Health care providers rely on straightforward access to quality data to keep their operations running smoothly. Though health care entities might have extensive quantities of patient and employee data on various Excel, Word, PDF and other text files, employees can make mistakes. These problems range from simple data entry mistakes, to breakdowns in communication and poor documentation overall.

In the health care industry, mistakes are not merely a nuisance - they can directly threaten patients' safety and wellbeing. Inaccurate access to patient data can cause financial difficulties for both the provider and the patient, causing further problems over time. Health care organizations that frequently rely on manual-entry for their sensitive or vital data risk losing patients, market respectability and even licensure if the situation becomes far more dire.

 

 

Data automation software reduces health care provider operating costs.

 

What tool can help reduce operating costs for providers?
Data automation software is an advanced tool used for aggregating, organizing and synthesizing structured, semi-structured and unstructured data. Through automating various processes, employees are free to handle other relevant and critical work without being bogged down by mundane and time-consuming data entry tasks. Health care providers can cut further costs through moving certain employees to part-time status or reducing staff numbers over time as less employees are needed to handle data entry jobs.

"If you look at an average hospital's financial statement, 50-60 percent of their expenses are salaries and benefits," John Dragovits, chief financial officer of Dallas-based Parkland Health & Hospital System, explained. "By definition, health care is an inflationary model, but it's exacerbated by the fact that everyone wants to hire more people rather than think about how they can live with fewer people ...The challenge in this industry has always been getting people excited and intrigued and rewarded for looking at things innovatively and using technology to do things quicker and cheaper."

How can data automation software specially cut costs?
As said before, this software relieves health care providers of a labor burden through reducing the need for multiple employees to handle various manually intensive tasks. While providers don't necessarily have to cut jobs, they can benefit from moving qualified employees to other technical areas of their organization.

"Greater automation in a health care setting directly resulted in reduced operating costs."

In addition to cutting labor costs, data automation software reduces waste while boosting quality. Instead of spending ample resources on paper and spreadsheets, employees can access patient information from a central database without shuffling through inefficient filing cabinets. This software improves overall operational quality because it reduces the risk of error caused by employee burnout or carelessness.

While many workers are prone to fatigue or mistakes, a 2009 hospital study found that greater automation in a health care setting directly resulted in reduced operating costs and less complications relating to patient communications. Though this study was released years ago, its findings are still relevant to the health care industry today. As technology has improved, the potential cost-savings offered through data automation software are astounding. 

"In recent years, American health care has been criticized as fragmented, expensive, unsafe and unfair," the study's authors wrote. "Clinical or health information technologies, such as electronic medical records, computerized provider order entry systems and clinical decision support systems, have emerged as one antidote, promising reductions in waste, gains in communication, improvements in quality and new accountabilities through automated performance measurement."

Health care providers that want to reduce operating costs and improve efficiency should invest in SiMX's Visual Data Discovery software tools and solutions. Our software accurately handles a wide range of health care information, ensuring that organizations never have to risk error through manual data entry again. Contact us today to learn more about our products and services.