The use of technology is revolutionizing healthcare organizations. Not all may realize its importance now, but there has been accelerated development and evidence about the impact of healthcare information technology on patient care and the healthcare industry.

It’s no surprise that more and more healthcare centers are adopting the latest technology and taking steps to transform how they operate.

However, there are many categories of health IT systems, and most of them share similar capabilities. So how do you differentiate them and decide which is best suited for your business?

Health IT can provide a seamless experience for all patients and practitioners. To help you, we will discuss the eight healthcare information systems types. But before that, let’s first understand the underlying meaning of healthcare information technology.

What is Health Information Technology?

Health information technology, or HIT, refers to a system designed to store, share, and analyze the data collected in any healthcare facility. It could be private and public clinics, hospitals, and doctor’s private chambers. It also contains, organizes, and manages patients’ electronic medical records.

The use of healthcare software can help improve the quality of patient treatment. Different types of health information systems take care of administerial aspects and patients’ medical data, amongst many other things.

A hospital management system has a lot of benefits to offer by increasing the effectiveness of a healthcare institute. For instance, it ensures the accuracy of data collected and thus reduces any chance of medical error.

Not only that, but it saves time and effort, which is spent daily on managerial tasks by streamlining operations. Thus, organizations can focus more on patient treatment and follow-up. Other than that, you get faster prescriptions and reduce paperwork as well.

These were just a few examples of how healthcare information systems transform the patient care industry. Depending on your organization’s model and specific needs, you can choose the type of information technology in healthcare systems.

Let’s discuss them in detail.

Different Types of Healthcare Information Systems

1. Medical Practice Management System

   The medical practice management system forms an integral part of the healthcare system. It takes care of different administrative and clinical aspects of your practice.

   It is geared towards a facility’s clerical work, such as managing various documents, scheduling appointments, etc. Information systems in healthcare automates and streamlines multiple activities, which makes it easy to run the facility smoothly.

   Medical practice management software generally doesn’t include patients’ medical data. However, it does take care of insurance claims. It automatically processes claims, handles billing and payments, and generates reports.

   Regardless of the size, all health care providers — from a single doctor practitioner to a large hospital — can use medical management software.

   To list out some of its benefits:

   • Automating routine clerical tasks allows you to concentrate more on the quality of patient care.
   • It gives you easy access to healthcare data. You can view all the documents online.

   One example of practice management software is eClinicalWorks.

2. Electronic Health Record Systems (EHR)

   Electronic health record systems are another type of hospital management system concerned with the patient’s medical information.

   Earlier, doctors or nurses had to document every medical detail of their patients on paper. But now, they can fill out all the information on the EHR system.

   The best part is that electronic medical record systems can be accessed instantly using a mobile or computer. It also enables doctors to easily share data across different departments, allowing them to provide quick and accurate treatment.

   It deals with electronic health information, which generally contains information on patients’ medical history, allergies, laboratory charges, and more.

   Some of the benefits of implementing EHR include the following:

   • Electronic health records and information technology increase efficiency by eliminating paperwork and giving immediate patient data access.
   • An electronic medical record system improves the quality of patient health care as the same information is shared across all departments, avoiding any medical errors.

   Some types of electronic health records are CureMD, Care360, etc.

3. E-Prescribing Software

   E-prescribing software is beneficial as it enables doctors to generate prescriptions electronically.

   It allows them to directly send prescriptions to the pharmacy in just a few clicks, and when the patient gets there, the store is already ready with their supplements.

   In addition, the system eliminates the need to create handwritten notes, which are generally hard to decipher, and instead generates a legible prescription.

   Plus, there is no prescription mix-up — the pharmacist ensures patient safety by giving them the correct one. It also eliminates the chances of misplacing a prescription.

   The advantages of using e-prescribing software are:

   • It allows health care providers to send prescriptions directly to pharmacies without the risk of getting misplaced.
   • It gives quick and easy access to a patient’s medication history with the help of a pharmacy’s database.

   One of the best examples of e-prescribing software is DrFirst.

4. Remote Patient Monitoring

   Healthcare organizations consider new technologies like AR to make the process more visually apparent. AR has firmly created an area for itself as an outstanding market within the working world and is already transforming the work methodology forever.

   It allows the professionals to strengthen the tactic they work on daily, with many of the newest choices being supplemental to the workplace.

   Over time it’s been discovered that interest in augmented reality is increasing as innovators explore its business relevance and how AR will play a role in consumer experience and workforce enablement, including healthcare organizations.

   This rising technology holds tremendous potential for changing how the healthcare industry operates.

   Let’s look at the benefits of using remote patient monitoring:

   • It reduces the cost of chronic disease and assists in post-discharge care.
   • It can help monitor a patient’s glucose level or blood pressure from anywhere worldwide. Thus, it results in improved patient care.

   One such example of a remote patient monitoring system is Medtronic.

5. Master Patient Index (MPI)

   The Master patient index is a crucial part of the hospital management system as it connects patient records from more than one database.

   It is generally used by hospitals or large clinics whereby they enter data regarding their patients. Once stored, hospitals can use it for future references by any institute sharing the database. This MPI creates an index of all medical records for a specific patient, which is easily accessible by all departments.

   The primary purpose of MPI is to reduce duplication of patient records and avoid inaccuracy of information that can result in unfair treatment.

6. Patient Portal

   Another essential type of hospital management system is the patient portal.

   Patient portals provide a platform to access health-related data using any device. It includes all the information stored in an EHR, such as the patient’s medical history, treatments, and previous medications.

   Not only that, but patient portals also allow users to schedule appointments, view bills, and make payments online. They can access their personal devices, including smartphones, tablets, or computers.

   Some of the patient portals even facilitate patients to have a conversation with healthcare professionals. So instead of waiting hours to schedule an appointment, patients can now log in, check their doctor’s availability, and look at their lab reports.

   One good example is MedFusion.

7. Urgent Care Applications

   Urgent care application is a type of health management information system that keeps track of patients that might require immediate attention.

   It enables patients to skip the waiting room and get care instantly. Besides, it provides patients with knowledge about health-related queries and informative health articles and even lets them track their medical care status.

   Some of the benefits of implementing urgent care applications are:

   • It increases patients’ satisfaction rate as the urgent care app provides quick service.
   • Urgent care apps provide medical help 24/7, hours a day.

   One good example of an urgent care app is HealthTap.

8. Medical Billing Software

   The most integral type of health management system is the medical billing solution.

   It is one of the most time-consuming processes and yet one of the critical ones. Healthcare facilities are always busy and have little time to spare for managerial tasks. Billing software makes it easy by automatically generating medical bills and handling the entire workflow.

   Besides patient billing, the software covers insurance claims and verification, payment tracking, and processing. In addition, it sends out alerts for late payments or if there is any pending bill from the hospital’s end.

How To Include The Study Of Healthcare Software In A Medical Webinar Or Training?

The use of technology has allowed medicine to take a huge step forward. However, using these various software programs is certainly challenging for everyone. Therefore, it is necessary to find ways and means to enable the medical sector to master these new technologies :

Source: psmarketresearch

For those still in training, creating a particular module dedicated to information technology and healthcare software systems will be necessary. 

By learning about these different software systems, practitioners who wish to work independently or in remote areas will already be able to find solutions to the problems associated with performing their duties in these conditions.

For example, the practitioner can use the medical practice management system in case of limited staffing due to a lack of financial means. This system will take care of scheduling appointments and managing billing and payments, among other things.

It is also advisable to organize master classes where professionals in the field of the invited students will present the different software and the added value they can bring to the practice. 

For example, in a face anatomy masterclass, or an anatomy master class, the professional will present to the students the different software that can facilitate their work in the field. Thus, students will see the value of mastering and using these new technologies.

For Practicing Practitioners:

For example, hospitals would organize a medical webinar or a presentation of the different healthcare software systems. Software systems that may interest practitioners invited to the webinar will be presented at the outset.

Another way to equip healthcare professionals with knowledge about healthcare software systems is through conferences. This is the ideal platform for experts and practitioners to use these new technologies.

After having given students and practitioners all the necessary knowledge about information technology and healthcare software systems, it is essential to confront them with practice. 

Indeed, for perfect mastery and optimal use of these products, it is necessary to implement these technologies in hospital establishments so that everyone can get used to their use.

However, trainers should expect reluctance from some practitioners, especially older ones. Being used to traditional care and operating techniques, the latter are generally more relaxed with these new work tools. However, with patience and clear explanations, it is possible to gain their trust.

Conclusion

The healthcare information system is the future of healthcare centers. Yet, despite that, many hospitals are skeptical about adopting this new technology. It is because of its high cost and the implementation process. 

There is no doubt that the healthcare software market is in full bloom. The digitalization of healthcare has many benefits – improved efficiency, cost savings, and better control of finances and patient data. 

As medical services around the world become increasingly digital, as well as the use of health-tracking apps online increases, there is a strong likelihood the industry will grow in the future. 

Once you decide to implement, an institute may undergo a drastic change. The initial process may seem complicated, but we guarantee the outcomes will be worth every effort.