CIOInsider India Magazine

CK Birla Hospitals offer 800 plus beds with comprehensive outpatient and inpatient services. Working on a mission to providing quality healthcare for all, the hospitals so far have performed over 5.5 lakh successful surgeries, 1.9 lakh Cath lab procedures and 22,000 critical cardiac surgeries.

Today let’s look at the Healthcare Services from a Consumer perspective. Businesses believe Customer is King and is always right! Let’s relate this to Healthcare Services, does it hold true?

Sound health is central to human happiness and well-being. Demand for more and better healthcare services keeps increasing from consumers all over the world. Does the Consumer really get great healthcare services at an affordable price? Sadly, no! Nevertheless, there is increasing awareness among masses regarding health measures, more among the ones using smart phones with android and IOS apps which enable them to learn effective and efficient methods to prevent diseases.

Unlike the golden era, today's Patient or the Medical Services Consumer, is well informed in most cases about health services. He is confident on what to expect from a Doctor and the Hospital and knows his rights clearly. In most cases he is well-versed with technology; carries cellular devices and expects all his medical information at his fingertips. Healthcare reach for the middle class has increased manifold due to the opening up of Health Insurance as a Cashless Service.

What is technology in Healthcare really doing for the masses?
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has made significant contributions in Healthcare Services to enhance cost-effectiveness & transparency of service delivery. Healthcare Technology is growing daily in leaps & bounds and is the Consumer, really the focal point of all this growth? Yes, but at a high cost.

Information Technology as an enabler in healthcare has been a disruptive force and has become an integral part of a hospital's strategy. We CIOs, are constantly on our toes to engage with newer technology and strategise how to make it worthwhile for the Patient, Doctors and the Hospital. ICT will definitely reduce the cost of health delivery and get things done faster.

Healthcare IT has gathered steam in the last few years with loads of hospitals struggling to go beyond simple billing solution. A clear roadmap for automation makes the whole process faster and result-oriented.

Fully integrated ERP - HIMS, LIS, RIS, PACS, EMR, e-ICU & Patient Portal with Payment Gateway
• HIMS is the core of a Hospital and must be implemented as an integrated workflow-based IT solution of Frontend and Backend modules. It enables end-to-end automation of a Hospital, digitizing Patient Records, Administrative re¬cords and ensures complete accuracy and transparency to the consumer.

• It facilitates transparency in billing system. Patients know exactly what they need to pay for various services, refunds that are due, charges of medicines and Doctor Fees across the strata of Patient Categories.

• EMR implementation drives towards a paperless environment in a structured workflow to collate Appointments, Consultations, Diagnostics, Medication Prescriptions, Diet Orders and Clinical Assessments all in one place and is available at the click of a button.

• Online Medical Records reduce the dependency on patients carrying their health records physically.

• With LIS, RIS & PACS (automated Investigative, Diagnostics reporting and digital storage of Radiology, Cardiology, OTs, and many more), Medical Records of Patients can be speedily accessed and shared where consented, say to Corporates, Insurance and other payers for speedy settlement of Bills. Patients benefit by not having to carry all information around on CDs and Paper.