Technology the key to health care improvement

While one may think that the quality of physician training and practice may be what drives health care improvement, often times it's the smaller factors that make the biggest differences. From advanced imaging technologies to the administrative systems they use, hospitals and private practices need to ensure they are optimizing workflow around the tools they use, not just the patients they see.

One technology that can play a critical role in patient care has nothing to do with medical practice itself, but the records that doctors keep. Investing in document conversion services and paperless strategies can cut costs for health care facilities and expedite care by speeding up the transfer of test results and generally promoting more face-time with patients, as doctors will be able to spend less time filling out and search for paperwork.

According to The Information Daily, The UK's health care system has been focusing on a paperless initiative recently, with positive results already showing regarding patient care. However, broadscale adoption has been met with some resistance and struggle.

Mark Austin, assistant director of Clinical Information and Business Intelligence at Bedford Hospital NHS Trust, noted that "it's also important to remember that more established consultants can struggle with records going paperless. A phased approach to the digitalization of patient information can help to bolster support for a paperless approach."

For health care facilities across the globe, the trick to optimize paperless initiatives is to start with a steady foundation on document management software. The right tools will align workflows and ensure that data is accessible and available as needed. Going above and beyond basic elimination of paperwork and delving into how information is accessed and used in the medical setting will ensure successful adoption across the board.

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