Our very own Peter Kuhn was published in the December 2007 issue of ADVANCE for Healthcare Information Executives. Several customer success stories are highlighted including East Jefferson General Hospital in Metairie, La, Edward Hospital & Health Services in Naperville, Ill., Munroe Regional Medical Center in Ocala, Fla, and Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) in Detroit, Mich.
Here's an excerpt:
Today's information-driven society is changing health care (for good or bad
we'll save for another discussion) forever. Consumer expectations are more
demanding of our institutions, where access to timely, relevant information is a
clear market differentiator. Hospitals that embrace these changing dynamics will
thrive in the coming years.
As hospitals begin addressing these new challenges, many are turning to
e-health as their foundation for creating a positive, differentiated experience.
It's certainly not the only answer, but key to engaging and interacting with an
information-driven constituency.
Shifting processes to the Internet
By leveraging the power of the global network to fundamentally transform how
they interact with their constituencies — consumers, patients, physicians and
employees — and shifting business processes to the Internet, organizations can
differentiate themselves in their local hospital market.
Smart, progressive organizations that invest in their constituents' overall
experience with the organization will find that their investment will more than
pay off in improved patient and physician satisfaction, more effective community
advocacy, increased downstream revenue, better employee collaboration and
clinical excellence. The investment also will strengthen their ties to
consumers, patients and patients. In the past, for example, hospitals built
office space within or near their hospital to forge relationships with
physicians. Smart organizations will continue to use that tactic, but they also
will use Web portals to supplement their physician recruitment and retention
initiatives.
Hospitals currently are deploying Web portals that enable doctors to access
and direct patient data remotely, sparing them a road trip to the hospital or
forcing them to make clinical decisions without the benefit of all the
information they need because the patient's paper record is unavailable. Given
the choice of selecting a hospital that helps them practice more efficiently
versus one that doesn't, physicians will go with the former.
Innovative hospitals also are delivering information online to help patients
take better care of themselves and schedule appointments, making it more
convenient for existing and prospective patients to interact with and access
their services.
