
With a lot of hard work engaging with healthcare facilities and organizations, we have recognized and witnessed a tremendous increase in efficiency after the employment of a robust policy management software. However, despite the improvement in efficiency, we have seen some hesitation in taking the first step to commit to a policy management software. This is understandable, as most leading policy management software may be highly priced and require a big investment. Hence, we decided it would be helpful to lay out exactly how it helps increase efficiency in the workload of a hospital setting, in order to help you recognize the benefits. With that said, it should be advised that a policy management software may not always be a “one-size fits all” product. Different software meet different client needs, therefore, you may find that PolicyManager is the perfect fit for you facility’s needs, or it may be that another vendor’s offering is a better match; we’ll let you decide for yourself.
Manage Workflow
A powerful policy and procedure management software should provide a comprehensive technology solution on managing different stages of a policy or procedure document. Normally these stages include, authoring, editing, and reviewing.
In the authoring and editing stage, it is imperative to be able to control the versions of the document in order to raise work efficiency. In the traditional method of conducting documents, it may become very time-consuming and liable to make mistakes as there is no central version control of documents to fall back on. If several users are editing or writing a document at the same time, it is only natural for confusions and mistakes to occur. Therefore, the need of having a central version control feature for documents becomes even more essential. In addition, communication via email may not always be the optimal option in terms of time-sensitivity. Therefore, it would be very ideal for a solution which allows authors the ability to work online on the same document, at the same time, while having the feature of workflow management to tackle any adverse consequences resulting from the collaboration. It is also beneficial if the software has the ability of giving regular notifications and reminders regarding authoring and editing updates and changes.
In the reviewing stage, in-time reminders play very crucial role due to the possibility that there might be lots of documents that need to be reviewed. In addition, a good solution should have the ability to keep all records and history for a policy document for future references.
Protect Documents
The biggest advantage of adopting policy management software solution is to build, store, search, and manage in a paperless way. It will stop you from worrying about losing paper documents.
However, there are still two questions you must ask. The first question to ask is, where are the documents (data) stored? The storage must be located in a place with full protection of natural disasters and human damages. Data should also be backed-up frequently to avoid any loss. The second question is, who has the access to certain documents. A progressive policy management software solution should provide the best security possible to protect your documents from those who should not have access to it.
Minimize Processing Time
One of the other factors to consider is the fact that in healthcare institutions, most employees are very busy and barely have any time to allocate to organize and manage policies. For example, surgeons and nurses may only have a few minutes to spare to find and review the newest policies that relate to them. Hence, the perfect software for health care industry should be able to allow such users to finish their tasks within a matter of minutes, through a few clicks.
The general way to reduce processing time is to allow users to access the software any time on any device. Nowadays, websites and smart phone applications are the most easy to access applications. Therefore, a competitive software provider, allows its solutions to be compatible across various different devices.
Secondly, a good software allows its busy users to access the policies and procedures documents they seek in the most convenient way possible. For example, an effective policy management solution would provide its users a section of newly published policies, or of documents that are categorized for specific users who are required to read them. Also, an email notification or having direct access to specific documents can be very helpful feature as well.
Thirdly, gathering feedback from users that are suffering from time-poverty should be done in a swift manner. For instance, if a policy requires a user’s signature, it should no longer take more than a minute to accomplish.
Get Timely Support
Recently, a software is being considered to be more like a service. Purchasing software is no longer a one-time deal. It also includes continuously upgrades and support services. Software vendor should offer comprehensive service through implementation, training, and daily usage. A great customer support team should have a sophisticated client communication portal, and a deadline of providing useful feedback or solution, ideally in 24 hours. Also, the software solution itself should be updated and enhanced frequently to meet the clients’ needs.
Considering all these requirements and needs, we, at PolicyMedical, strive to develop solutions that help enhance the efficiency and productivity of our clients and their organizations. However, we also realize that we may not everyone’s cup of tea and that there may be other offerings that might suit your needs better. On that end, we are more than happy to assist you in coming to the right conclusion. If you are interested to take the first step in finding the right solution, or require more information on PolicyManager, please do not hesitate to contact us. Alternatively, you may also book a free demo to see how our solutions work.