As we improve our software products and work with more doctors, we are learning a lot about what doctors in India want from information technology . How do Indian Doctors view IT as an enabler ?
In theory, one would expect doctors to want to use IT for the following applications.
1. Computer Based Medical Records (EMR)
2. Clinical Information Sharing Networks
3. Clinical Decision Support
4. Administrative Functions – Accounts and Patient Profile Management
5. Computer Generated Prescriptions
6. Better Patient Communication and Care
However, what the practicing doctor wants in real life is quite different !
So what does the typical doctor’s list look like?
1. Accounts and (Mis)-Management
Indian Doctors give a lot of importance to accounting in their Clinic Software; they expect the package to bill as per their requirement. Unfortunately, because many of them do not always want to declare all their income , they want the software to provide “deductions” . We have to educate them that a good package will help them to improve their cash flow and collections by allowing them to track their patient inflow so that they know what business they are generating on a regular basis. Intelligent software will help to prevent embezzlement and will discourage the office staff from pocketing the doctor’s hard earned money ( which is easy to do , since this is still a predominantly a cash business today)
2. Referrals Management
Referring patients to specialists and other clinicians is a common practice the world over, but in India it has an additional financial angle. Doctors want to know how many patients they were referred and by whom, so that they can make the necessary payments back to the referring doctors.
3. Medical History
Doctors want easy access to their patient’s information to help them make better medical decisions. While they are happy about the fact that the software gives them instant access to the patient’s medical records, they are still reluctant to use clinical decision support tools, as they would rather depend upon their clinical ability, than use a computer .
4. MIS ( Management Information System( Reports and Patient Registers
MIS reports and registers are a commonly requested feature . Sadly the uninitiated ones forget that data first needs to be entered properly , so that it can be intelligently extracted. The reasons for the MIS reports are both noble (research purposes) and mundane (for filing income tax returns) .The biggest challenge here is designing forms and data capture mechanisms which give useful reports. Often , there is a big disconnect, when doctors design incomplete templates , and still expect to be able to generate relevant data ! . Garbage In = Garbage Out !
5. Custom Designed Templates
Plus91’s software has designed so that doctors can customize their own templates , to suit their personal preferences.. Doctors love this feature, as each one wants to design something as per their own workflow.
What of the future ? We hope that as the Indian doctor matures and becomes more comfortable with using IT, he will want the following features as well.
a. Clinical Decision Support
b. Computerized Prescriptions
c. SMS/Email alerts and reminders
d. Online EMRs
e. Insurance Claims Management
Plus91 software is already built to provide these enhancements, which will give a definite boost to the quality and efficiency of their practice , and also help them to improve their profitability.
Showing posts with label PMS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PMS. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Monday, November 2, 2009
Ten reasons why you should use a computer in your practice
As a doctor, you routinely have to capture a large amount of information about your patient in order to provide good medical care and to collect your fees . Medicine is a pen and paper intensive domain, where clinical history, examination findings, lab reports, scans, appointments , messages and bills - all happen on paper. Managing paper is always hard to do – and IT can help you to do so more efficiently !
What is the downside to all this paper work? After all, you’ve been doing it for donkey’s years and are happy with this , so why bother to change ?
Have you ever lost your temper because your patient has lost his medical records, and does not know what medications he is taking ? Are you fed up of having to write the same prescription again and again ? Aren’t you impressed by other doctors who give their patients crisp, professional word-processed medical summary sheets ? How are you going to compete with corporate hospitals who can access their patient’s medical records at the click of a button ? The good news is that the same technology is now easily and inexpensively available for you to use in your own clinic ! IT can help you improve your documentation and storage ; and actually increase your productivity and efficiency, by allowing you easy access instantly to all your patient’s medical records, no matter where you are !
Here are the top 10 reasons why you should use a computer in your practice !
1. Impress your patients by having all their information available at your finger tips. Your patient expects you to remember exactly what medicines you prescribed and what surgery you did when she comes to see you, no matter how busy you are. Unfortunately, many of us cannot even remember the patient’s name, forget about the medical details ! Having an EMR with the patient’s photo and clinical details means you are well-prepared to talk to your patient ! If you cannot do so because you cannot find the patient’s medical record, you are going to lose the patient’s confidence – and the patient as well ! If you store all this information on the PC, you can find it immediately, and this helps immensely in creating lifelong patient loyalty !
2. Impress your colleages and consultants : Communication is becoming the cornerstone of society today . Once you have all your patient records stored digitally, you can share them with your colleagues. The referring doctor or consultant will be very impressed when he gets an SMS and an email automatically from you, when you see his patient ! This will help you stand out from the rest of the crowd !
3. Save time: You can retrieve stored data much faster on your PC then from a filing cabinet. Why waste time and money hunting for records, when you can instantly find what you need on your PC !
4. Save on storage space. Real estate costs money while digital space is cheap ! You can store thousands of medical records on a hard disk – and as your practice grows, you need to think about the future.
5. Reduce chaos: A large clinic is often drowning in paper – and it’s very frustrating when you cannot find the record you need. With an electronic medical record, there’s no clutter – and much more work gets done efficiently when time is not being wasted in finding lab reports and scans.
6. Increase productivity: A faster records access, storage and retrieval system gives you and your staff more time. It increases efficiency , allowing you to spend more time with your patients. As patients are wowed by how efficient you can access their medical history, they will refer even more patients to you !
7. Improve your clinical skills and practice evidence based medicine: Even though Indian doctors are very busy, our research output is pathetic, because we do not bother to keep medical records properly. Documentation is poor, and most of a senior doctor’s wisdom is primarily anecdotal, since it is not based on a stringent analysis of stored clinical data. For example, most orthopedic surgeons don’t even know the exact number of hip replacements they have done ; or which type of artificial hip works best in their hands. They cannot analyse their complication rate reliably, and depend primarily on their selective clinical memory, which is often deeply flawed ! Digital information allows you to do much more with the patient data you have. You can easily analyse your clinical data and produce informative research reports based on your years of clinical experience. Analysing paper records is a painful chore. Why work so hard when your PC can do the work for you in seconds ?
8. Look cool: A computerized clinic which runs state of the art software creates a lot of confidence in your patients. They will be much more faithful to you, because they know you are well-organised , effective and efficient !
9.Improve your business processes by automating administrative tasks. Because all the data is stored electronically, it’s much easier for you to fill in all the forms and papers everyone else needs – your CA; the IT officer; the TPAs and insurance companies !
10. Empowering patients. Because you now have a state of the art digital office, you can communicate electronically with your patients. You can send them alerts and reminders through SMSes and emails – and this can create a Wow ! experience which will help you to leap ahead of the competition.
What is the downside to all this paper work? After all, you’ve been doing it for donkey’s years and are happy with this , so why bother to change ?
Have you ever lost your temper because your patient has lost his medical records, and does not know what medications he is taking ? Are you fed up of having to write the same prescription again and again ? Aren’t you impressed by other doctors who give their patients crisp, professional word-processed medical summary sheets ? How are you going to compete with corporate hospitals who can access their patient’s medical records at the click of a button ? The good news is that the same technology is now easily and inexpensively available for you to use in your own clinic ! IT can help you improve your documentation and storage ; and actually increase your productivity and efficiency, by allowing you easy access instantly to all your patient’s medical records, no matter where you are !
Here are the top 10 reasons why you should use a computer in your practice !
1. Impress your patients by having all their information available at your finger tips. Your patient expects you to remember exactly what medicines you prescribed and what surgery you did when she comes to see you, no matter how busy you are. Unfortunately, many of us cannot even remember the patient’s name, forget about the medical details ! Having an EMR with the patient’s photo and clinical details means you are well-prepared to talk to your patient ! If you cannot do so because you cannot find the patient’s medical record, you are going to lose the patient’s confidence – and the patient as well ! If you store all this information on the PC, you can find it immediately, and this helps immensely in creating lifelong patient loyalty !
2. Impress your colleages and consultants : Communication is becoming the cornerstone of society today . Once you have all your patient records stored digitally, you can share them with your colleagues. The referring doctor or consultant will be very impressed when he gets an SMS and an email automatically from you, when you see his patient ! This will help you stand out from the rest of the crowd !
3. Save time: You can retrieve stored data much faster on your PC then from a filing cabinet. Why waste time and money hunting for records, when you can instantly find what you need on your PC !
4. Save on storage space. Real estate costs money while digital space is cheap ! You can store thousands of medical records on a hard disk – and as your practice grows, you need to think about the future.
5. Reduce chaos: A large clinic is often drowning in paper – and it’s very frustrating when you cannot find the record you need. With an electronic medical record, there’s no clutter – and much more work gets done efficiently when time is not being wasted in finding lab reports and scans.
6. Increase productivity: A faster records access, storage and retrieval system gives you and your staff more time. It increases efficiency , allowing you to spend more time with your patients. As patients are wowed by how efficient you can access their medical history, they will refer even more patients to you !
7. Improve your clinical skills and practice evidence based medicine: Even though Indian doctors are very busy, our research output is pathetic, because we do not bother to keep medical records properly. Documentation is poor, and most of a senior doctor’s wisdom is primarily anecdotal, since it is not based on a stringent analysis of stored clinical data. For example, most orthopedic surgeons don’t even know the exact number of hip replacements they have done ; or which type of artificial hip works best in their hands. They cannot analyse their complication rate reliably, and depend primarily on their selective clinical memory, which is often deeply flawed ! Digital information allows you to do much more with the patient data you have. You can easily analyse your clinical data and produce informative research reports based on your years of clinical experience. Analysing paper records is a painful chore. Why work so hard when your PC can do the work for you in seconds ?
8. Look cool: A computerized clinic which runs state of the art software creates a lot of confidence in your patients. They will be much more faithful to you, because they know you are well-organised , effective and efficient !
9.Improve your business processes by automating administrative tasks. Because all the data is stored electronically, it’s much easier for you to fill in all the forms and papers everyone else needs – your CA; the IT officer; the TPAs and insurance companies !
10. Empowering patients. Because you now have a state of the art digital office, you can communicate electronically with your patients. You can send them alerts and reminders through SMSes and emails – and this can create a Wow ! experience which will help you to leap ahead of the competition.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Software Features Most Appreciated by Doctors!
Plus91 is a team of very innovative people. Since the last 3 years we have tried to include, in most cases successfully and in some cases still trying to introduce game changing features into our softwares. These software products are specifically targeted at doctors and hospitals in the Indian Market. We have tried to keep a realistic outlook towards usability and need in developing these features, though some are for the pure thrill of it. Below I have listed some of the features we offer that are really being appreciated by the Doctors.
1. SMS and Email integration - Simple, yet effective in communicating with patients and doctors alike. Today India communicates on the Mobile so why not the doctors.
2. Data Protection - Online back up to save data and download it any time in case of a crash or back your entire PC onto a device provided by us. Keeping the data safe has always been a priority for doctors and hospitals, now you can.
3. Point and click interfaces - Simple Graphical User Interfaces makes life and learning simple for the doctor. Minimal learning curve ensures that the doctor and his staff are using the software within days to its maximum benefit
4. Online EMR - Offering doctors the expertise to offer patients their records online for easy access, especially patients from far away or constantly traveling. Takers for this are few and far, but those who understand the implications of this, really appreciate the scope of the progress that is being made.
5. Online Support and Updates - Now no more waiting for help to arrive is how I best pitch this service. But trust me, one actual live use of this service and the doctor is sold on it for life.
6. Structured Reporting - For every specialty in medicine we support, we appreciate that the potential outcomes are numerous. That these outcomes can be displayed in a structured way to quickly select, display and publish reports to make this a mundane and quick task is a vital feature in our PMS. Doctors increasingly appreciate this intelligence structure to help them quickly select report templates and publish reports.
7. Referrals - Referral management module has been a boon to those doctors which keep track of who is sending them how many patients and any monetary implications of the same.
8. Exporting Data - Export to Excel feature is very well appreciated by Doctors as it helps them to send data to CAs and other external sources without any headache. Soon to come, export to Tally.
9. Auto-Complete and Auto-Add Drop downs - A simple technical mechanism to help manage drop downs better. Increases data entry speed and also makes the software User Friendly. Doctors immediately recognize this and appreciate the capability.
10. Adding attachments - Scan or capture and attach videos, images and documents to the patient record. This feature proves worthwhile for a myriad of reasons. Doctors are happy to be able to be flexible in their approach and attach everything in a single location.
1. SMS and Email integration - Simple, yet effective in communicating with patients and doctors alike. Today India communicates on the Mobile so why not the doctors.
2. Data Protection - Online back up to save data and download it any time in case of a crash or back your entire PC onto a device provided by us. Keeping the data safe has always been a priority for doctors and hospitals, now you can.
3. Point and click interfaces - Simple Graphical User Interfaces makes life and learning simple for the doctor. Minimal learning curve ensures that the doctor and his staff are using the software within days to its maximum benefit
4. Online EMR - Offering doctors the expertise to offer patients their records online for easy access, especially patients from far away or constantly traveling. Takers for this are few and far, but those who understand the implications of this, really appreciate the scope of the progress that is being made.
5. Online Support and Updates - Now no more waiting for help to arrive is how I best pitch this service. But trust me, one actual live use of this service and the doctor is sold on it for life.
6. Structured Reporting - For every specialty in medicine we support, we appreciate that the potential outcomes are numerous. That these outcomes can be displayed in a structured way to quickly select, display and publish reports to make this a mundane and quick task is a vital feature in our PMS. Doctors increasingly appreciate this intelligence structure to help them quickly select report templates and publish reports.
7. Referrals - Referral management module has been a boon to those doctors which keep track of who is sending them how many patients and any monetary implications of the same.
8. Exporting Data - Export to Excel feature is very well appreciated by Doctors as it helps them to send data to CAs and other external sources without any headache. Soon to come, export to Tally.
9. Auto-Complete and Auto-Add Drop downs - A simple technical mechanism to help manage drop downs better. Increases data entry speed and also makes the software User Friendly. Doctors immediately recognize this and appreciate the capability.
10. Adding attachments - Scan or capture and attach videos, images and documents to the patient record. This feature proves worthwhile for a myriad of reasons. Doctors are happy to be able to be flexible in their approach and attach everything in a single location.
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