuring accuracy and accountability. All together, following these five tips can help maximize your ROI, improve the quality of care patients receive, and even reduce burnout.
Read one of our most popular blogs to find out what your communication and collaboration platform may be missing.
Empowering Your ROI Initiatives
Improving ROI is a top initiative for many healthcare providers. Following these five tips can help maximize healthcare ROI:
- Integrate effectively and seamlessly
- Boost productivity and efficiency
- Utilize real-time information
- Ensure accuracy and accountability
- Improve communication and collaboration
A recent report found that 95% of healthcare providers expect to invest in new software in 2023. If you’re part of that group, it’s important to focus on software that helps maximize ROI. At iPro Healthcare, we can help empower your ROI initiatives with our innovative software and world-class support. Our award-winning medical order system, iOrder, can boost your ROI by:
- Generating an electronic medical order with complete transparency
- Integrating seamlessly with EMR’s
- Ensuring order accuracy and reducing claim denials through order validation, prior authorization assurance, and an integrated clinical decision support mechanism (qCDSM)
- Displaying real-time data across various dashboards
- Boosting patient engagement and improving communication via SMS appointment reminders, procedure preparation instructions and videos, and navigation assistance
A recent survey by digital health investment firm GSR Ventures found that the number 1 focus for digital health investors is companies that provide their customers with a very high ROI. Their number 2 focus is high evidence of clinical validation. iOrder fulfills both of these needs. Watch this Healthcare IT News interview with Dr. Sunny Kumar of GSR Ventures to learn more about why these attributes are so important.
If you’d like to learn more about how iOrder can help maximize your ROI, schedule a free live demo today.
