We live in a world where every aspect of our life is fueled by technology, and the healthcare industry is no exception. Technological innovations have transformed the way patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers interact.
Case-in-point: You can now chat with a nurse at 2 a.m. when your elderly parent is struggling with side effects from their medication or you can receive a text alerting you that your application for financial assistance with your therapy regimen is approved.
With recent changes in the healthcare landscape and regulatory environment, tech providers are forced to become more agile and progressive, developing forward-thinking solutions that are easily adapted to a constantly changing world.
A Move to the Cloud
Though security concerns initially had the healthcare industry as a whole resistant to moving to the cloud, organizations are now embracing the new frontier for storing its precious data thanks to advances in security and privacy measures.
Cloud-based technologies require minimal infrastructure and resources to manage data systems. Thus they are far more cost-effective for storing data than traditional technologies. They also allow you to be much more flexible and scalable, seamlessly adapting to every industry and organizational change as it happens.
As cloud services evolve over time, healthcare organizations will be left with a big decision: adapt or fall behind, as competitors gain speed to market with more nimble infrastructure and greater focus on their marketing investments than on technology.
Multi-Channel Solutions
Gone are the days of technologies that capture data from only one source.
Now, providers must have the ability to capture interactions from any and all current and future communication channels. Today’s healthcare IT solutions must be able to deliver two-way communications through all channels, traditional and non-traditional, as well as provide complex care coordination services, patient education support, reimbursement services, locator services, and proactive medication or appointment reminders, among others.
What’s Next?
While it’s hard to predict what the next big change in healthcare will be, it’s certain that healthcare IT providers must continue to be innovative in order to offer comprehensive solutions with complex capabilities. Remaining flexible and proactive will be the key to ensuring seamless adaptation to industry, organizational and regulatory changes.
It’s also certain that choosing the right partner to deliver the cutting-edge technologies, which are so critical in providing healthcare solutions, becomes an even more important decision for industry leaders. In my next post, I’ll provide advice on doing just that.
