Better transparency of expenses gives great insights to patients. It also helps healthcare organizations in managing patient billing processes. But how to get this transparency in the system has always been a question for many. After thorough research, I found that proper management of patient data can do wonders for the healthcare sector. Do you want to know how? Let us explore. 

Tools for Effective Healthcare Data Management 

We understand how effective data management can help healthcare organizations in many ways. But how do we manage the data? The implementation of certain tools and techniques can manage this data. There are many tools available in the market. We will explore some of them.  

SharePoint Online 

SharePoint Online is a cloud-based platform that is a part of the Microsoft 365 suite. It is a big organized digital platform where individuals of healthcare organizations can work together and share information in the cloud. SharePoint builds an intranet within the organization. Everybody can access this intranet to see, edit, and update documents or spreadsheets in real time.  

Document Management 

Document management is one of the best features of SharePoint Online that provides a robust collaboration platform. With this help, we can create, store, edit, and share documents with anyone within the organization. These documents can include the patient’s previous diagnosis, treatments, reports, medications, etc.  

As SharePoint Online is a cloud-based platform, these documents will be saved on the cloud. Anybody who has access to the documents can see them anytime, anywhere. This is the best feature for data collection and storage. 

Compatible with Other Microsoft 365 Apps

SharePoint Online can be easily integrated with other Microsoft 365 apps. Apps like Excel, Teams, Drive, and Outlook are accessible with SharePoint online. This integration streamlines business processes and provides seamless execution of routine tasks. Let’s look at an example to understand better:

• Outlook: The smooth integration of SharePoint Online with Outlook can help in patient billing management. Scheduling billing reminders, sending invoices, or communicating with patients or MRs can be done by sharing real-time documents from Outlook via SharePoint. 

• SharePoint Online Forms: Organizations can create patient satisfaction survey forms with SharePoint Online Forms, which helps healthcare organizations collect valuable feedback and reviews. This enhances patient experience in the future. 

• Microsoft Teams: Different healthcare organization departments can collaborate on billing-related tasks, future diagnosis discussions, drug supplies, etc. by sharing documents via SharePoint. 

Mobile-Friendly Interface 

SharePoint Online is a mobile-friendly platform. It can be used on our mobiles, tablets, etc. Doctors and other healthcare providers can read, update, or edit their vital documents from the comfort of their smartphones. This helps them treat remote patients efficiently. Even if any doctor or healthcare professional is out of the office, they can access their patients’ data from their phones anytime, anywhere. 

Customizable Themes 

SharePoint Online comes with a few prebuilt themes, which helps in changing the look and feel of our SharePoint. We can add our organization logo or any specific colors or layout to make it more our own.  

Microsoft Power Platform

Microsoft Power Platform is another useful platform for effective patient data management. It is a suite of various applications and data platforms that enables organizations to create a custom solution for automating processes and analyzing data. Microsoft Power Platform provides a robust set of tools that can improve operational efficiency and enhance the delivery of care. 

Data and Process Automation with Power Automate  

Power automation is one element of Power Platform. It enables healthcare providers to easily automate routine activities and workflows, such as appointment scheduling, patient onboarding, sending notifications, and follow-ups to patients. Power automation eliminates the need for paperwork and minimizes the risk of human errors. In this way, Power Automate can help manage data automatically. 

Data Integration and Management with Power BI

Power BI enables healthcare providers to seamlessly integrate data from different sources, such as EHRs (Electronic Health Records), wearables, etc.  

All this collected data is then visualized by dashboards on real-time analytics and reporting. This enables healthcare providers to monitor patient health trends, resource utilization, and other operational activities. 

Patient Engagement and Experience with Power Apps

Power apps allow healthcare organizations to create customized applications per their specific needs. Let us suppose any hospital wants to develop a patient portal that can also help in remote monitoring. Power apps here can help in creating custom applications that can cater to specific organizational needs. Hospitals can also create surveys and feedback dashboards for their research or analysis. These power apps will enhance patient engagement and enable two-way communication. 

Power Platform with Azure AI Service 

Power Platform integrated with Azure AI services enables hospitals to predict future diagnoses and customized treatments. For example, when Azure AI integrates with Power Platform, it creates a model that can easily do medical image analysis or create clinical notes with natural language processing. It builds a data-driven culture across the organization and helps in making informed decisions. 

OneDrive 

OneDrive for healthcare organizations is a proven valuable tool. It acts as a savior for effective data management – not only in storing healthcare data but also in providing effective document collaboration. OneDrive ensures the utmost data encryption, data retrieval, and security compliance like HIPAA.  

Secure Storage

OneDrive provides a robust cloud storage platform. Healthcare professionals can safely store, access, and retrieve their vital patient data in OneDrive. OneDrive comes with strong encryption and compliance features. It helps in protecting sensitive information about patients.  

Document Collaboration for Healthcare Professionals 

Doctors and other healthcare professionals can easily collaborate on patient record data and treatment plans. This is all possible because of the document collaboration feature. They can also collaborate on research paper-related work. OneDrive facilitates real-time co-authoring of any document and ensures that numerous professionals can work on the same document simultaneously. 

Automatic Backup and Sync

OneDrive produces automatic backup and sync features, which means any file on any user’s desktop will be automatically backed up in the cloud and data will be saved automatically without manual saving. OneDrive comes with DLP (Data Loss Prevention) configuration policies. It prevents data loss and saves accidentally deleted data.  

Azure Health Bot 

Azure Health Bot is an AI-powered chatbot. It helps patients schedule appointments and receive prompt answers to their queries. Queries received through this chatbot can be useful for the collection of patients’ data in the future. You just need to ensure that the chatbot is so designed that it can meet healthcare compliance like HIPAA. 

Takeaways

 Safeguarding data in the healthcare industry is the utmost priority. Patients’ records need to be stored in a secure platform so that they can be accessed for future diagnoses, treatments, and research.   

To manage patients’ data, there are a lot of data management tools and software available that provide seamless execution of data on a cloud-centric platform. They can give you the freedom to access the data anytime, anywhere. We have explored various tools such as: 

• SharePoint Online 
• Power Platform
• OneDrive 
• Azure Health Bot 

If you are looking for some of the best patient charge management system applications or patient data management tools for your healthcare organization, then this blog post will guide you in choosing one for your specific needs. In case you find it difficult, you can consult with certified professionals.