Introduction
Healthcare quality and compliance management can be complex and time-consuming. To provide high-quality care to patients and meet the strict regulations set by governing bodies, healthcare organisations are increasingly turning to software to modernise their processes.
In this short guide, we will explore the existing healthcare quality & compliance challenges for healthcare providers, and provide tips for overcoming them.
What are healthcare quality and compliance management and why are they important?
Healthcare quality management is the process of ensuring that healthcare organisations provide high-quality care to their patients. This involves setting and enforcing standards for quality, as well as monitoring and improving the care that is provided. Quality management plays an important part in the healthcare sector, as it helps protect patients and ensures that they receive the best possible care.
Compliance is the process of ensuring that healthcare organisations meet the standards set by governing bodies. These standards are designed to protect patients and ensure that they receive high-quality care. Ensuring compliance with healthcare regulations can be complex and time-consuming, but it is essential to maintaining a high standard of care.
What are the existing challenges for organisations trying to manage these processes?
Let's face it. Healthcare quality, patient safety and compliance tools have had very little innovation in the last 20 years. Healthcare providers often have to use clunky paper-based forms, spreadsheets, email and hyperlinked documents to manage and tie systems together - but these tools are fundamentally broken. They're time-consuming to use and lack the oversight you need.
One of the biggest issues is the amount of data that needs to be processed. To make accurate and informed decisions, healthcare organisations need to have access to timely and accurate data. However, managing this data can be difficult, especially when it is spread out across different locations and systems.
Overview of top challenges:
Paper-based systems are often inefficient and slow down the process.
Keeping up with changing regulations is an onerous task
It can be difficult to track or retrieve information when it is needed.
There is a risk of losing important data or documents.
Difficult to measure the effectiveness of interventions or initiatives
Difficult to coordinate different departments and staff members.
Process lag and lack of feedback to staff can mean driving engagement in quality improvement initiatives is near impossible
In order to overcome these challenges, healthcare organisations are increasingly turning to software…
Benefits of using healthcare quality and compliance management software
As a healthcare provider, there are many benefits of using software to manage healthcare quality and compliance. Perhaps the most obvious benefit is that software can help organisations overcome many of the challenges associated with managing quality manually, such as tracking and managing data captured during audits, incident and patient complaints forms, retrieving data, and analysing information...
Shine a light on 'dark data':
Healthcare quality management software can help to overcome the challenges mentioned above by providing a centralised system for managing data. This can help to make it easier to access and analyse data, as well as provide a more efficient way of processing it.
Unlock more time to care:
In addition, healthcare quality management software can also provide tools for automating tasks such as report generation and data entry. This can help to free up time for staff so that they can focus on more important tasks.
Empower staff for better engagement and results:
Another benefit of healthcare quality management software is that it can help organisations improve communication and collaboration between different departments and team members. By using a centralised system, all team members who need it can have access to the same information and data, which can help to streamline processes and make it easier to identify potential issues or problems, or design benchmarking reports. In addition, software technology can also help to create a more efficient workflow by automating tasks and notifications.
Become a truly patient-centric organisation
It's important to seek out and act on patient feedback in order to improve the quality of care and patient experience. Feedback can help identify areas where patients are not satisfied with their care and need improvement. Additionally, getting feedback can help identify opportunities to improve the patient experience and make patients feel more engaged in their own care.
A comprehensive healthcare quality management software can help organisations overcome these challenges by providing a flexible and centralised system for collecting and managing patient feedback. Additionally, the software can provide insights and analytics to help identify areas of improvement. By using software with this specialist functionality, organisations can improve the quality of care they provide and make patients feel more engaged in their own care.
How to get started with healthcare quality and compliance software
If you're looking to get started with healthcare quality and compliance software, there are a few things you'll want to keep in mind.
First, it's important to find a system that meets your specific needs. There are a variety of software options available, so be sure to do your research before making a decision. (For a more detailed example of specification questions, drop us an email and we’d be happy to send you one.)
Another important element to consider is to make sure that the software is compatible with existing technologies.
Once you've found the right software for your needs, it's important to get everyone on board. Make sure all stakeholders are aware of the system and how it can be used to improve quality and compliance. The system should be intuitive enough to ensure only minimal training is required to get everyone up to speed.
Find out if any of your shortlisted providers are happy to provide a free trial or can support you during a 'proof of value' period, where they will configure the system to meet your specific requirements and help out your business case.
Healthcare quality management software can be a valuable tool for any organisation. By taking the time to find the right system and get everyone on board, you can overcome a variety of challenges and improve quality and compliance in your healthcare organisation.
Tips for implementing healthcare quality management software successfully across an organisation
When choosing healthcare quality management software, selecting the software that best meets your needs is important.
Make a plan - It is important to have a clear plan for how the software will be implemented and used within your organisation - from an initial free trial to an extensive organisation-wide rollout. This will help ensure that everyone is on the same page and knows what to expect. Your chosen vendor should be highly experienced in project management and delivery of a wide variety of implementation projects. Talk to them for advice and guidance early on in the planning stages to minimise surprises!
Train staff - It is essential that staff are properly trained in how to use the software. This will help them feel confident in using it and ensure that they can get the most out of it. Training can take many forms from train-the-trainer, live virtual/in-person, on-demand webinars, to how-to PDFs and videos. Make sure your provider provides access to an experienced customer support team and strong SLA (service level agreement).
Monitor progress - Once the software is up and running, it is important to monitor its progress. This will help you identify any areas where improvements can be made. A proactive implementation team will check in regularly with you to help fine tune the system and ensure workflows meet your needs.
Get feedback - It is also important to get feedback from staff on how they are finding the software. This will help you to make any necessary changes and ensure that the software is meeting their needs.
By following these tips, you can help ensure that healthcare quality management software is successfully implemented across your organisation. This will in turn help to improve the quality of care that you can provide.
Final thoughts:
Overall, healthcare quality and compliance management software provides organisations with many benefits that can help to improve the quality of care provided.
By automating tasks, improving communication and collaboration, and providing easy access to data and information, software systems can help organisations overcome many of the challenges associated with quality management, making the process more efficient and effective. In turn, this can help to improve the quality of care provided to patients and clients.
If you are not sure about things like cost, if it’s too disruptive or even how to get started, then we’d love to share some ideas on what’s working well with your peers locally and internationally. Visit our ‘Contact Us’ page to get in touch.
Thanks for reading!