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Investing in Healthcare IT, Supporting Care Workers, Java, Java Philippines

Investing in Healthcare IT Systems in 2021 , A tremendous support for Care Workers

Investing in Healthcare IT Systems in 2021 , A tremendous support for Care Workers 768 487 Exist Software Labs

Healthcare IT Systems: Supporting Care Workers


2021 is for the health and care workers who are possibly among the rare few not threatened with job displacement. This is despite the increased use of technology.  On the contrary, the partnership between them has helped push online care providers into the mainstream. Yet, this is just the beginning.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared

and rightfully so because more than any other group, they are at the frontlines risking their own health caring for those seemingly increasing numbers of patients with Covid.

According to WHO, “the YHCW is an opportunity to draw attention to the need for greater investments in health and care workforce readiness, education and learning to manage the pandemic and its consequences and to roll out the COVID-19 vaccine.

Beyond COVID-19, investments are also needed in health and care workers’ ability to deliver primary health care, manage noncommunicable diseases, and provide mental health services, maternal and child health care, long-term care, and palliative care.”

Healthcare IT: Technology More Than Plays Its Part

Further, WHO also states, “Investments in education, continuing professional development, well-being, and occupational safety in all of these areas are important preconditions for retaining and attracting health and care professionals. Without making health and care work a desirable and supported career path. Countries will also struggle to attract newcomers, including in rural areas. Moreover, it will also be challenging to progress towards universal health coverage and stronger, more resilient health systems.”

While Exist Healthcare and Medcurial have committed to developing the systems to promote better patient outcomes and better care delivery, YHCW is also a timely reminder of the need for better-designed systems that support positive user experiences enabling happy and productive care providers.

Healthcare IT systems have time and again mitigated the risks of spreading infection for patients and users alike. This is due to the increasing use of online technology. Things are not likely to go back to normal soon. Along with this, the use of telemedicine and remote care portals and protocols will likely continue and spur further improvements.

Unsung heroes for years, the pandemic now gave care workers the attention they deserve. By equipping them with the tools, healthcare IT will always provide them with needed help. This will let them discharge their medical duties the best they can safely while at the front lines—not only for their patients but for their families waiting for them at home.

Check Out Medcurial

Check out our healthcare product, MEDCURIAL. See how it helped some of the biggest hospitals in the country provide better patient outcomes.

Hospital Information System. Java. Java Philippines.

Buy and Build Hospital Information Systems Dilemma Revisited in 2020

Buy and Build Hospital Information Systems Dilemma Revisited in 2020 768 487 Exist Software Labs

What do hospitals have to deal with in choosing to buy or build systems??

Delivering care now generally considers hospital information systems, applications, and software. Despite misgivings about cost as the previous article has pointed out, what first was a tool to ensure operational and financial efficiency, has grown far more valuable and one that continues to become essential in achieving whatever doctor, clinic, or hospital has originally set out to do – provide the right medical care based on data or evidence.

Custom (build) or Off-the-shelf Systems (buy)

The eternal dilemma facing CIOs is whether to build a system from scratch or mold an off-the-shelf application to the needs of the institution. Most decisions are a hybrid mix, but many hospitals lean too far in the emotional direction. When hard data is available, making an emotional decision is not a good business practice! 

TechRepublic says it best:

The major factor that significantly reduces the custom solutions’ ROI is the lack of available personnel with proper skill sets. That is also true in many cases. Such ultimately causes the endeavor to fail as well. It takes many skills to design and deploy a business solution that is both scalable and extensible. 

Unless one of your business areas is product development, there is an extremely high probability that your operations and maintenance technology resources do not include all of the skill sets necessary for a successful solution.

Even worse, the team may not fully understand the problem domain, and may not discover unknown requirements. 

While cost between custom solutions and commercial built products have now been significantly reduced, if you are a clinic or hospital and IT resources are not available within the organization, then the option to look for available solutions in the market makes the most sense. 

Here are key considerations for picking an off-the-shelf solution vs building a custom one which is also essentially a choice between product and vendor support:

A product vendor who is responsible for adapting the product to technological advancements that are aligned with your overall strategy.

They should be capable of providing immediate and long-term support to your organization.

The product can meet most of the core business requirements.

It should also be able to accommodate unsupported core business requirements via enhancements or additional modules.

Reality-check

The allure of both custom and off-the-shelf software is that all requirements can be satisfied, but that is a delusion. 

Requirements are not just about features but about other system characteristics and technologies. While features reflect the immediate need for hospitals or clinics, long-term benefits impact ROI on either option. Clarifying business goals and finding the right partners that will help the organization over the course of 3-5 business years are the keys to achieving these long-term benefits.

Learn more and read a previous article where Philippine healthcare IT leaders share their thoughts about hospital information systems on this link.

Check Out Medcurial

Check out our healthcare product, MEDCURIAL. See how it helped some of the biggest hospitals in the country provide better patient outcomes.