Business processes underpin everything an organization does. In health care, everything from scheduling consultations, interacting with patients, engaging insurance companies, handling billing and setting up tests fall under a common umbrella - they are built around specific sets of processes that define how people get the job done. Automating and optimizing these tasks has long been the specialty of the business process management software sector. However, technological innovation has changed this game.
Over the past couple of years, processes and applications have become so tightly intertwined that the ability to create the right applications has provento bea key component of any process optimization strategy. Leading BPM tools have responded by becoming application development platforms, and recent innovation taking place across the health care sector are making this functionality essential.
A new health care economy is emerging
A recent PricewaterhouseCoopers study found that a variety of converging areas of innovation are coming together to establish a new health care reality. While discussions around innovation have been happening in the health care sector for years, 2016 will be the year when all of these efforts come together to truly change the way hospitals and similar care organizations operate.
According to the study, this wave industry advances will come in a variety of segments. Solutions that use mobile devices to engage patients are among them. For example, approximately 58 percent of physicians polled said they would rather provide a portion of care virtually than stick with legacy processes, while 68 percent of consumers said they would be willing to use their mobile device to have a video visit with their physician. At the same time, this wave of innovation will lead to an increased emphasis on using data to improve care, making medical help more accessible and reducing costs.
"After more than a decade of identifying the top health industry trends, we are finally starting to see the creation of a New Health Economy - a health system that is more connected, transparent and patient-centric," said Kelly Barnes, U.S. health industries leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers."
Using BPM software to keep up with innovation
Sweeping changes are difficult to deal with in almost any industry. They are incredibly challenging in health care, where a strict regulatory environment, diverse consumer base and highly specialized operational landscape come together to make change challenging. BPM solutions empower organizations to customize apps, create process frameworks and automate repeatable tasks so they can coordinate and optimize even the most complex functions. The result is freedom to innovate because the organization has the flexibility to adjust as needed.
