Integrating supply chain and customer relationship management in healthcare

Healthcare Information Systems

Healthcare Information Management systems

Why would it be (or not be) beneficial to combine supply chain management (SCM) and customer relationship management (CRM) into a single system for healthcare services organizations? What about combining SCM with enterprise resource planning (ERP), or other combinations of Health management information system (HMIS) enterprise software for healthcare services organizations?

In the healthcare management system, the essence of introducing other management strategies is to improve all the duties and role in the health organizations. The services of the healthcare facilities ought to satisfy both the management and the customers. To deliver perfect services in the health organization, combination of the supply chain management and customer relation management ought to perform. The supply chain management is an essential management strategy tool. The tool is vital in ensuring that all the customers receive the appropriate services at the expected time interval (Armoni, 2000). The customers ought to receive the best medication, essential in reducing the disease impact on the patient.

The supply chain management ensures there is the distribution of duties and roles in the health organizations to the workers to reduce the workload. For instance in accomplishing a given patient entry, each of the healthcare management department will automatically perform its function. There is the receptionist, the finance department and the medication department to share the numerous tasks. The key purpose of the customer relationship management is to ensure that all the customers get attention at the expected time (Wager, et al. 2009). Therefore, a combination of the supply chain management and the customer relationship management will increase the efficiency in the production sector of the hospital. Combining the supply chain management with the other health management information system will also improve the services offered to clients. This is especially vital in increasing the efficiency of the department in the medical centers.

Why is it difficult to integrate it and medicine? Discuss the need for an integrated management perspective of HMIS. Further, list and illustrate the basic functions of an HMIS. How may these basic functions be extended to accommodate complex health information processing tasks such as medical diagnosis and tele-consultation?

In the past few years, integrating it into the medical field was a major problem, which made the medical industry to develop slowly. The medical field unlike the other fields requires intensive research and study of diseases and medications to treat the diseases found. For this reason, the physicians are forced to undertake the given research programs on the own. The research requires in-depth reading and referring to already completed works (Wager, et al. 2009). For this reason, in cooperating technology information in the medicine field has is difficult since there is research needed.

There is the need to integrate the management perceptive in the health management information system to improve the services. In any given organization, the introduction of the technology management tools assist in the performance of the assigned duties. This will definitely apply in the medical section since the physician will receive assistance using the technology. The introduction of technology in the health management information system will make work easier in the organization (Armoni, 2000).

Some of the basic functions of the health management information system encompass of admitting the patient into the health facilities, controlling the movement of the medications in the entire medical centre, searching for the appropriate medication to treat patients, keeping records of the medication and patient treated and controlling the finance of the fee paid by the patients. Searching for the appropriate medications to treat the patients and keeping the records of the treatment offered to the patients are basic functions that can extend to accommodate complex health information processing.

Question 3

What are some of the critical success factors in HMIS implementation and how should one go about standardizing service nomenclature, such as the process service names and outcomes in order to achieve a level of ease with implementing enterprise-wide software? Why must people be sold on the software and readiness to change before moving ahead with a large-scale implementation such as ERP?

There are certain critical factors that occur in the HMIS. One of the factors is customization. The process has to be easily flexible in a manner that the user can customize to serve the necessary purpose. Apart from this, another critical factor is the convenience that the system offers. For HMIS to be utterly successful, it must be convenient for the user to it. The most noteworthy aspect is to satisfy the needs of the user and it has to provide it. The other factor that HMIS requires is that it should be uniform. There should be no inconsistencies within the system as this could lead to unreliability. Another significant, critical factor in HMIS is the security. The system should offer more than enough security and provisions fir authentication. The information within the system is best when it is secure because the information could fall to the wrong parties. An essential factor that should be of serious consideration is the support. There should be adequate training and support to ensure the realization of the potential for all.

The nomenclature is alterable by using enterprise wide software. This performs consistently with the aims that the organization wants. It is imperative that all people have awareness on this before moving to the ERM. This involves getting all the people to appreciate the system because it is their data that are the most important. This is mainly to encourage the public to appreciate the process in learning the ways in which the data is of utility. The people who should be more aware than the others about the system is the local health workers. This is to reduce any doubts that they may have regarded the changes in the collection of data. In any case, these changes should only occur when the intention is to reduce the collection of data in the clinic level. This is because data is of more use d in a local level.

Question 5

What are some of the major HMIS enterprise software? Discuss the need for a data sharing culture in implementing the various HMIS enterprise software. And what do you see as the trend of healthcare services organizations with the applications of HMIS enterprise software?

Major HMIS software is the ETO-HMIS. The manufacturer of this software is Social Solutions. The advantage that users drive from this software is the ability to customize the software. The software has the capability to integrate any data entry within the system. This is because it does not have many errors (Tan et al. 2010). A complaint with many people who utilize this data is about the data entry with many particularly against the quality. ETO-HMIS boasts of fast implementation and transfer of data which puts them way ahead of any competitors. It is particularly imperative that there is the development for a culture where there is sharing of data. This leads to an increase in the checks for efficiency within healthcare. This data are also extremely useful in the formulation of any new strategies that may arise from necessity. Decision making also improves with the high rate of sharing data. This is because with clear facts and not avoiding of speculations, it is easier to reach agreements on the solutions.

There are various trends in the usage of the software within the healthcare industry. One of them is the vast expectation that patients have when they come to the institution. Most of the patients believe that they will get specialized treatment, which prompts the institution, to resort to the use of such software. There is also keen need for the connection between the providers of health services. This is because of the dire need to keep in contact in observation of certain aspects that affect all of them. The increase in chronic diseases is another trend within this field. There is considerable importance for institutions to have enough data to have the capability to control these diseases before they spread far and become an epidemic to the society. All this is possible with this software (Langenbrunner 2009).