Best Hospital Management Software

Today’s techno-savvy medical establishments strive to provide excellent patient care. In this regard, implementing healthcare IT at an unprecedented pace is a promising premise for modern hospitals. Technology proves to be a driving force for further developments in the healthcare field. Incorporation of IT in healthcare provides immense relief not only to patients, doctors, healthcare providers, and hospital management but also to healthcare technology developers. Regulators, auditors, insurance companies, and investors prefer electronic systems and automated real-time data as the foremost requirements for high-quality hospitals.

Automation is critical to simplify the management of the rising volume, complexity, and velocity, evolving from the manual process.

Hospital management systems empower patients, improve the work efficiency of doctors, and enhance care by real-time analytics. This buyer's guide intends to provide a detailed analysis of all factors before investing in a hospital information management system.

Hospital management software, also known as the hospital information management system or hospital management system, is a set of applications and modules that assist hospitals in managing their workflow efficiently. It empowers hospitals and healthcare organizations to function organizationally and build capacities that boost patient engagement and satisfaction. The hospital software can manage all core areas of hospital management along with other functions such as insurance claim management, pharmacy, blood bank, labs, back office, reception, recruitment, etc.

• Desktop-based/On-Premise
  These types of hospital management software are licensed, and hospitals can install them within their IT infrastructure. On-premise hospital management systems are highly customizable. Hospitals seeking to keep their data on their servers can opt for on-premise hospital information management systems.
• Web-based
  Third-party hospital management solution providers offer online hospital management software. Web-based online hospital solutions can be accessed from anywhere with internet availability. Hospital admins, doctors, nurses, patients, staff, and management members can access the portal with their secure login ID and password. Admins can grant and control access to which part of the portal users can access.
• Cloud-based
  The cloud-based hospital management software is popular with large hospitals that require high-speed interface, extreme flexibility, and massive data storage capabilities. It is a SaaS (Software as a Service) )-based solution hosted through third-party cloud service providers.
• Open Source
  The open-source hospital management software allows users to customize programming codes, modify default settings, and integrate external plugins to enhance the system's core working functionalities and utility. Hospitals requiring customized solutions can opt for open-source hospital management software.

Running a hospital in the current business environment amidst scarce resources, overburdened medical staff,  expensive utilities, a cash-strapped finance department, and ever-changing regulations and technology is complex. Worldwide, hospitals are witnessing a massive staff shortage, medical supplies, medicines, personal protective equipment, etc., during the Covid-19 pandemic. Below are the critical challenges faced by hospitals :

• Maintaining health records of thousands of patients and also keeping them accessible
• The safety of their patient's medical records is another point of concern.
• The sudden shortage of medical supplies and maintaining supply chain
• Data security and fighting cyber attacks
• Remote and secure access to telemedicine without disruption
• Ensuring regulatory compliance such as HIPAA, CDC
• Rising operational and maintenance costs
• Providing timely medicare reimbursement by coordinating with insurance companies
• Ensuring patient engagement and satisfaction
• Keeping staff turnover in control
• Managing time, making and implementing the schedule
• Reducing errors in administering medication, lab reports, and diagnostic test
• Managing emergencies

For hassle-free hospital workflow, many important clinical and administrative decisions are required. HMS software can handle different sections and multiple tasks of core healthcare services, along with its administrative, regulatory, and financial aspects.

Automating vital processes, unifying everyday operations, and simplifying patient interaction points are key benefits of implementing a robust hospital information system. Hospital management software is designed to meet hospital authorities' and patients' expectations and needs.

Internet-enabled connected medical devices and a transparent healthcare model accompanied by fast-delivering hospital management software can scale up your healthcare business.

For instance, hospital management software comes with pre-set templates for appointment booking, diagnostic reports for various tests, nurse-doctor reporting, etc. Filling all these reports online is easy, and all data will be stored securely in the HMS software's database. It helps hospitals to get rid of bloated and disorganized processes.

With everything streamlined and organized correctly, hospitals have a high chance of getting good rankings/credits from insurance companies, regulators, rating agencies, investors, etc. Hospitals can deploy HMS to gain better reviews from patients and other quality hospitals for referral purposes.

Easy registration process

Patients are saved from filling out long registration forms and admission forms as HMS software ensures a smooth and hassle-free intuitive registration process.

No delay in accessing medical records

The hospital management software stores test results, prescriptions, and the patient's medical history in a secure database that doctors can access immediately without delay. This can save a life in critical emergency conditions.

Improved team coordination

Hospitals can ensure an engaging work environment and enhanced teamwork with streamlined communication between doctors, nurses, and staff.

Full control of processes

Hospital administration can monitor and control daily operations, billing, and payments, oversee medical staff's work, and manage existing resources, marketing activities, suppliers, etc., from a single dashboard.

Saves time

Hospitals can quickly plan, organize, and conduct activities with precise services, patient self-service portals, and an improved information system.

Save costs

With automated systems, hospitals can work with a reduced workforce. It also helps minimize documentation, accounting, reporting, and storage costs.

Better customer experience

Today's hospitals are patient-oriented. Striving for complete patient satisfaction is a foremost priority for hospitals. HMS software can assist hospitals in this goal by offering patients a great experience and ease.

No space for errors

Wrong billing, clashes in scheduling an appointment, allotment of same rooms or beds to two patients, stock shortage due to forgotten purchase order email, mixing of lab reports, nurses forgetting medication time, etc., are errors that frequently happen in busy hospitals. Minimum manual intervention with automated processes and constant reminder notifications reduce the possibility of errors.

It makes healthcare accessible and efficient.

The collaboration of hospital management systems with technologies such as RPM, precision medicine, AI, Telemedicine, and virtual assistants makes healthcare accessible and efficient.

Patient information sharing in real-time for informed decisions

Doctors and nurses can share patient information in real-time to make informed decisions. The data can be shared with senior doctors who are not in the hospital for consultation and medical advice.

Other benefits of deploying a hospital management system

• Effective internal communication
• Full implementation of hospital policies
• Uninterrupted supplies secure financial transactions
• Frictionless staff-patient interaction
• Efficient and accurate hospital administration
• Better clinical decision-making
• Better revenue
• Excellent reviews and ratings
• Paperless work environment

The next wave of healthcare is about patient convenience and personalized care. Hospital information management systems have made healthcare a participatory entity where patients collaborate in many aspects of the healthcare ecosystem. The integration of HMS software with wearables, IoT, and health monitoring devices has enabled patients to participate in their treatment journey.

Data sharing between patients and doctors has enabled patients to engage with their physicians right from when symptoms are developed until the finalization of future health strategies.

Imagine a patient is getting all updates about his current health status on their mobile device along with instructions to follow and the convenience of informing the doctor in real-time in case of emergency. From frictionless appointment booking to the hassle-free discharge process, the game-changing hospital management solutions enhance customer satisfaction through digital engagement. Patients feel safe in the hands of hospitals that deliver exceptional services by building capacities that patients find helpful. Such hospitals are surely going to gain more traction from the customers.

Even during pandemic situations, opportunistic cyber attackers continue their activities rigorously to steal patients' insurance data, hospital account information, and patients' credit and debit card data. When hospitals race against time to fight the epidemic and pandemic situations, they can get dual blows due to data theft losses and fraudulent transactions. While a patient's health is a top priority for hospitals, securing all IoT devices, patient's sensitive information, donation records, and doctor's account information is also more crucial than ever.

Even terrorist organizations can mess up the lab data and change blood bank records to create a stir to tarnish a country's healthcare image. In such cases, unprepared hospitals can become an easy target.

Therefore, safeguarding all patient-generated, lab, and financial data by deploying robust hospital management software is the best decision hospitals can ever make in such pressing times. Hospital software prevents crucial data from becoming inaccessible to hospitals due to cyber attacks.

The emergency notification system of hospital management software can prevent the spread of unnerving rumors, misinformation, and misleading facts in panic situations. HMS software can also implement telemedicine modules for greater reach, provide access to pandemic resources, timely manage inventory needs to address equipment shortage issues, etc.

In the Industry 4.0 revolution, healthcare has shifted from treatment to prevention. Recent research by Gartner states that one of the five top emerging healthcare trends is the focus on preventive care. Hospitals can suggest preventive measures and guidelines to patients only when their doctors and nurses are safe. Many hospitals have reported cases of their medical staff getting infectious diseases while treating patients.

A hospital management system has features such as telehealth, integration with robotics, online consultation, patient self-assessment through wearable devices, and doctors getting the data even before meeting the patients in person, ensuring minimum physical contact between patients and doctors. With such features, doctors can treat patients with high contagion risk without frequent physical contact.

Telemedicine

Many people cannot make it to hospitals in time due to poor health conditions, unavailability of transport (during strikes, lockdowns, riots, etc.), and distance issues. Telemedicine is a potential solution to mitigate all the above problems by providing at-home virtual medical consultations. It can also help a local doctor get medical assistance from an expert doctor sitting thousands of miles away. 

Remote Patient Monitoring

Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) enables doctors to use audio-visual devices connected to the internet to provide vital treatment to patients far from the doctors. The remote monitoring system can capture heart rate, pulse rate, temperature, oxygen flow, etc., and send it to doctors' devices. RPM technology is very beneficial when the doctor treating the patient is unavailable in the hospital for various reasons. In such cases, the doctors can still monitor and treat the patient or at least convey an informed clinical decision to other doctors about the following treatment based on the data received via RPM.

Wearables

Wearables such as fitness trackers, smartwatches, wearables, smart apparel, and smart glasses have revolutionized the healthcare industry by providing easy monitoring systems, especially for those with chronic illnesses. Low development costs and inexpensive sensors have led to massive growth in wearable technology. 

AI and machine learning

Artificial intelligence unearths relevant insights from the bulk of healthcare data. Today, medical institutions monetize their insights through patents, publications, and research reports. The focus has shifted from storing data to extracting insights that can be monetized. Artificial intelligence is proving significant in clinical decision-making. 

Precision Medicine

Precision medicine is a type of personalized treatment approach. It considers factors such as the patient's genetics and environment before initiating treatment for particular diseases. For instance, heart patients are not regarded as similar in type. Each patient can respond differently to the same treatment based on individual genes and the environment. Therefore, doctors refrain from adopting one-size-fits-all medications in diseases related to heart, cancer, arthritis, tumors, etc. Precision medicine demands the doctor to meticulously study the patients' genetics and environmental conditions to develop a personalized treatment plan for them. 

Blockchain in Medicare

Lab test processing, blood testing, and transfusion, blood distribution to blood banks and hospitals are highly regulated and complex processes that work with a 0% error margin. Blockchain can trace and monitor the whole chain from donors to patients. Hospitals that need blood immediately can track the supply chain network of blood to determine when the blood will be available. Blockchain's secure network provides real-time visibility of the transmitted blood and can build trust with government regulators about the fair use of donated blood. 

Robotics

Robotics has taken a giant leap in healthcare. From disinfecting rooms, friendly chats, and assisting in the supply chain to drawing blood and checking vital body signs, robots are helping in every aspect of the hospitals' operational activities. Robots can monitor a patient's condition for long hours without rest. They can take care of the patient's hygiene condition if needed. Robots can sense an emergency and call doctors immediately. In the development phase, nanorobotics is a high-end technology that allows doctors to remove foreign objects without the need for surgery by sending an ingestible robot into the patient's body. Patients can swallow nanorobots, and doctors with electromagnetic remotes control them. 

Voice Assistants (Alexa)

When Amazon launched Alexa, the HIPAA-compliant voice assistant for doctors, it revolutionized the entire healthcare system. Voice assistants such as Alexa can monitor whether patients have taken medicines. Patients in the hospital ward can ask Alexa to call a nurse if needed. It can also provide medical assistance and advice to ambulance personnel. Doctors can ask Alexa to take down medical notes. 

IoT 

Internet-enabled medical devices can collect, analyze, and store invaluable data about patient's symptoms, health conditions, and vital signs. IoT has enabled doctors to monitor their patients continuously without frequent meetings. Internet-enabled glucometers, BP monitors, Calorie counters, etc. can send real-time data to doctors anytime the doctor wishes to see them. These devices can send alerts to doctors in case the reading is abnormal. 

• Administration, back office, and front desk management 
• Appointment and Scheduling
• OPD, IPD, Operation theatre, and ICU management
• Accounting, Financial and Payroll management
• Pharmacy,  Medicine and other medical stock management
• Laboratory and blood bank management
• Patient Billing and receipts
• EHR/EMR management
• Security Control
• Patient-Doctor portal management
• Telemedicine management

Patient Module

The patient module of the online hospital management system registers every patient, provides them with a unique registration number, and records the patient's personal information, demographic information, previous medical history, and contact information.

In-patient Management

It records the number of in-patients and the number of in-patient requests in a queue. It allows in-patient registration and admission only if sufficient beds are available.

Outpatient Management

This feature handles outpatient registration requests, appointment fixing, and billing. It allows outpatient requests only if sufficient doctors are available in the outpatient ward.

Operation Theatre management

This feature records and manages operation theatre functions. It records operation theatre bookings and, based on the type of operation, automatically makes a list of surgical consumables, protective gear, and medical instruments required. It integrates with the inventory management module of the hospital management system and automatically sends a notification about the items needed for operation.

Billing

This section generates a detailed patient bill with complete details of all charges for all services utilized. It automatically adds all services such as consultation fees, nursing charges, lab reports charges, X-rays, other medical procedures, medicines, room charges if applicable, etc.

Doctor's Portal

This feature creates a separate profile of all doctors working with your hospital. In this section, the data of doctors who have worked in the past is also available. Complete personal and professional information on doctors, their specialization, the number of patients attended and treated, critical incidents, nature of work, etc., are recorded in this section. Doctors can access certain portions of this segment to change or update their details with time.

Pharmacy management

This feature lets the admins or pharmacists authorized by the hospital manage the medicines and necessary drugs. This module is integrated with the prescription module. When the doctor enters the prescription, it automatically shows in the pharmacy segment. Hospitals can track the most prescribed drugs, the current status of drug availability, categories of medicines, etc.

Appointment Management

Patients have access to this section of the HMS software. Patients can see doctors' availability slots and schedule appointments on their own. This section is integrated with the billing section so patients can pay any minimum charge required to book an appointment.

Facility management

This section tracks the availability and management of various facilities for hospital operations, such as rooms for patient's relatives, ambulances, wheelchairs, cafeterias, etc. This software prevents equipment downtime and monitors surgical equipment to ensure uninterrupted workflow.

Inventory management

It caters to replenishment, purchasing new stocks, and managing existing ones. Real-time records of the stock quantities available, pending orders, supplier information, delivery dates, purchase requests, etc., can be availed from this module.

Human Resource Management

Manage the entire staff, job profiles, employee data, recruitment releases, recruitment process, appointment letters, staff grievance redressal, sexual harassment complaints, etc., from one place.

Account management

Records, stores, and manages all the details of payments, bills, receipts, and financial records for auditing purposes.

Insurance services integration

This feature lets the hospital keep accurate records and documents related to patients' health insurance for claim approvals. It also notes the mediclaim policy numbers, sanctioned amount, and the diseases covered.

Lab test management

The management and recording of lab test reports and patient lab data are part of this module. It also generates barcodes for every lab report to segregate two test samples. It keeps a record of all tests conducted till now.

Electronic Medical Records

Electronic health records could save $500 billion in 15 years in the US alone. Doctors can report and update patients' health records online, and all reports related to patients can be accessed from this module.

Helpdesk Management

Information regarding doctors' current status, patient room numbers, doctors' time slots, other staff, etc., can be queried from this section.

Nursing Care

This module helps the nurses in performing their functions efficiently. It sends alerts to nurses about the patient's medication timings. This also allows the nurses to record patient data, such as temperature, pulse rate, etc., in the HMS application. The information can be retrieved in one click when needed. It ensures better patient care.

Ward Management

This feature gives the hospital management details about the number of general and special wards available, occupancy percentage, and available space.

Administrative controls

Over 80% of errors in the healthcare system are administrative. The administrative module provides management and administrative control of the overall HMS software. Admins can give access to others, control access, change settings, turn sections on or off, and see all real-time updates on the dashboard. This is the single point of view of the entire hospital's activities. If the hospital has multiple branches, all can be controlled by the head office.

Telehealthcare management

Hospitals providing telemedicine can manage telehealth services through this online hospital management system module.

Media management

This module handles the social media management section, press releases, media reporting, etc.

Other features

Hospitals should also see if the HMS software has extra amenities and premium features such as an emergency notification system, incident management module, separate blood bank management module, and research and development module.

The costs of hospital management software depend on a large number of factors, such as:

• The number of admins it allows
• Features it offers
• Type of installation: Cloud-based, Web-based, cloud-based or on-premise software, open-source
• Privacy and data integrity it provides
• Devices it can work on
• Separate mobile application
• Quality of service offered
• Number of patients, doctors, and other stakeholders that it needs to manage
• User interface and experience

These variations can significantly alter the costs and estimations of the software. The average price of buying hospital software with full-fledged functionalities and all benefits is higher than with limited features and basic versions. Apart from this, some vendors charge for support, installation, and training.

If you need a free and open-source hospital management system, you can opt for Medkey. The enterprise version of Sanela HMS will cost you around $2000 a year. For other online hospital management software or free hospital management software such as HMS365 Cloud, MocDoc HMS, Simplex Himes, eHospital Systems, MyNapier, MedStar HIS, and many more others, you need to contact the vendor for detailed pricing. You can get the list and all the information from the GoodFirms hospital management software page.

Hospital management software will see a major transformation with wide-reaching disruptions in healthcare tech. Hospital management apps will have to respond more effectively to:

• greater need for transparency in operations,
• stricter regulations owing to the recent pandemics
• growing consumer demands
• multi-faceted spectrums arising from AI, VR, blockchain, etc.
• customized patient-care
• digital convergence in healthcare

Hospital management solutions are witnessing a brave new world where even patients invest in technologies that can proactively equip them with tools to diagnose health issues at home. When even Smart apparel can guide the consumer to change lifestyle by monitoring body health indicators, when fitness apps advised by health-insurance companies can not only promote health but also bring discounts in policy premiums for those who adhere to the guidelines, it becomes crucial for hospitals to plan exceptional services to keep their healthcare business competitive amidst today's era of convenient care options.

Everything points out the need for aligned software solutions that can connect all departments of hospitals. HMS software that links hospitals' core business with its supply chain, finance department, recruitment cell, back-office, etc., with robust cloud computing solutions is the future of the hospital software industry. No wonder the Healthcare Cloud Computing Market is poised to hit$55 billion by 2025.

Buyers should carefully consider and get the following information about the hospital management software they are planning to deploy before making an actual purchase:

• Can hospital management software integrate with other channels, software solutions, and web-based services related to healthcare?
• Does the software provide a secure environment for all transactions and patient billing?
• Is the software scalable to accommodate features when your customer base grows?
• Is it accessible on all desktops, laptops, tablets, and mobile phones? (A mobile-friendly light version is essential)
• Is the software user-friendly, intuitive, and easy to navigate?
• Does the software vendor provide reliable, 24/7 customer support?
• Does the software ensure regulatory compliance (HIPAA/ CDC? USFDA, etc.)? 
• Does it provide all the features, modules, and settings for your needs? 
• Can you request customization to add more functions over time?
• Does the software deploy robust security features and a high-end encryption system for all transactions and communications? 
• Can it work smoothly with low-bandwidth internet connectivity?
• Does the vendor provide a free trial/free demo of its services?
• Does it support multiple languages and currencies?

Goodfirms is a frontline IT market research company renowned in IT for its behemoth lists of thousands of IT services and products. GoodFirms has a rich heritage of providing buying assistance to B2B IT service seekers. GoodFirms' astounding understanding of IT products and services can assist service seekers in purchasing the best suitable software products and services for their business. GoodFirms has a noteworthy listing of more than 9000 vetted products and services with around 15000 unbiased and genuine reviews that provide a requisite understanding and extraordinary glance into the functions, modules, pricing, type of deployment, and many more aspects of the software services. The readers of this buyer's guide for hospital management system software are advised to navigate the list of thoroughly researched software to find the most suitable ones for themselves.