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Like you, we are also following the updates about COVID-19 with the concern of the national well-being, Our thoughts are with those who have been impacted by the virus and we wish them a full and speedy recovery.

As concerns on the recent outbreak of COVID-19, we're reaching out with a brief update to let you know how MocDoc is planning and preparing to provide uninterrupted support and service to our clients during this time.

Thank you for your understanding and for supporting us during this period. Stay safe and look out for those around you.

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On behalf of everyone at MocDoc,

Senthil
Founder & CEO,
MocDoc, a product of Yro Systems Pvt Ltd.

The healthcare industry has started to see considerable changes in the past few years. From cancer and chronic diseases to risk assessment and radiology, there are multiple opportunities to influence technology. It is used to implement more effective, impactful, and precise interferences at the right moment in taking care of the patients.

Artificial Intelligence acts as the central aspect, which drives enhancement across patient care. AI provides many advantages over other clinical decision-making techniques and traditional analytics. Getting to know algorithms can become more accurate and precise. It is because they allow humans to gain insights into diagnostics, and interact with training data, treatment variability, care processes, and patient outcomes.

8 Ways AI Impacts Healthcare:

Proceed below to find out some practical ways in which AI changes the healthcare industry.

1. Integrating Machine and Mind using Brain-Computer medium:

Utilizing systems to collaborate is not a unique idea. However making direct communication between humans and technology without any requirements for monitors, mice, and keyboards is considered to be an essential area of research with a significant application for several patients.

Trauma and Neurological diseases to the nervous system may take away the abilities of patients like moving, interacting, and speaking meaningfully with the surroundings of people. BCIs (Brain-Computer mediums backed by AI can restore the primary experiences.

It's easy to decode the activities of the neural system affiliated with the purposive moment of one by utilizing AI and BCI. We can enable the person to collaborate the same way as different people work four to five times across the morning course. The communications are processed with the phone, computer, tablet, or using other universal communication technology. The medium of Brain-Computer helps to increase the quality of patient life with locked-in syndrome, strokes, ALS, spinal cord injuries, and more.

2. Producing the next generation of tools in Radiology:

The images of Radiology acquired by X-rays, CT scanners, and MRI machines provide non-intrusive reflectivity into the human body's inner workings. But many processes in diagnosing depend on the biopsies' physical tissue samples, which carry a risk that includes the infection potential.

According to experts, AI helps the next generation of tools in Radiology that are detailed and accurate to rebuild the requirements for tissue samples. Providers also can target the treatments and define the cancer aggressiveness appropriately. AI helps to make use of virtual biopsies and progress the intuitive field of radiomics that deal with utilizing image-based algorithms to represent the tumors' genetic properties and phenotypes.

3. Extending access to care in developing or underserved regions:

The lack of professional healthcare providers like radiologists and ultrasound technicians can constrain access to critical care in developing nations across the globe. AI enables mitigating the cause of a severe deficit of professional clinical staff by handling different duties that are provided to humans.

4. Decreasing the problems of using Electronic Health Records:

Electronic Health Record has a significant role in the industry of healthcare journey into digital recording. However, the switch comes with numerous issues affiliated with user burnout, endless documentation, and cognitive overload. The developers of Electronic Medical Records are now making use of Artificial Intelligence to develop more new interfaces. It also automates several processes in a routine which consumes the user's time.

All users spend their time on three crucial processes, namely sorting through the right thing, order entry, and clinical documentation. Dictation and voice recognition help to enhance the process of clinical documents, but NLP (Natural Language Processing) tools are not suitable for it. AI also helps to take care of routine requests like result notifications, and medication refills from the inbox. It also enables to make use of the tasks that severely need the attention of the client.

5. Comprising the Antibiotic Resistance risks:

Antibiotic Resistance is a threat that grows huge across the globe due to the overuse of drugs. Multi-drug resistance organisms can make a massive change in the hospital setting and also claim various numbers of lives every year.

Electronic Health Record information can help in highlighting the patient's problems and identifying the patterns in infection before they develop to show symptoms. Influencing AI and machine learning tools to drive all these analytics can create more accurate, faster alerts, and also improve their accuracy for healthcare providers.

6. Make accurate analytics for Pathology images:

According to Jeffrey Golden, Professor of Pathology at HMS and MD, Chair of the Pathology Department at BWH and Pathologist acts as the crucial diagnostic data source for providers across the care delivery spectrum.

70% of all healthcare decisions depend on the pathology results. AI also enhances productivity by finding out the features of interest in slides. AI is capable of screening through the slides and then directed to the right path to look, so it's easy to assess what is significant. It helps to enhance the effectiveness of the pathologist's use and improve the time value they spend on every case.

7. Admitting Intelligence to Machines and Medical Devices:

Smart devices provide everything from the refrigerator to real-time video to cars, which can detect when the driver gets distracted. Smart devices are essential for taking care of the patients in the ICU.

Artificial Intelligence helps to improve the ability to suggest Sepsis, identify degradation, and sense the complication development. The reason is that it can enhance the outcome significantly. It also decreases the cost related to penalties in clinic-obtained conditions. Making use of intelligent algorithms in smart devices can reduce problems for physicians and doctors while making sure that patients receive care at the right time possible.

8. Progress Immunotherapy usage for the treatment of cancer:

Immunotherapy is considered to be the critical avenue for cancer treatment. The therapy makes use of the immune system in the body to attack malice. In this case, patients can beat difficult tumors. The fact is that fewer patients get the advantage of immunotherapy. Oncologists do not have a reliable and precise method for recognizing which patient can gain with this immunotherapy. The algorithms of Machine learning and their ability to utilize different datasets illuminate unique options for exploiting therapies for a single genetic makeup.

Bottom Line:

Apart from the above impacts, there are several factors like

· Utilizing EHR as a precision risk predictor,

· Taking care of the patient's health through personal devices and wearable,

· Turning smartphone selfies into a robust and useful diagnostic tool,

· Making clinical decisions using AI is one of them that can change the healthcare industry.

Leveraging telemedicine to profitable practice helps in enhancing patient retention, increasing revenue, and delighting your office staff. The advantages can be quickly gained through the option of telemedicine. 

Powerful financial incentives for the providers and intense consumer requirements for the service are the two critical things that drive the sharp spike in the field of telemedicine technology. 

Both private payers and legislatures are allowing the arise of telemedicine by representing parity laws and policies in telehealth. They identify the requirements to expand access to care while leveraging healthcare resources effectively.

How do make use of telemedicine to improve profitability?

There are many reasons to list why influencing telemedicine can bring more profit to you. In this blog, let's check out a few steps that can be used for influencing telemedicine into a more profitable practice.

Hold your current patients and amuse them:

There are numerous healthcare options available than before for the patients to choose from. There are a different number of urgent care facilities, retail-based walk-in clinics, and thousands of online opportunities. These variations to in-office care are prominent with patients, especially for regular issues like flu, skin conditions, other ailments, colds, UTIs, and more as they are inexpensive, quick, and convenient. The practices which provide video visits provide the patient with the essential benefits of seeing their routine provider, with the added convenience that telemedicine brings. 

Decrease No-Shows and Cancellations: 

Practice profitability is hard when any of the appointments are missed. They are also bad when considering the outcomes of patient health. A good number of the reasons why people cancel or show up at the last minute are withdrawn by telemedicine. Patients need not consider taking time off work, transportation, or arranging for childcare. 

Grab good patient outcomes: 

It's easy for patients to follow up on the next visit through the recommendation process in telemedicine. They are an accurate tool for lifestyle coaching, post-hospitalization care, and medication management. Compliance and increased patient management system lead to smaller unnecessary complications as well as help in better case management. 

Make a profit with telephone calls:

Most of the payers do not compensate for the provider's telephone but rather only follow-up calls. Few conversations like medication checks and reviewing test results will not be paid if it's done over the phone. Most of the exchanges become counterpoised by adding videos. Making use of the video also makes these relevant encounters and make them understandable to the patients. 

See More patients: 

In-office care is not much effective when compared with online visits using telemedicine. Practices that influence video will see several patients every day with identical providers. Most countries and states need insurers to compensate providers for visiting telehealth at an equal rate similar to in-office care. It's also recognized that most of the insurers follow this set of rules in the states that do not need it. It indicates that most of the visits are performed every day or week, and this can have a substantial impact on the profit and revenue along with the added cost. 

Enjoy an excellent Life Balance/Work:

May practices that provide visits through video find that the reliability it offers has a full impact on well being of the provider. Few of them prefer to move some appointments to the weekend or work from home for a few hours. The providers are provided a chance of enjoyment to take care of their tasks during the workweek, and the patients also appreciate the prospect to get attention outside of regular hours in the business. There is no extra office expense if there are hours extended or else the visit can happen from anywhere. 

Boost employee satisfaction:

Video visits are mostly preferred by medical office workers as they make the office run flexibly and smoothly. They also alleviate a few administrative works by making every patient come to their office. The waiting rooms are quieted and less crowded with fewer patients in the office, and there is not much risk of grabbing the illness from the already present patients. This extra time provides extra office staff to work on the practices and strategies at work. The team also gets an advantage when the practice is growing or gaining more profit. 

Video technology can be the best game-changer in the coming years, which implementing an efficient program. Office workers, providers, and patients all win when the practice of telemedicine is thoughtfully applied with the right education and technology.

For More Information Visit MocDoc Digital Healthcare Solutions.

Imagine the following scenarios: 

• An electrocardiogram necklace that helps the physician track the patient’s health. 

• A chip in a pill is used for sending data to a web portal from the body and also the capability of your doctor to check the patient’s treatment progress. 

• A fetal monitoring device that observes the women remotely with pregnancies of higher risks. 

The above are some of the visuals which can happen in the future of Healthcare and medicine. These types of unsetting technologies are redefining the patient experience and transforming outcomes in the clinics of the healthcare industry. Different data points show this effective modification. The life expectancy has increased to 60 years from 30 years between 1800 and 2000 at 1.5 years average rate per decade. The likelihood has now expected to be 90 years by the end of 2020 and at a 15 years per decade average or 10 times faster than that and this is what we call a Patient centricity world. In this blog, we will check out patient-centricity in-depth and how technology is used to enhance them. 

What is Patient Centricity?

There are three significant aspects when it comes to defining patient centricity. Let’s check them below. 

Making use of patient data efficiently for better treatment, monitoring, diagnosis, and R&D. At present, the evidence in the real world is reliably becoming significant, especially in the FDA providing new drug approvals. Correspondingly, the CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) is increasingly accomplishing providers to prefer measures and address outcome data via the execution of the meaningful use regime. 

Patient Centricity also deals with improving patient experience and engagement to mold them into active attendants in every decision that is care-related and also enhances the excellent patient experience. The trend has now moved to human clinical trials, especially during the drug development’s advanced stages to engage patients actively. 

Patient Centricity helps to enhance the outcome of the patient by shifting the focus to a population health management approach to individual encountering that targets interferences on particular cohorts and holistically at the patient risk. 

Digital technologies can be influenced by Healthcare Software and Life science organization to allow patient centricity in a way that creates excellent health outcomes, transform the patient experience, and the boom line, and also boost customer loyalty. 

Data encourages Customer Insights: 

Enhancing the patient experience takes more time than expanding technologies and also needs data-driven insights. Data is the only fuel that powers an enterprise’s patient-centric strategies. Device data, inventory data, customer data, systems data, etc. offer a 360-degree view which forms the substratum of patient-centric decision-making, sound, and process optimization. 

The ability to define more information and in-depth insight is vital for discerning the health journey of the patient and developing outstanding experiences. When you apply AI to the data wealth, Healthcare and life science organizations can expand their understanding of the expectations and experiences of the patient. With this knowledge, they can enhance app features and interfaces, offer customized and individualized experiences, and streamline the process at every point along the journey of the patient. 

The combination is Key: 

All the technologies and digital data in the world will do little to enhance the experience of the patient in case they do not work in concerts. There is an entirely expandable digital platform that supports the complete journey of the patient, and this is mandatory to offer an outstanding experience. 

Adequate healthcare and life sciences amid digital platforms are rooted in a simple, user-friendly, and intuitive design which makes it easy for both healthcare professionals and patients to communicate, share, and access data along with various systems and also initiate actions. These management tools and platforms that include automation enable healthcare and life science enterprises to influence athletic abilities across the enterprises. 

Support staff and clinicians can communicate with patients and colleagues in real-time and remotely, the people in the group can reply to the requirements, collaborate rapidly on new services and products, and enterprises can more rapidly take the opportunities advantages. 

The healthcare and life science system which efficiently utilizes digital technologies and data to enhance the experience of the patient is OSF Healthcare which analyzes and expands internal and external social, financial, clinical, and operational data to improve the organization and patients. This information is daily updated, enabling OSF to execute new processes and monitor real-time bed availability. 

The truth is that OSF can enhance capacity management and efficiency, decrease readmissions by offering physicians a readmission risk score of their people each day, and also gain the insight advantages coming to the system, allowing rapid discussions that focus on the patient requirements. 

Bottom Line: 

To achieve strong patient-centricity, Healthcare and life science need to expand digital tools and platforms in a way that enhances processes and people to deliver the best goals as per the customer requirements. The technology is required to function as the best part of this type by connecting customer knowledge, facilitating data collection, empowering responsiveness, innovation, and more. It can also play an essential role in operationalizing feedback and measuring performance to make sure the strategies in customer-centric approaches are on track and also can be adapted continually to deliver new value. 

By exploring the unique customer experience and organizing processes, technology, and teams to deliver on the vision consistently, different health enterprises can lead in the present patient-driven market successfully. 

To know More Visit The Complete Digital Healthcare Solution MocDoc.

As new technologies and innovations arise, technological strides in the medical and healthcare industry increase in pace as well. The emergence of digital healthcare solutions has enabled hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare facilities to greatly enhance the delivery of medical services and products to their patients.

From aiding medical professionals in detecting serious diseases at its earliest stage to reducing medical errors to collaborating on a medical case, digital healthcare software solutions have allowed for these and more. Looking from a business perspective, digital healthcare systems help users improve their profitability exponentially, thus driving their business growth.

If those are not valid reasons for your company to go digital, then the following points will definitely convince you.

7 Reasons Your Company Should Use Digital Healthcare Solution

1. Centralize Information for Better Management, Storage, and Access

2. Create and Implement Personalized Journeys for Patients

3. Share Patient Information Easily across Multiple  Platforms

4. Facilitate Continuity of Patient Care

5. Simplify and Increase Patient Bookings

6. Fuel Medical Research and Development

7. Empower Patients to Live a Healthier Lifestyle

1. Centralize Patient Information For Better Management, Storage, and Access

One of the most obvious benefits that stem from deploying a digital medical healthcare software is the centralization of patient information. Patient records, medical bulletins, patient medical histories, doctors’ instructions, progress reports - all the information contained in these documents are critical to the success of a patient’s medical treatment and outcome.

Manual entry of patient information takes time and can be prone to errors which some of the common small business problems. The storage of paper-based files requires resources and takes up physical space. Traditionally, accessing a patient’s files in the old days means browsing through file cabinets and checking each folder individually, which also takes time. 

A digital healthcare solution streamlines the process of logging and categorizing of patient information while significantly reducing errors. It makes information access seamless and smooth. This is now an imperative as all medical professionals tasked to care for a patient requires immediate and reliable access to the patient’s data, be it doctors, nurses, therapists, dietitians.

Digital healthcare software ensures that they can access patient information in real-time using their desktop online or their mobile device. Access can be configured for added security, granting access to only those who are directly involved in patient care.

2. Create and Implement Personalized Journeys for Patients

As digital healthcare software solutions make it easy for medical professionals to centralize and access a patient’s data, the pains that often come with creating and executing personalized care plans are significantly reduced.

A study on the systematic delivery of healthcare services revealed that the utilization of standardized consultation templates is among the leading effective digital healthcare trends in creating personalized medical care plans for patients. Separate research on the full implementation of digital technology in healthcare cited numerous benefits, including the use of AI and robotics to support the patient in rehabilitation and recovery.

Access to prescriptions, allergies, medical history, and more are essential in helping medical professionals understand the needs of their patients and devise a personalized journey that guarantees the best experience possible and the desired results almost predictable.

3. Share Patient Information Easily Across Multiple Platforms

Digital healthcare software helps accelerate the sharing of patient information with other doctors and other healthcare professionals. This is crucial in a number of scenarios, such as handling critical cases that require insights and expert medical opinions from external parties or when an EMS or ambulance crew needs to provide ER teams with sufficient information prior to receiving the patient.

Sharing patient information no longer requires handling and receiving of actual patient files. A digital healthcare solution lets users share and receive files online via desktops, laptops, and mobile devices. Transmission of files is a breeze and can be done in a few clicks, saving users valuable time.

4. Facilitate Continuity of Patient Care

Electronic health records (EHR) play a crucial role in the continuity of patient care. Having all the patient’s information in a single, accessible page makes it easy for healthcare providers to keep themselves updated with the patient’s status.

Being able to retrieve and review files, scans, prescriptions, diet plans, and notes from other professionals allow users to make the necessary changes to the patient’s care plan if and when necessary. Direct coordination with laboratories, therapists, and other healthcare workers becomes more seamless and productive, resulting in the best medical journey possible for patients.

5. Simplify and Increase Patient Bookings

More patients mean more income coming into your hospital or clinic, which is crucial in a growing business. Doctors who run a private practice need patients to remain significant, competitive, and, most importantly, operational. Patients coming in for appointments represent a huge slice of your revenue pie.

With digital healthcare software, you can make the booking process convenient for your patients. Most healthcare systems come with customizable scheduling tools that help you create client-facing scheduling applications.

You can show your patients your work calendar with preferred time slots for the week or the month. The availability of your time slots is updated in real-time whenever someone has successfully booked an appointment. This ensures your patients pick a schedule that is both convenient for them and you. This feature prevents instances of double booking and decreases no shows.

6. Fuel Medical Research and Development

A patient's data, no matter how insignificant it may seem, can be instrumental in the future. The advances made in the medical field, some of them very recent, are fueled with data gathered from all over the world.

A study on linking healthcare and clinical research in 2018 enumerated several benefits of modern digital healthcare systems in terms of improving the research process and the output. The study, published by The International Journal of Medical Informatics, pointed out that medical data collected from healthcare solutions are better in terms of quality and accuracy. It also takes redundant data documentation out of the picture.

With digital healthcare systems, along with other technologies, patient information is now easily collected, collated, verified, and utilized for research and development of new drugs and treatments to further improve human health and well-being.

Hopefully, with all the patient information gathered from different sources, the medical world can discover effective medicine to combat and end serious illnesses that plague mankind. And ultimately, prevent large-scale epidemics like the Black Death and the Yemen Cholera Outbreak from happening ever again.

7. Empower Patients To Live A Healthier Lifestyle

For most patients, if not all, waiting for their diagnosis and test results can be a confusing aggravating, and frustrating experience. Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford highlighted in her speech in an AI technology festival that the deployment and utilization of digital technology, particularly AI, in the healthcare industry, can help provide better outcomes for patients by not only speeding up their diagnosis but also giving them more accurate results.

Digital healthcare software facilitates smooth and frictionless communication between healthcare professionals/providers and their patients. This feature enables doctors, therapists, and other healthcare workers to work closely with their patients and give them insights into their health on a very personal level. Being able to do so, you can empower your patients to make the right choices and plan for a long life that they can enjoy to the fullest.

The Future Of Healthcare Is Anchored On Digital Technology

According to a September 2018 report on digital systems in healthcare by the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS), hospitals, clinics, and other digital healthcare companies are continuously looking for ways to digitize their processes, and that absolute digitalization can be achieved by the majority of NHS organizations by 2023.

The deployment of digital technology in the medical and healthcare industry is not just limited to the United Kingdom. It is happening all over the world. Many hospitals, clinics, pharmaceuticals, and other healthcare establishments are making the transition to a totally digital model of operation and business.

It is no longer a question of “when” will the future arrive. The future is here already. And your company will be left in the dust of your competition if you’re not making the move to adapt to the changing times. 

Exploring The Benefits of Online Appointment Systems

What are the advantages of an Online Scheduling System?

• Booking inoculations and vaccines in hospitals.
• Scheduling a patient’s treatment, services, and appointments.
  
  
  

Time-Saving:

Monetary Savings:

24 hours convenience:

Online Payment:

Centralized Information System:

The healthcare sector is facing pressure to move to digital systems, both from regulatory authorities and from the general public. The government is pushing for digital systems so as to make the functioning of hospitals and other healthcare 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 that 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 is used for managing clinics. Depending on the requirement of the clinic, software with various combinations of features is available. Generally, they contain appointment management, billing, and electronic health records. Software with integrated lab and pharmacy management features is also available if there are labs or pharmacies associated with the clinic. Practice management software helps to streamline the workflow of a clinic, gets error-free documentation, manages appointments and billing, and makes 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 them 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 that aid 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.

Laboratory 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 the 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.

The Laboratory information management system helps lab technicians to achieve a smooth workflow and better quality control. From the point at which the 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. The 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. 

The Pharmacy Management system otherwise referred to as the pharmacy information system stores data systemizes and controls the use of the medication process within the pharmacies.

Medical Technology and Information technology are growing day by day. The system developer makes use of this golden opportunity to help the pharmacist control their stock and choose the right medicine by using the computer program.

The pharmacist makes use of the pharmacy management system to control the pharmacy reliably. Patients sometimes prefer to visit the pharmacy instead of a doctor for minor illnesses, and the system enables the pharmacist to prescribe over-the-counter drugs for these ailments

5 Major Pharmacy Management System (PMS) Features:

The prime purpose of a PMS is to assist the pharmacist in the safe and effective delivery of pharmaceutical drugs.

The pharmacies require some core capabilities and functions to perform their duties effectively. Below are some of the top 5 must-have features for a Pharmacy Management System.

Report:

Pharmacies interact with multiple patients every day, and data regarding each of these interactions are stored within the pharmacy information system. Data may be used later for improving the business strategy or it may be needed during a certification or inspection process.

The reports offer valuable insights into the operations of the pharmacy. It can be used to distinguish the patients who visit the pharmacy frequently for refills, and this can be used to stock accordingly.

E-prescription:

Prescriptions are known to be illegible and this can cause confusion among patients and is also a source of error in dispensing the right medicine. E-prescriptions provide a user-friendly option for patients and also reduce the risk of errors.

The electronic prescription feature can be used by the pharmacy to manage refills and allows doctors to send the new refills directly into the pharmacy management system, allowing rapid dispensing of the medicines. Apart from this, there will be no confusion in offering the right prescription between the physician and the patient.

SMS and Notification:

With the use of a pharmacy management system, the pharmacist can schedule text messages to be sent to patients intimating them before their prescriptions run out.

The patients can then let the pharmacist if they need a refill, simply by responding to the message. The status updates let the pharmacist keep in touch with the patients, ensuring patient satisfaction.

Multi-Store and Multi-Location Support:

The user can manage stores at multiple locations easily with a pharmacy information system.

Data about stock levels, sales, and returns from multiple stores can be viewed in a single software. Overall reports for the entire chain of stores can be generated, giving the user a complete overview of profit, loss, stock levels, etc.

User Management Module:

This feature allows restricted access to various users. Access to various features can be limited for different users, for easy management. This authentication is classified into two conditions namely

Administrator User: The user can control the buying and selling process, list the medicines, view the stock, and perform other tasks. The user will be able to view the pharmacy list and the pharmacy map easily. It plays an essential role in controlling the sales and stocks being processed every day.

Administrator Authentication User: The users who are authenticated can view all processes including selling reports, transactions, and manipulating the medicine list and the medicine stock. This feature also helps to track regular activities and generate daily accounts by utilizing the multisite software.

Universal health care is a hot topic for discussion these days, with people arguing for and against it. While proponents of the system argue that it is the right of every human being, opponents argue that it may not be economically feasible, and may harm a lot more people than it will help. The issue is much more complicated by the fact that there is no one system in the world that is adopted by all the countries that currently has universal healthcare, and therefore it becomes difficult to gauge its success across the world. Let us try to break this complex issue to gain a better understanding of the system, and form informed opinions.

Universal health care is a system that ensures all the people in a region or a country gets healthcare without affecting their financial status.  According to WHO Universal health coverage (UHC) means that all people and communities can use the promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative health services they need, of sufficient quality to be effective, while also ensuring that the use of these services does not expose the user to financial hardship. In practice, this does not mean that everyone has insurance coverage or that all medical issues are covered by the insurance, it just means that everyone has access to healthcare.

Universal healthcare first started in Germany in 1883 with the sickness insurance law, which mandated industrial employers to provide insurance for their workers using funds made from deductions in employee wages and from employer contributions. By 1930s, almost all of western and central Europe had similar systems in place. Currently, of the 33 developed countries, all of them except the USA has universal healthcare.

Implementation strategies

Even though the definition of universal healthcare is uniform throughout the world, the implementation strategies used in different countries are very diverse and difficult to classify. Each of these systems are linked with the governing systems and the laws and regulations of that country, and therefore may even differ in different parts of a single country, as in the different provinces of Canada, where each province has reasons to determine what is considered essential, and where, how and who should provide the services.

In some cases, the government pays for healthcare from a single fund. In some countries like Canada, this would mean that the government pays private organizations which in turn provide healthcare to its public, while in countries like the United Kingdom, the government maintains a healthcare system, owning healthcare resources and employing healthcare professionals. Such systems are referred to as single-payer systems, which means that the fund for the system is managed directly by the government or a government regulated agency. In such a system, the entire population is brought together under a single health risk pool, and one set of standards for services offered, and the cost for these services. Generally, the idea is that the high healthcare costs that arise from the sicker section of the population are balanced by the low healthcare costs for the healthy section of the population.

In a multi-payer system, the medical costs are paid for by multiple entities, which may include the person or their family, their employer, and the government. Countries like Germany follow a multi-payer system, with a statutory health insurance, and private health insurance. Compared to single-payer systems, multi-payer systems provide more options to the patients, and are generally difficult for the governments to exploit, but falls below in terms of healthcare equity, risk pooling, and negotiations. Multi-payer systems are also associated with higher administrative costs.

In some countries like Switzerland and Germany, universal healthcare is enforced by legislation. In Switzerland, there are no free state-provided health services, but private health insurance is compulsory for all persons residing in Switzerland (within three months of taking up residence or being born in the country). Swiss are required to purchase basic health insurance, which covers a range of treatments detailed in the Swiss Federal Law on Health Insurance. It is therefore the same throughout the country and avoids double standards in healthcare. Insurers are required to offer this basic insurance to everyone, regardless of age or medical condition.

The advantage of universal healthcare is that everyone gets medical coverage, no matter how poor they are, and everyone gets the same standard of care. Various studies have shown that universal healthcare has lead to healthier populations, with lower infant mortality rates and improved life expectancy. Universal healthcare is also associated with improved economic well being of the population. In Thailand within ten years of the implementation of Universal Health Scheme, the catastrophic healthcare expenditure in the poorest households fell from 6.8% to 2.8%. In Mexico, impoverishment from health expenditure fell from 3.3% in 2001 to 0.8% in 2010, with the implementation of a national protection programme called Seguro Popular, funded by general taxation and modest contributions from richer households.

Implementation of universal healthcare is complicated with a lot of difficult choices. The healthy section of the population ends up paying for the sicker section of the society, the money which may well be spent on economically better ventures, which will improve the quality of life for everyone. Universal healthcare may end up crippling the economy and may even lead to poor quality of healthcare, as doctors have more incentive for treating more patients, but less for treating fewer patients with more care. People may also be less careful of their health and can lead to less healthy choices if they don’t have the incentive to stay healthy.

So the debate on whether universal healthcare is good or bad, essentially is a debate on how to achieve universal healthcare - should it be done by implementing laws and regulations specifically for universal healthcare, or should we do it improve the overall standard of living that access to healthcare is not a problem for anyone.  

The success of a universal healthcare system will depend on how it is implemented, and choices have to be made based on the size of the population, the economic well-being of the population, the available funding and the fine balance between the choice similar to as mentioned above.

In recent years, medical stores have transformed from a place where you get your medicines, to a place where all your medical needs, such as mobility aids, nutraceuticals, health monitoring devices, and other biomedical supplies are met. Other than providing the required supplies, pharmacies also serve as a place where patients can get adequate information and advice regarding the dosage of a medicine, the composition of a drug, and the possible side effects. With this evolution, they have shifted from being just pharmacies, and it has become much more difficult to manage them.

Pharmacy management software helps you manage a pharmacy by keeping track of drugs, medicines, and supplies ranging from mobility aids to disposables. It gets you the information you require right at your fingertips. This can ensure that you never run out of essential medicines and supplies and also give your customers a better experience.

Here are 4 exciting ways in which pharmacy management software can help enhance your customer service while reducing costs.

Better customer experience

A personalized service, catering to the specific needs of a customer,  helps you to provide a better experience for your customer and therefore helps you retain them. A simple query about a past purchase will help you to build a personal relationship with them, which may prove fruitful in the long run.

The pharmacy management system allows you to log and track the entire purchase history of a customer, their insurance information, and other relevant information.  This will you to give a better experience to the customers, and at the same time, easily keep track of your sales.

With the help of your customer’s medical history, you’ll be able to provide better advice to them, avoiding allergies or any counteracting drugs the doctors may have missed. You'll also be able to remind your customers about the next drug purchase in their schedule.

Quick access to information regarding similar drugs at lower prices will make it easier for you to provide economically better options to your customers.

Good Resource Management:

Pharmacy management software helps you to manage your pharmacy’s resources easily and in an efficient manner.  With the help of a good interface, real-time reports, inventory management, and precise invoicing, you can easily understand and manage all the resources at your disposal.

Inventory Management helps you to easily keep track of medicine and equipment stock. You can easily check if any of the out-of-stock items are available in any of your other stores. With order tracking, you can give timely reports about the estimated time of delivery to your customers in case of any special orders.

With the help of precise invoicing, you can keep track of your expenses, and income and therefore easily manage your store’s finances. The system helps you to better understand the financial situation of your store and gives you insights on how to fine-tune your business.

An online pharmacy management software will also help you to manage stores in multiple locations effectively.  You can easily manage the stock and sales in all of your stores from your smartphone or laptop.

Effective Sales Management:

Now you can easily and efficiently manage your sales with the help of pharmacy management software. Now you can keep track of every sale, the price of every drug and equipment sold,  and the profit made. You can now easily analyze your business prospect and the flow of cash, and get the information you need to optimize the process

A good pharmacy management software can be integrated with your current workflow and equipment, and make maximum use of them. A barcode scanner plugged into the software can make it easy for you to document your sales, track your inventory, and at the same time provide a faster checkout for your customer.

Online services

With the advent of online pharmacies, more and more customers prefer to get their drugs delivered to their doorstep, and this has threatened the sales of traditional pharmacies. However, customers still find their neighborhood stores much more trustworthy. Take advantage of this by providing an online sales portal for your pharmacy. With the help of cloud-based software integrated with a sales portal, you can easily provide this service to your customers. The online software will also enable you to manage your pharmacies from anywhere in the world.

Essentially, pharmacy management software will help you to provide a better customer experience, manage your resources and sales efficiently, and enable you to take your sales online.

What is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing is a pool of configurable computer system resources and higher-level services that can be provided quickly, often over the Internet, with minimal management effort. Cloud computing relies on resources for consistency and economies of scale, similar to a public utility.

Clouds from third parties allow organizations to concentrate on their core businesses instead of spending resources on computer infrastructure and maintenance. Advocates point out that cloud computing enables companies to avoid or reduce the cost of IT infrastructure upfront.

Proponents also argue that cloud computing enables companies to get their applications up and running faster, with improved management and less maintenance, and that it enables IT, teams, to adjust resources more quickly to meet fluctuating and unpredictable demand.