Managing costs in today's industry has been put front and
center. And although incentive funds have been helping organizations to
implement health IT, easy tweaks and innovative tips are always welcome to help
cut corners.
Industry experts give use five simple ways to help manage
the cost of health IT.
1. Think practically. According to Dave Williams, co-founder
and principal of healthcare consulting firm MedPharma Partners, consider
deploying overlay systems to extend the life of existing systems. An added
bonus? This will also help organizations realize extended value from these
systems. "Use the opportunity to prioritize the budget according to value
generated," he added. "Consider outsourcing more functionality."
Although there are ways for departments to prioritize according to need and
costs, Williams said a different approach could make all the difference.
"A nuanced approach with outside assistance is needed to generate
meaningful results," he said.
2. Look for creative solutions. Despite the risks and
perceived loss of control, it can be worth it to embrace the "bring your
own device" phenomenon, said Williams. "(This allows) doctors and
nurses to employ their own smart phones and tablets on the job and foster
development of institution-specific apps by users," he said. "Point
of care decision tools are relatively inexpensive but contribute greatly to
patient care and employee satisfaction." Lastly, Williams looked to basic
tools for a thrifty way to manage costs. "Leverage inexpensive cloud
services, such as Google Apps," he said.
3. Don't underestimate the cost savings associated with
training. It's essential to consider training and to not skimp on putting the
time in to educate staff on new products, said Williams. "…Consider the
need for training when making an investment decision," he said. "As
Apple has shown in the consumer and business world, systems that are more
intuitive require less end-user training and result in higher productivity and
user satisfaction." Training is particularly important, he continued, when
it comes to new IT and protecting PHI. According to Williams, technology to
protect personal health information "ranks pretty high, but management
processes and training are at least as important as the technology."
4. Think enterprise-directed IT. Lisa Suennan, managing
member at Psilos Group and author of the blog Venture Valkyrie, argues the most
cost-effective IT to invest in is enterprise-directed as opposed to
consumer-directed IT. "Most of the technology that's interesting and
cost-effective right now, although it may be different five years from now,
isn't consumer directed—it's much more enterprise directed," she
said. Although consumer-directed IT,
like those focused on wellness and mobile technologies, may be popular and
in-demand, it's important to think ahead and not give into fads. "While
they're [helpful] technologies, a vast majority of them aren't cost
efficient," she said.
5. Consider investments and their cost savings in the long
run. With a myriad of technologies popping up left and right, streamlining
investments is key. And it may come as no surprise that, like Williams, Suennan
maintains investments that protect against data breaches are some of the most
important to be considered. A report released by ID Experts and Ponemon Institute
found data breaches in U.S. healthcare organizations have cost providers more
than $6 billion a year—an incredible cost that can be diffused with the help of
training and smart investments. Some practical ways to protect against costly
breaches? Encryption, said Mahmood Sher-Jan, vice president of product
management at ID Experts. “An incident may not become a breach if it’s
encrypted properly.
Source: healthcarefinancenews
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