Editor’s Note: This post is sponsored by Samsung.
Today’s healthcare sector strives to achieve profitability and success under some of the most challenging business conditions driven by declining margins and provider consolidation. When deciding where and how to begin integrating mobility solutions into day-to-day operations, providers should keep the following eight best practices in mind:
1. Establish Strategy Team & Makeup
These are the actual users of the mobile solutions and should be represented throughout the process and take an active part in any decisions made that surrounds the mobility plan. Their input is vital for success since they know what will help them on a daily basis and where the major need is in terms of care for the home patients.
2. Define and Prioritize Pain Points
What is the first area that needs addressing? Do you need to reduce paperwork, meet regulatory standards, create a new revenue stream or improve the quality of patient care? There’s typically an intense pressure for organizations to reduce costs while improving outcomes. Defining what your organization needs first will allow for a more concise plan in the end.
3. Choose the Right Mobility Partner
This includes mobile device manufactures, wireless carriers, mobile app developers and system integrators. Solicit recommendations from peers, interview prospects and evaluate the pros and cons that each brings to the table. Which mobile devices are right for your organization and what carrier has the best services in order to achieve your job duties and goals?
4. Cloud vs In-House: Can your Technical Support Your Mobility Plans?
Pre-built apps vs. customized? Do you want these apps to be purchased and ready to go or created from scratch to fit the needs of your organization? If it is a custom-build, will it be built by someone in-house or an outside vendor?
Depending on the level of your in-house team, be sure to weigh cloud-based options versus on-premise solutions. Cloud-based solutions are managed by the administrator so if there is a team member in-house, this may be cost effective and easy. If the app is created and managed by a third-party, it may get pricey.
5. Determine the Right IT Infrastructure
Mobile form factor/operating system: decide what mobile form factor and operation system will work best for your organization. What do you need the device to do? Will a mobile phone easily do the trick or will you require larger display sizes and the processing power of a tablet?
Will you have access to Wi-Fi or will you need that built in and turned on via the wireless carrier, which will increase costs? To save time, providers can choose a system that will focus on delivering results instead of building, managing, securing, updating and patching up the infrastructure – significantly reducing IT costs and app time to market.
6. Don’t Skimp on Security
Providers looking to use mobile devices in their practice has to ensure enterprise-grade security. Patient data must be HIPAA compliant. Since there is an increase in HIPAA regulatory fines, organizations should be extra diligent when choosing their security programs to reduce infractions. Healthcare organizations that fail to implement necessary security as required by HIPAA risk exposing sensitive PHI and may incur the high costs of non-compliance. Types of HIPAA Security Rules and safeguards that you should ask about are: Administrative, physical and technical, and if the program comes with organization requirements, policies and procedures, and documentation requirements. Also ask if the provider will sign a BAA to cover services and underlying infrastructure. Data should be encrypted with signed certificates when data is in transit.
7. Choose the Best Data Plan for Your Organization
Data Plans: Choose the best plan that will accomplish the goals you seek. Plan to shop and compare. Be prepared to negotiate data plans, overage charges, storage space, etc. A pooled plan often works best.
8. Define the Implementation Approach: Phased vs. Big Bang
The two most common types of strategies for implementation are “big bang” and phased approach. Big bang is a “all-at-once” approach where the new system will go-live across the entire healthcare enterprise. This high-risk approach can lower costs and provide a faster return on investment. However, this approach requires extensive planning and can cause major disruptions to operations leading to lower productivity as users adapt to the new solution.
In contrast, a phased or pilot approach only deploy a specific department or assigned group of users before deploying it to the rest of the enterprise. This low risk approach allows healthcare organizations to resolve any potential technical and workflow issues prior to rolling it out to other departments.
Overall, it is important to have a strong advisory committee established to access costs, operating expenses productivity impact, and well-defined success metrics.
Conclusion
Mobility is poised to make a huge impact in healthcare with connected medical and wearable devices as well as patient adherence apps to manage chronic diseases and help those that need medical assistance in the home stay in the home. Mobile devices will help increase productivity, lower costs and improve patient-centric care. Implementing a strategy and plan on how to use mobile devices in your organization will ensure a smooth transition and keep your patients, and your practice, happy.
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