Healthcare reporting systems are often seen as another level of red tape and middle management that gets in the way of proper healthcare.
However, they are extremely useful, and can provide a lot of invaluable and essential information.
Here's what you need to know.
1.
Healthcare reporting systems can show exactly how well the hospital, practice or surgery is doing at a given time.
This means that it's possible to identify areas that need more, or fewer staff and resources, immediately, and so ensure that the level of healthcare that can be provided is appropriate.
2.
As many hospitals and other surgeries and practices are on multiple sites, perhaps in different towns, it's much easer to see what's going on at the other locations, without having to visit or ring up and ask.
You'll be able to see straight away what you need to know.
3.
Different staff and departments need different sorts of reports.
A healthcare reporting system can produce reports for the number of staff in, or needed in a department, what resources are needed where in the hospital, and of course, financial reports.
4.
Thanks to these reports, it's much easier to produce highly accurate predictions of the resources and staff required for a given period.
Perhaps you'll notice that more casualty staff are needed at weekends, or a GP surgery will be busier on a Monday.
Knowing what resources are needed where will make the department, hospital or GP surgery more efficient, and can mean that healthcare is delivered in a timely manner.
5.
Having the right number of staff in the right place and the right time will ensure that appropriate staffing levels are met, and will help to reduce waiting times.
It might be that Tuesday morning is busier than Friday night, or that more staff are needed when the various clinics are being held.
6.
Resources, such as beds and wheelchairs, can be allocated better when there's an idea of how many will be needed, and how many are currently being used.
You might also find areas for improvement in other departments so that resources can be freed up quicker, or can be better organised.
7.
Thanks to knowing what's going on in your department, or perhaps all departments, it's possible to reduce waiting times.
In departments such as casualty, having the right number of staff in at the right time, is essential.
With an efficient healthcare reporting system, you'll know that you are well equipped to deal with the expected number of patients, whether in an outpatients' clinic, or emergency surgery.
8.
Healthcare reporting systems need to be easy to use, so that reports can be set up quickly and easily, whether the standard reports, or particular custom reports.
You won't want to spend your time trying to fathom out how to see the information you need.
9.
The healthcare reporting system you choose needs to be quick to learn.
Ideally, it will be look like a familiar PC style application, so that you know where to find everything.
If there's a steep learning curve, then it might be a barrier to the system being used effectively.
10.
As the healthcare reporting system runs on a normal PC, installation and maintenance costs are likely to be kept to a minimum.
You won't need dedicated support staff on hand to guide you through every little aspect.
You'll just be able to get on with serving the needs of your patients.
Now you know more about the sort of impact they can have, isn't it time for you to think more about healthcare reporting systems?