Investing in cloud-based medical software is a necessary step for private clinics or doctors. Electronic Health Records (EHR) have evolved a lot. Today, cloud-based software is a useful and valuable management tool that is here to stay.
Although many hospitals and clinics still have reservations and are somewhat skeptical about using cloud-based clinical management systems , it is a model that is increasingly being implemented in a greater number of medical centers. It should be noted that the Cloud is presented as a great solution, profitable, practical and solid, which offers high security and flexibility to its users.
For this reason, opting for Cloud Computing software for clinics is a wise decision that can bring great benefits when managing a clinic.
What is the best way to prepare for implementing a cloud-based EHR ( Electronic Health Record ) system? Here are 5 essential steps to ensure success from the start of your implementation.
Step 1. Extract information from the old clinic server
The first step to take into account is the extraction of medical data from your old server, in addition to making an additional backup of this data. If your goal is to implement medical software in the cloud , it is essential that you previously prepare the historical data for a correct migration. Something that unfortunately will not always be possible, since not all medical history programs allow data to be extracted in an orderly manner. Understanding the technological environment in the healthcare field will make it easier for you to optimize the interaction with the systems that are going to be implemented.
For this reason, before contracting a new clinical management program , it is essential to ask the new provider if it will be possible to extract the information entered from the patients, in case one day we want to transfer it to another program, in case we are not happy with the one we are going to contract or it becomes obsolete.
Here we recommend that the data extraction can be carried out by the clinic itself, without the intervention of the provider, as many times as desired and at no cost. And that this data can be downloaded to the clinic’s computer.
Step 2. Find out what your EHR needs are
Each EHR system offers different functions, applications and infrastructure, so it is important to determine the specific needs of your business or clinic. Once you identify your specific needs, you can choose the cloud-based clinical management system that best suits your needs.
It is essential that healthcare professionals know in advance what their specific needs are in order to achieve a personalized EHR system. The more detailed the information that the system provider receives, the better and more complete the option chosen for each user or healthcare professional will be. Although these systems come very close to satisfying the needs of each user, it should be noted that in certain areas the provision of more information can be vital for it to be 100% adapted to the user.
Step 3. Think of security as an essential aspect
It is normal that when considering implementing medical software, security becomes one of the main points of concern. Currently, there is no doubt that the Electronic Medical Record hosted in the Cloud provides high security to users and patients, offering even greater security than traditional paper records and records hosted on local servers within the clinic.
Medical centers looking to implement cloud-based clinical management software should only rely on those providers that offer very high, solid and robust levels of security, without neglecting such fundamental security aspects as data encryption, both in transmission and storage, performing security audits, daily backups, etc.
Step 4. Training users on the new medical software
It will be useless to implement software for clinics if the users of the same are not trained to make correct and optimal use of it. For this reason, training the professionals who will use this system is a fundamental step to guarantee the full satisfaction of patients and health professionals. This training must be free and unlimited, to avoid incurring expenses that were not expected at the time of contracting.
When users know how these types of systems work, they can operate much more quickly and effectively, and therefore be more efficient. In addition, when users are fully trained and prepared for their use, they will know at all times how to carry out each and every specific action to prevent security from being affected, whether by internal or external threats.
Step 5. Medical software updates and maintenance
In these times, having medical software to manage a clinic is not enough, as it is necessary to carry out the necessary updates and carry out proper maintenance of the system, and only in this way can you ensure its correct, simple and optimal operation.
It is vital to take into account that all clinical management programs require maintenance to allow proper operation. All it takes is a careless maintenance or an update for the system to be vulnerable in terms of security and not comply with the data privacy policy. Periodic maintenance is an important step that should not be neglected at any time. This is where cloud software beats other software installed on local servers within a clinic, and it is that daily maintenance, daily backups, computer security and updates are carried out remotely, without client intervention. Therefore, clients do not have to worry about these important and technical issues, and can only focus on their patients.
There is no doubt that cloud-based medical records software will eventually prevail in the field of clinical and healthcare management.