5 Key Technology Issues in Healthcare Industry

5 Key Technology Challenges for the Healthcare Industry

1. Optimization of resources

Optimizing resources is crucial for any successful healthcare organization, as doctors, medical staff, caregivers, and equipment are the most vital resources. However, technical problems in healthcare, such as the shortage of medical professionals in the U.S., make resource utilization even more critical.

Traditionally, healthcare establishments have relied on human intervention for resource allocation, using spreadsheets or unintelligent healthcare management systems (HMS). Unfortunately, this approach can negatively impact resource allocation, especially during emergencies where staff may be allocated to patients who need proper resource planning and documentation.

To address these IT challenges in healthcare, medical organizations need to adopt intelligent software that can utilize data related to employees, such as their qualifications and availability, to optimize shift schedules and appointments. This will ensure that resources are used efficiently, minimizing waste and improving patient outcomes. As an EHR software development company, Digicode has recently developed software that helps medical clinics optimize resource utilization, even in the current pandemic, by assigning staff for COVID-19 and non-COVID patients.

Healthcare organizations must leverage technology to address resource optimization and allocation challenges effectively. By adopting an intelligent healthcare system, organizations can improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance the quality of patient care.

2. Alignment of PMS to actual practice

Technology challenges in healthcare are prevalent, with many healthcare sectors needing help to retrieve various records, patient schedules, claims, and bills. Patient Management Software (PMS) can help by integrating most of these tasks and providing instant access to patient information, medication details, charts and other critical information updates. In addition, accurate billing and bookkeeping can help small clinics run their practices smoothly.

However, we have observed that many healthcare clinics need help to align their PMS with their actual processes, resulting in inefficient processes, duplicated work, and errors caused by inaccurate paper records. To address this, we work with clients to align their PMS with their actual practices, ensuring instant record transfer, excellent patient workflow, and reduced errors.

By effectively integrating PMS with actual processes, healthcare organizations can provide precise and better-quality patient care. Moreover, PMS can streamline the process, reduce paperwork, and enhance operational efficiency, ultimately reducing costs and improving patient outcomes.

3. Cybersecurity

Despite technological advances to improve treatment and patient care, many healthcare IT challenges exist. Data security remains a significant challenge in this sector, as cyber threats can cause frustration among healthcare IT experts. These threats include ransomware, DDoS attacks, fraud scams, and insider threats.

To overcome these problems with technology in healthcare, the medicine and wellness sector must rely on techniques such as tokenization, encryption, and dynamic data masking. Before implementing these techniques, however, it is essential to perform sensitive data recovery to identify the location of all data.

Data breaches can devastate patients, and it is imperative to protect their sensitive information. The healthcare industry must take proactive steps to mitigate cyber threats and ensure the safety and confidentiality of patient data.

4. Unfriendly Interfaces

Healthcare technology has made significant strides, but there are still technical challenges in healthcare, particularly with the user interface. Too much data displayed on the screen can be overwhelming and difficult for users to navigate. This can be problematic for caregivers and doctors who need to access vital information quickly.

Simplicity and ease of use are essential for any healthcare development company when designing new products. A well-crafted user journey, intuitive processes, and readily available information are crucial for satisfying end-users and customers. It can make the difference between success and failure for any healthcare technology.

At Digicode, we understand the significance of usability and design in building successful healthcare products. We strive to simplify the user interface and provide an easy-to-use product that saves caregivers and doctors vital time. Our designers and usability experts offer a best-in-class UI/UX practice to address these technical challenges in healthcare. Suitable data visualization services help to provide usability and design, recognizing their crucial role in developing successful healthcare products.

5. Data integration from various sources

Healthcare sectors strive to keep them updated in the knowledge curve to render the best treatment. Also, healthcare leaders want to use big data and analytics to fetch actionable insights for speedy growth.

Let’s highlight some challenges which small healthcare centers are facing in the current era:

No standard data format: This is one of the major hurdles, as, over the years, healthcare centers have collected tons of data, but some need to be compatible with their system.
Improper data handling: The employee who collects data differs from the one who uses it. Thus, the chances of capturing essential details are missed.
Data privacy and security misconception: This is another obstacle in data integration. Some small healthcare centers need complete knowledge of law and data privacy. Data should be safeguarded from tampering and illegal access. But sometimes, it is required to share it, and both things can be tricky.
To overcome all challenges in healthcare technology mentioned above, healthcare centers should use cloud migration services and custom software development services to create cloud-based software applications and unified data sources.

How to Overcome Healthcare Technology Challenges

Leverage Expertise in Healthcare Technology Integration

One of the biggest challenges in healthcare technology is integrating different systems and devices to create a seamless workflow. Healthcare providers must partner with companies with expertise in healthcare technology integration. These companies can provide solutions integrating various methods and devices, allowing healthcare providers to access patient data in real-time and improve care coordination.

As a proven healthcare development services provider, Digicode has a team of experts specializing in healthcare technology integration like electronic health records (EHRs), telemedicine, mobile health (mHealth), wearable devices, ERP in healthcare​, and other digital tools. We work closely with our customers to understand their needs and provide customized solutions that meet their requirements. By leveraging our expertise, healthcare providers can overcome technology challenges and improve patient care.

Provide Robust Data Security Measures

Data security is one of the major technical issues in healthcare. Healthcare organizations need to ensure that patient data is secure and protected from cyber threats. To overcome such IT challenges in healthcare, clinics, hospitals, and medical care centers must partner with companies that provide robust data security measures.

At Digicode, we take data security seriously. We offer solutions that meet industry-standard data security requirements, including HIPAA compliance. We also provide ongoing support and monitoring to ensure our client’s data is always secure.

Offer User-Friendly Technology Solutions

Another challenge of technology in healthcare is user adoption. Healthcare providers often struggle to get their staff to use new technology solutions, leading to inefficiencies and decreased productivity.

As an enterprise custom software development company, we understand the importance of user adoption. We design our technology solutions with the end-user in mind, making them intuitive and easy to use.

The Essential Role of Intellectual Property in Medical Tech

Intellectual property rights is the base in advancing medical technologies, as they protect innovations and encourage further research and development. For instance, Masimo, a leading medical technology company, exemplifies how innovation can address critical challenges in healthcare. Their patented technologies, like blood oxygen monitoring, have been so influential that they led to a legal dispute with Apple.

By securing patents, companies like Masimo can safeguard the groundbreaking inventions, such as non-invasive monitoring technologies. This protection not only incentivizes investment in new medical solutions but also ensures that the developers of these technologies can reap the benefits of their efforts. Moreover, the enforcement of these rights helps maintain a competitive market, fostering continued innovation and improving healthcare outcomes

Final Thoughts

Software development in healthcare can be a valuable solution for healthcare clinics, medical, and diagnostic centers looking to lower administrative costs, avoid costly errors, and increase patient retention while achieving growth objectives. By partnering with software development companies that specialize in healthcare, these organizations can develop customized software tailored to their unique needs, allowing them to attain the desired efficiency and accuracy in their operations.