STORIES & SOLUTIONS FOR THE MODERN BUSINESS USER

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has created an urgent push for digital transformation. For many health systems, this strategy starts at the heart of the organization, the ERP.

Midway through 2021, and it is shaping up to be a large year for transformation in the healthcare industry. The industry has seen a large push for telehealth options and growing ways for patients to be in charge of their data on the front-end, but what technology innovations are healthcare leaders focusing on in human resources, financial management, and supply chain?

It would be an understatement to say our lives have been changed by the pandemic. More family time, the ability to connect via technology, and the happiness of dogs everywhere, have been silver linings in an extremely difficult year. On the professional side, many of us have worked through the hiccups of remote work and are maybe starting to prefer it when compared to going to the office every day.

Could healthcare go back to the way it was pre-pandemic? COVID-19 had a sudden and significant impact on individuals around the world and in nearly every industry, including healthcare. According to McKinsey’s Health System Financial Resilience Survey, nearly half (45%) of the CFOs surveyed expect it to take more than 18 months to return to pre-COVID-19 revenues, and 84% believe the negative impact on their operating margin to persist through 2021. Going back isn’t an option; the way forward is looking at the trends that have been growing over the last decade, which trends proved useful at the height of pandemic confusion and hospitalizations, and figuring out how to adjust business strategies to future-proof healthcare organizations.

Have you implemented ERP in the cloud? There are many people who are first-timers to the ERP implementation experience, and more still who are new to implementing cloud ERP.

We have just passed the one-year mark since the World Health Organization announced a global pandemic. We’ve seen the world come to a standstill as the coronavirus upended daily lives. Now that the U.S. is starting to roll out vaccinations and slowly return to a semblance of normality, there are things in the healthcare system that have changed. Here are some of the lasting changes:

More health system CIOs are leading their organizations to the cloud, benefiting from how a single, cloud-based ERP system can help better track supplies, improve scheduling, and lower overhead costs.

Last fall, we headed to Arizona for the CHIME Fall Forum, and didn’t know it would be among the last times CIOs and technology leaders would assemble in person. We were gathered to discuss seismic shifts in healthcare organization structures, healthcare information technology, and care delivery, and where it has enabled transformation or provoked disruption.

If there is one positive from the pandemic, it’s that it has exposed opportunities for improvement in supply chain management. Healthcare leaders have faced a variety of challenges over the last several months from standing up virtual care programs to maintaining proper levels of PPE, ventilators, and medications. While patient safety remains a priority and is evidenced through limited visitors, enforcement of precautions, and more options for virtual care, supply chain optimization is advancing on the c-suite agenda and for good reason: Effective supply chain performance directly links to patient outcomes and clinical safety.

Long-term care facilities, including nursing facilities, assisted-living facilities, inpatient rehabilitation facilities and home care providers are at the forefront of the COVID-19 crisis —along with their long-term care (LTC) workforce. Even before Coronavirus commanded our every waking hour, the long-term care industry was gaining momentum in meeting the needs of the elderly not fulfilled by hospital settings.