In today’s rapidly evolving healthcare industry, optimizing operational efficiency and ensuring seamless coordination among various departments and stakeholders are critical…
Enter Healthcare Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions.
By combining robust business intelligence software, efficient data management capabilities, and process automation tools, healthcare ERP solutions empower hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare providers to streamline their operations, enhance patient care, and drive sustainable growth over time.
This article will offer a more in-depth view of enterprise resource planning solutions in the healthcare industry, as well as where our team of ERP consultants can come in to help.
Read on to learn more!
What is ERP in Healthcare?
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions are used as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) across industries to help companies centralize their most important data, including human resources, accounting, project management, and supply chain operations, and improve the efficiency of their business operations. But, ERP in healthcare takes this one step further…
In the healthcare industry, ERP solutions help break down barriers related to data siloes and decentralized systems, improving the accessibility, visibility, and accuracy of patient data and leading to better patient safety and reduced operational costs in the long run.
A healthcare ERP system also make it easier for healthcare professionals to keep track of electronic medical records (EMRs) for patients and streamline operations across their organization, from patient registration to medication administration, medical history, and more.
How Does Healthcare ERP Work?
In outdated legacy systems, healthcare information, like patient history and medication records, is scattered across multiple specialized subsystems that don’t always play nicely with each other, making it quite the feat to manage complex data in an efficient manner.
But, with modern enterprise resource planning software, healthcare organizations are enabled to bring multiple different data sources together in one system to improve patient data management and accessibility across the board.
This way, caregivers have access to the data they need whenever and wherever they need it, making it easier for them to share relevant data across clinical and back-end systems, provide more accurate and efficient care, and promote better resource allocation and cost tracking.
Why Do Healthcare Organizations Need ERP Solutions?
While healthcare organizations do focus primarily on human health, their internal operations and back-office functions typically require a more industrial approach. Let’s take a look at they main ways healthcare ERP systems help companies find a balance between the two…
1) Better access to important patient data
Healthcare organizations deal with a large amount of data from multiple sources, including individual patient records, financial transactions, inventory management, and regulatory compliance.
A healthcare ERP system helps to centralize and streamline such data, allowing for real-time access to important information, more accurate reporting, and improved decision-making across teams and departments.
2) Improved operational efficiency
Organizations across the healthcare industry must navigate intricate processes involving various departments, such as scheduling, billing, procurement, and human resources.
And, ERP solutions help with this by automating and optimizing these processes, reducing errors, eliminating redundancies, and enhancing overall efficiency.
3) Better change management
The ever-evolving healthcare landscape demands compliance with (sometimes complex) regulatory requirements and quality standards for patient care and data management.
Healthcare ERP systems enable healthcare companies to maintain compliance with regulations and laws, track regulatory changes across the organization, and ensure adherence to industry best practices for the best quality care possible.
Main Healthcare ERP Solutions Across the Industry
Some software vendors, including SAP, Oracle, and Microsoft Dynamics, offer ERP solutions that are not specific to the healthcare industry. However, other solutions provide solutions that are targeted specifically at the healthcare industry, offering both the connectivity and cross-collaboration needed for hospitals and health systems to process data more efficiently.
A few key factors to consider when choosing the right healthcare ERP solution include…
- Supply chain management for growing and evolving organizations
- Robust employee and patient management functions
- Reduction/elimination of repetitive data entry and human error
- Predictive analytics and AI functionality for better patient care
- Centralized financial management data across locations
- Regulatory compliance and risk management to ensure high quality care
Now that we’ve determined the most important features to look for in a healthcare ERP solution, let’s take a closer look at a few key ERP software providers across the industry…
For smaller healthcare organizations:
ERP solutions for small or midsized healthcare organizations must be able to withstand change and cater to organizational growth, all while keeping total costs of ownership as low as possible. Here are a few examples…
Oracle NetSuite
Oracle NetSuite offers integrated features, like financial management, billing, human resources, customer relationship management (CRM), asset management, and more to help small-to-midsize healthcare companies integrate data in real time, reduce operational costs, and withstand future organizational growth.
SAP Business One
SAP Business One is an ERP solution designed to help smaller healthcare organizations integrate their most important business functions — human capital management, supply chain management, compliance management, and financial management — in one system.
SAP Business ByDesign
SAP Business ByDesign is a cloud-based ERP software solution that offers integrated functionality to connect operations across departments, localizations in more than 80 countries, and advanced features that cater to company growth (without a huge investment.)
For larger healthcare systems:
ERP for healthcare organizations that are already up-and-running helps to provide better agility, flexibility, and functionality across teams and provides more efficient data processing and management opportunities across the entire organization. Here are a few examples…
Workday
Workday, a major ERP software provider across virtually all industries, has become one of the top choices for large healthcare organizations, providing human capital management, billing, and financial management features to connect all data and operations in the same place.
Microsoft Dynamics 365
With a greater emphasis on its Healthcare Industry Cloud, Microsoft Dynamics 365 has extended its core features, including finance, sales, operations, and service management, to the healthcare industry, enabling organizations to improve flexibility, interconnectivity, and compliance across the entire enterprise.
Oracle ERP Cloud
The Oracle ERP Cloud solution allows larger healthcare companies to manage (and integrate) back-office operations more efficiently, including human resources, accounting, financial, and supply chain processes, in a single cloud-based solution. And with tight integration between teams and departments, this ERP platform is suitable for organizations with complex company structures and processes, such as large hospitals or health systems.
Infor
The Infor CloudSuite Healthcare solution delivers a fully-integrated, cloud-based ERP suite, including applications for human resources, financial and accounting, and supply chain management, to help organizations improve the usability and flexibility of their software and leverage centralized enterprise data and operations to enhance efficiency across the board.
Key Advantages of Healthcare ERP Systems
Healthcare organizations leverage efficient ERP systems to not only deliver better outcomes for patients, but also provide a more engaging and rewarding experience for employees.
Let’s take a closer look at a few of the main advantages of ERP in healthcare…
Improved Patient Care
With easier, more efficient access to patient information, including medical history, current medication records, and medical imaging reports, and real-time insight into a patient’s medical records, any healthcare organization can improve the speed of care and facilitate more informed decisions about patient care and treatment plans.
Lower Operational Costs
ERP for healthcare provides better insights into core organizational operations, making it easier for company executives and system administrators to access and analyze current processes and identify areas for improvement.
This not only helps healthcare companies understand where their money is being spent, but also resolve inefficient operations to reduce operating costs in the long run.
Better Data Management
By providing a centralized source of truth for company and patient data, ERP solutions simplify data management and make it easier for employees to access the data they need, whenever and wherever they need it.
So, whether the data you need is related to a shipment of medical supplies arriving soon, an MRI record for a patient in critical condition, or the financial health of your organization, optimized ERP solutions help you collect, manage, analyze, store, and share such data more effectively and efficiently across teams and business units.
Automated Financial Processes
ERP solutions provide features that simplify financial management across departments by helping administrators and executives understand where money is going and how effectively it’s being used. This way, healthcare organizations can create more accurate financial forecasts to plan and manage future financial and spending needs across the board.
Enhanced Data Analytics and Reporting
Healthcare ERP solutions provide up-to-date patient information and better insight into the full care continuum. And, with better analysis and comprehensive reporting, company administrators and caregivers can quickly identify issues across the system, protect patient data more effectively, and prevent bottlenecks in the patient care lifecycle.
How Can We Help?
Whether you need help implementing a healthcare ERP solution for the first time, additional support migrating important patient data from an outdated legacy system to a cloud-based ERP solution, or just an extra hand streamlining operations across your patient communication systems, Surety Systems is here to help.
Our team of senior-level, US-based ERP consultants has the knowledge, skills, and experience needed to lead you to success, regardless of the size of your company, complexity of your organizational structure, or nature of your project needs.
Getting Started with Our Team
Interested in learning more about our healthcare ERP consulting services?
Know you need a modern ERP solution to improve operations across your healthcare facilities, but don’t know where to begin your journey?
Contact us today to get started with our team of ERP software consultants!
