Tech Revolutionizing Hospital Management

Hospital management has been reshaped through technology. Today, systems interconnect different areas of the hospital, from administrative paperwork to supply inventory. One of the main advantages of Hospital Management Systems (HMS) is their role in reducing time and money spending. However, further integration is needed for these systems to be successful, say MBN interviewees.

Aidicare CEO Juan Caceres highlights some of the benefits of HMS following his work with Médica Sur. First, they provide an administrative advantage. “With Aidicare, we have been able to reduce by 38 percent the need to admit a patient to an ICU.” According to Caceres, for small hospitals, this is a game changer. Digitalized processes also allow a standardization of information to allow the clear and smooth tracing of the patient’s status. “Aidicare also offers tracking of supplies and devices. This tool is incredibly helpful for hospitals because they can plan their inventory and costs and avoid material and monetary loses,” said Caceres.

Insurers can also benefit from a smart hospital. “At Medica Sur, which is now tending to COVID-19 patients, Aidicare created an option to offer insurers a real-time follow-up on one of their clients who is a confirmed case of COVID-19. This saves time and costs for both the hospital and the insurer,” adds Caceres. Medically, the staff is able to monitor the real-time status of the patient. The correct follow-up and treatment can help to prevent further common physiological reactions that may appear after medical interventions.

Companies like Ecaresoft are also offering HMS value to hospitals. Ecaresoft’s innovative solutions, such as Cirrus, are able to link the patient’s clinical and administrative information during their hospital stay. “It helps to manage patient admission, medical records, patient notes and process and prescriptions and at the same time, it also involves inventory management, purchases, accounts receivable and stocks,” said Jorge Camargo, Co-CEO of the company, during an interview with MBN.

Camargo explains that HMS is something easy to escalate to the public sector to work toward an interconnected health system. From his work with Ecaresoft, he has noticed that public hospitals are more focused on cost control and the present care of the patient, whereas private hospitals prioritize revenue, financial results from specific care models and following up with the patient. According to Camargo, the public sector needs to keep in mind how much each patient costs to then ask for an appropriate budget, unlike the private sector that needs to determine which areas of investment will provide the greater profit and why.

“Despite these differences, both sectors are trying to run their facilities more efficiently.” According to Camargo, the key is to bet on improving productivity to get better results. “Clinical outcomes are indeed hard to predict, so by saving money in other areas and improving productivity, the hospital will be able to reach more patients. This provides greater opportunities to generate more profit,” he said. For the public sector, this means focusing on productivity to make budgets last longer and reach more patients.

The sustainability of this model will allow, in the future, for HMS to interconnect and allow the patient to attend to different institutions with the right follow-up. This interconnected system sets the base for healthcare systems like Value-Based Healthcare, which calls for a unified IT system among the several health entities of a country, regardless of their classification.