What are the Different Types of Healthcare Software?

The healthcare sector is facing pressure to move to digital systems, both from regulatory authorities and from the general public. Government is pushing for digital systems so as to make the functioning of hospitals and other health care systems more transparent. The public is becoming more aware of their healthcare requirements and options and is demanding more efficient and accessible healthcare systems, and the healthcare providers are becoming more aware of this need. Many healthcare IT firms are trying to fulfill this need, and are providing a variety of software services. Let’s try to understand the different types of healthcare software used by various healthcare providers.

EHR

Electronic health records or EHRs are used for storing patient information in a digital manner. It is used by hospitals and clinics to store the complete medical history of a patient. Government health regulators in many countries are moving forward with plans to make electronic health records mandatory.

These records provide a secure and easily accessible way of storing medical records compared to paper-based records. Electronic records do not have the risk of loss of medical history or being illegible or destroyed over a long period of time. It also prevents duplication of medical records, since there is only one file which is modified over time.

Electronic health record software is used in both clinics and hospitals, and usually comes integrated with hospital management software and practice management software.

Practice management software ( PMS)

Practice management software or clinic management software are used for managing clinics. Depending on the requirement of the clinic, software with various combinations of features are available. Generally they contain appointment management, billing, and electronic health records. Software with integrated lab and pharmacy management features are also available if there are labs or pharmacies associated with the clinic. A practice management software helps to streamline the workflow of a clinic, get error-free documentation, manage appointments and billing and make the system more efficient.

Specialized systems are available for dental care, ophthalmology, and other specialty clinics, with customized prescription management and health records.

Queues in the clinic can also be managed by the system, either on the basis of tokens or on the basis of appointments

Hospital management system ( HMS )

Hospital management system has almost all the features described above, and more. They are a fully integrated system capable of managing the entire hospital. They are capable of managing appointments and electronic health records for both inpatient and outpatient departments. They are used for managing doctors’ schedules, surgeries, other procedures, and all the aspects related to them. They are also capable of handling the labs and pharmacies attached to the hospitals. The HMS systems can also manage the rooms, marking rooms as occupied, unoccupied, undergoing maintenance, etc, making it easy to allocate rooms and beds for patients.

Hospital management systems are often linked to the websites of the hospitals and patients can use it to book their appointments, get access to their health records and treatment plans, and manage their prescriptions. These days they also come with apps for patients which aids the patients in these same tasks much more easily through their smartphones. Alerts are provided through SMS services for follow up procedures, vaccinations, etc in some hospital management systems.

Due to the integrated nature of the HMS, all the procedures done in various departments of the hospitals, all the tests done, medicines administered and prescribed are tracked, thus allowing easy comprehensive billing.

Lab information management systems ( LIMS )

Lab information management systems, as the name implies, are used to manage the functions of a lab. It will have provisions for sample collection, inventory management, accounting functions, and provisions for machine interfacing with the lab equipment.

A good lab information system will provide full automation, and ensure error-free results, with alerts for abnormal results. With machine interfacing, data from the instruments in the lab are directly read by the software, and accurate records are made against the sample data. In case of LIMS systems integrated with the hospital management system, provisions may be there to add the test results to the patient records. Stand-alone systems are also available for use by independent laboratories.

Lab information management systems help lab technicians to achieve a smooth workflow and better quality control. From the point at which a sample is collected, till the results are delivered, samples are tracked using the software, which means that any technician in the lab can find out what to do with a sample at every step of the way, thus avoiding issues with sample management. The system also prevents errors, thus improving the credibility of the lab.

Billing software

Billing software has been used as part of hospitals and clinics ever since accounting went digital. Even before EHRs came, accounting software was being used in many hospitals.

Billing software helps to manage insurance claims and provides a smooth accounting of medical bills. Entire medical costs of all the patients can be easily accessed and organized in an efficient manner using billing software. Though they come along with hospital and practice management systems these days, they are still available as stand-alone systems.

To know more about different types of healthcare software, and to get demos for them, visit MocDoc

Benefits of an Online Appointment Management System in Healthcare Industry

Introduction:

The need for Healthcare Solutions services is growing with the increase in population and the number of patients who seek health care at hospitals, medical facilities, holistic groups, and physicians practice has improved significantly.

These bring a new set of challenges for the staff of the facility and administrators. Online scheduling software, a recent technological advancement, has made the booking process in hospitals easier for both patients and administrative staff.

What are the advantages of Online Scheduling System?

The online scheduling systems are also known in many names such as online booking application, online scheduler, online scheduling software, and more. It is one of the most commonly used web-based applications and enables individuals to securely and conveniently book their reservations and requests online via a laptop, tablet, smartphone, computer, and other web-connected devices.

Anyone can access the online appointment management system via the URL provided by the healthcare or medical facility or through a “Book Now” button in the website. Once the time and date are selected, the system confirms the bookings automatically and also records it within the system instantly without any intervention from the staff.

The online appointment management system also comes with features like automated text and email message reminders, which is sent to the booked patients or individuals on the date booked before their scheduled time of booking. The flexibility of the online appointment management system in healthcare includes

• Booking inoculations and vaccines in hospitals.

• Scheduling a patient’s treatment, services, and appointments.

Time-Saving:

The staff spends less time on managing appointments, and phone booking, and can, therefore, use their free time for more urgent and vital tasks. The patients can also save time as there is no need for calling the hospital and booking an appointment in the middle of their busy schedule.

For example, consider a large medical facility hospital which schedules 100 plus appointments daily. Every appointment call is handled by the support staff from the administration, and they spend approximately 3 to 4 minutes on a phone call.

In this case, if the healthcare facility switches to an online booking system it can save most of their time and also get more time to deal with other pressing tasks in the facility.

Monetary Savings:

The time savings made by the facility can translate automatically into monetary savings as a reduction in services and staff translates into a reduction in expenses. The appointment management system can reduce the need for extra human resources created by the process of appointment scheduling.

24 hours convenience:

An individual is needed to schedule an appointment over the phone calls during the office hours, and therefore people need to work round the clock on the phone booking. With online appointment management system, the individual or the patient can book an appointment any time. It is seen that after business hours there are more than 55 percent of all appointments booked through online scheduling appointment systems.

Online Payment:

Every service needs a secure payment system. As an online appointment management system is safe, and the data is kept secure, people find themselves comfortable with online payments. Offering a free consultation or discounts on consultation fees within the limited period after the initial consultation encourages the individual patients to make use of the online appointment management system every time to book the appointment.

Healthcare Solutions Providers are making use of the latest technology and keeping themselves updated to enhance quality. The online appointment scheduling system is considered to be a step forward to bring a healthcare facility to the future.

Making the workflow perfect, enhancing data reporting and capturing, improving efficiency and time savings, providing the patient with significant convenience and choice, thereby enhancing the patient loyalty and trust are some important benefits of an online appointment management system.

Centralized Information System:

Online systems make patient management easier and more efficient. Some online scheduling systems for appointments also have management of patient health records as part of the package. The organization can create a single point from which to save, update, manage and analyze patient information.

Recording, reporting and analyzing such information helps to efficiently manage the case file of a patient. All regularly recorded patient information, along with a history of check-ups and associated medical tests, can be used to make educated, carefully considered health care decisions. This can reduce the amount of documentation and the time it takes to access physical files.

It is also possible to avoid redundant data entries about the same patient. In addition, the ongoing records of the patient can be updated at each appointment, making patient information available for easy and fast access in one place. This is important when two different practitioners are consulted at the same facility by a patient.

For example, it may be more convenient for a patient consulting a dentist and an orthodontist at the same facility to have information stored at a single point, as the dentist would like to be informed about the ongoing orthodontic treatment of the patient in order to assess how best to handle the specific oral hygiene needs of the patient.

In the same facility under another doctor, a quick reference to the current orthodontic procedures that the patient undergoes is all it takes for the dentist to plan his procedure. It saves time and ensures complementary and coordinated overall services are provided. Such systems become a common interface to access information about a single patient by different medical staff. This can go a long way in strengthening the care process of a patient.

To know more about online appointment management system, visit MocDoc Healthcare Solutions

Top 5 Online Hospital Management Software in India

Hospital Management Software is a vital business tool, especially in the healthcare industry. Having a hospital that is automated with Hospital Management Software is now easy. In the midst of this technologically upgraded and model world, every hospital should make use of the machines and system to take care of every manual activity. The current technological world makes use of the people to monitor the devices and network, whereas the systems are busy helping the people in controlling various tasks.

Some of the benefits of Online Hospital Management Software includes Reduced Paperwork, simple access to reference records, effectual billing of different services, enhanced hospital administrations, no record duplications, minimized documentation, rapid information across various departments, optimized bed occupancy checks, critical stock information, improve cost control, and more.

In this blog, let's check out the best five Online Hospital Management Software that every hospital can use.

1. MocDoc:

MocDoc Hospital Management Software is the best solution which is completely integrated for any type of hospitals from small to multi-chain hospitals. The Hospital Management Software for OP includes Doctor Discovery, Check-In, Mobile apps, Prescription, Appointments, Billing, and more.

When considering the IP management role of Hospital Management Software, it deals with Visual Bed Management, Discharge Summary, Insurance Management, Ward Request, Integrated IP billing, and more.

The Pharmacy benefits included in the Hospital Management Software includes Stock Management, FSN Analysis, Purchase Management, Sale Bill, MIS, and more. While considering the Lab benefits in HMS, it handles Custom reports, Smart Notification, Order Management, Email Reports, Invoice generation, and more.

Apart from this, there are many features included in the MocDoc Hospital Management Software, namely Multi-location support, micro websites, attractive and easy to use dashboards, Role-based access, appointment widgets, and more. MocDoc HMS has more than 3100000+ patient records, can manage about 2600000+ reports, and 5500000+ prescriptions.

2. Insta:

Insta is known for monitoring and controlling the moving pieces of the hospitals without any hindrances. It also helps in improving hospital productivity by managing all your patients, departments, and staff with ease. The software enhances the experience of patients by making use of better systems for decision making.

Hospitals prefer Insta Hospital Management Software for effective operations, enhanced patient retention by 30%, for making better decisions, and more.

3. Attune:

The main benefits of choosing Attune Hospital Management Software is that they help in increasing revenue, simplified operations, optimize productivity, etc. The features of Attune HMS includes TPA billing, Insurance, Credit tracking, Patient referral, Radiology information system, in-patient management, Central sterile supply department tracking, MIS reports, Doctor Scheduling and appointments, E-Prescriptions, Integrations with PACS, Nursing care and ward management.

Other features include Creche Management, Patient registration, Doctor consultation, Pharmacy information system, Accident and emergency care, Operation Theater Management, In-patient diet, and kitchen tracking, IP, OP, Surgery and daycare billing, EMR and SOAP Notes, and more.

4. ITDose Infosystem:

HMS is one of the complete tools that controls every aspect of management, marketing, and administration of a hospital to enable them and the doctor software to act better. It helps with documentation as needed by internal laws, used as a convergent platform to integrate across various settings, prevents misuse of information, makes sure about the data security, offers integrity and transparency between multiple departments and makes sure about the smooth functioning of a complicated hospital environment.

The ITDose Infosystem Hospital Management Software holds important features like allocation of duties and staff management, bed allocation and managing ward, correct billing, and accounting, multiple user accessibilities for effective all-around performance, controls doctor system availability, scheduling, controlling laboratory equipment, inventory management with a timely warning system, appointment management, and lead management, and more.

5. Suvarna HIS:

The Hospital Management Software from Suvarna is developed for people who need value-based solutions at affordable rates. The HIS software from them has been designed after in-depth research and study into a different aspect of hospital functionality. The products are developed to support every feature needed by a hospital and are developed with exquisite architecture, which enables a high level of flexibility and scalability for the end-user.

The features of Hospital Management Software includes Hospital module, In-Patient Services, Laboratory information system, Billing, Inventory, Gastro-Enterology, Operation Theater, Nephrology, Food, and beverages, Out-patient services, Admission transfer and discharge, Blood bank, Online scheduling, Doctors Organizer, Bio-Medical, diabetes module, Nursing, and more.

Bottom Line:

Every hospital staff is capable and has expertise and caliber to perform all things effectively. However, too much dependence on the manual process will have a significant impact on productivity as well as a result of unavoidable errors. To keep your hospitals productive and competitive, you should start adapting to technologies like Hospital Management Software.

Hospital Management Software not only controls the treatment schedules, patient records, bills, and reports but also enables different departments like an employee and administration management. It's your responsibility to choose rightfully.