Digitalization in healthcare can streamline busywork and provide better outcomes for patients and providers
If your healthcare practice is still operating in a fully analog office, you may be missing out on huge benefits for both your patients and your staff. Digitalization in healthcare has transformed the industry over the past 50 years. The results are easy to observe. With a digital workflow, you can expect easier patient onboarding, better record-keeping, and more efficient collaboration.
While digitalizing an analog office requires some time and effort, it's not too difficult to get the process started. All you need are the right tools, the right terminology, and the right mindset. Thanks to digitalization, medical practices can help their patients achieve even better outcomes.
To learn more about how digitalization is changing how we work, read the guide Digitalization in Business: An Executive's Guide.
What is digitalization in healthcare?
The digitalization of healthcare began back in 1972. That year saw the launch of the first electronic medical record. Since then, medical practices have adopted digital technology in a big way. From email, to digital images, to check-in apps, digitalization is ubiquitous in healthcare.
However, it's important to note the difference between digitization and digitalization. "Digitization" means converting physical documents into digital formats. "Digitalization" means adapting your company's whole workflow to a digital format. In other words, scanning old medical records and saving them on a hard drive is an example of digitization. Creating a system where patients provide all their own information by completing an online form is an example of digitalization.
Did You Know?:The fi-8170 can scan up to 70 pages per minute and 10,000 pages per day. Click here to learn more.
Benefits of digitalization for patients
Any good medical practice should aim for optimal patient outcomes. Digitalization in healthcare can help patients save time, both in and out of the office.
Digitalization can streamline patient onboarding. In an analog office, a patient must fill out paper forms with their contact information and medical history. They must do this by hand, possibly illegibly, while wasting valuable time in a waiting room. In a digital office, a patient can fill out their own information on a computer or tablet. They can even do this at home, before an appointment.
Prescriptions are another area where digitalization can make life easier. In decades past, a healthcare provider would have to write out a prescription on paper. A patient would then take it to a pharmacy. During this process, the paper could get lost. A pharmacist might have trouble deciphering a provider's handwriting. Or, the patient could arrive at the pharmacy, only to discover that the drug was out of stock.
By submitting prescriptions via automated online systems, a healthcare provider can ensure a patient gets the medicine they need, when they need it most.
Benefits of digitalization for providers
With online forms, patients can essentially onboard themselves. This leaves office workers free to focus on more complex tasks. It also reduces the chances of transcription errors, or redundant information. A digital database can automatically scan for duplicate records and delete or merge any copies.
Healthcare providers can also review digital forms more efficiently than physical ones. Consider a doctor asking to see a physical record. A worker must retrieve the file and walk away from their desk to bring it to the doctor. While the doctor reads the file, no one else can access it. The doctor could damage or lose it.
Compare and contrast with a digital record. Any authorized worker can access it at any time. It can't be accidentally harmed or destroyed. Everyone saves time, and the record remains pristine. These records are also much easier to share outside the office, in case a patient needs a second opinion or a specialist appointment.
Keeping digital records can be good for your practice's bottom line, too. The Swedish Medical Center in Washington state demonstrated this firsthand. This healthcare provider now keeps its billing and insurance information in digital formats for easy retrieval. The company claims that its paperless system is cost-effective, intuitive, and better for the environment.
The future of healthcare digitalization
In terms of digitalization, healthcare workers should keep an eye on AI technology. According to the American Hospital Association, AI is already present in diagnostic imaging. At present, computer algorithms can find irregularities in lung and breast tissue. By 2028, the AHA expects AI to assist with clinical decision tools and patient safety as well.
Granted, AI is still in its infancy. There's no guarantee that the technology will become indispensable in medicine. But if it does, then it will need plenty of digital data to work with. Digitalizing your healthcare practice now means that it could take advantage of AI advancements in the future.
Did You Know?:Healthcare IT Today praised the RICOH fi-8170 in its review, calling it "a workhorse [that] solved our scanning challenges."
Our recommendation: RICOH fi-8170
Those who want to reap the benefits of digitalization in healthcare have no shortage of options. We take great pride in having spent the last 50+ years researching, designing, and developing some of the most advanced and powerful electronics in the world, including our professional grade fi and SP series of scanners.
Built to purpose for the most demanding document handling jobs, fi and SP scanners are capable of processing tens of thousands of pages per day at the highest levels of accuracy. Their intuitive integration capabilities with existing work suites minimize time-to-value for businesses looking to invest in tools that could pay dividends for years to come.
The RICOH fi-8170 is an ideal choice for healthcare professionals. Recognized by the 2023 Future of Work Product of the Year Awards as an “innovative and disruptive product” that has “positively supported hybrid work experiences across the globe,” this device can scan up to 70 double-sided documents per minute. Its proprietary Clear Image Capture (CIC) technology ensures crisp images and readable text. At 11.8 x 6.7 x 6.4 inches, it should fit easily onto even the most crowded office desks. Click here to learn more or shop the rest of our production scanner line.
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