How to Leverage Extensibility and Security To Drive Greater Value From Hospital IT Applications

In today’s rapidly evolving healthcare landscape hospital IT applications are playing an increasingly pivotal role in ensuring the delivery of efficient, high-quality patient care, cost reduction, and efficiencies by eliminating many of the low-value manual tasks in and throughout the surgical supply chain. However, simply having a software solution in place is not enough. For a hospital IT application to truly drive real value, it must be both extensible and secure.

 

Let’s explore why these two factors are absolutely crucial in solutions selection, and how you can get more value out of the applications your team uses.

Healthcare is a dynamic field with constant advancements in medical science, technology, and regulatory requirements. Hospital IT applications need to adapt to these changes seamlessly. It’s amazing that despite all of the great advances that have impacted medical technology, the business end of many of these advancements is still managed using handwritten notes of paper and stickers.

 

In healthcare environments, extensibility is an important factor to keep in mind as you source and onboard new applications. If the applications you use don’t offer native extensibility, you may find that while they offer initial benefits, they can create issues over time through inflexibility or capabilities limitations.

 

For example, ReadySet Surgical provides an extensible IT application that can easily accommodate new functionalities, protocols, and data sources as they emerge. This adaptability ensures that the ReadySet application remains relevant and effective in the face of evolving healthcare challenges, as well as system growth.

 

Ensuring extensibility at the time of purchase will have long-lasting effects on your IT spend over time as you won’t feel pressure to purchase additional or multiple solutions that solve for new feature requirements or use cases. You’ll also save yourself and your team the headache of self-managing or modifying your solution to fit your requirements.

 

Here are two more ways extensibility drives value:

 

1. Every hospital environment is unique — Hospitals have unique workflows and requirements that demand customization and extensibility. No two hospitals are exactly alike, and an IT application that can be tailored to specific needs is a valuable and critical asset. Hospitals can no longer afford to rely on the point solutions of old. Whether it’s customizing Electronic Health Records (EHR) templates or integrating with already existing tracking systems, or with the hospital ERP to create vendor purchase orders, ReadySet provides an extensible application that can be configured to fit the hospital’s workflow like a glove.

 

2. Patient care and efficiency are your top priorities — ReadySet’s extensibility translates into increased efficiency. Hospitals can integrate the ReadySet application into their existing IT ecosystem, whether it be new diagnostic tools, patient monitoring systems, or decision support processes. This leads to quicker and more accurate patient care as well as reduced caregiver burnout and increased caregiver engagement. So, ReadySet’s efficiency not only contributes to healthier patient outcomes but also optimizes resource utilization, reducing costs in the long run.

While extensibility is vital, it should never compromise security, especially in healthcare. Hospitals handle sensitive patient data, making them potential targets for cyberattacks. Sadly, not all software is created equal and not all applications come with security ‘baked in’ — for many, cybersecurity remains an afterthought.

 

Earlier this year the Biden Administration announced its National Cybersecurity Strategy and measures that shift liability for software products and services to promote secure development practices. While this step will ensure software and applications align with security standards, organizations are ultimately accountable for ensuring the software and applications they use align to data privacy and data security guidelines, regulatory requirements and your facility’s cybersecurity policies.

 

ReadySet provides the most secure platform in the industry and has achieved SOC 2 Type Attestation through an auditing procedure that ensures that the ReadySet platform responsibly and securely handles data to protect the interests of your organization and the privacy of your patients.

 

Unlike other applications that may claim their product is compliant (ticking the box), only ReadySet has achieved third-party certification by demonstrating compliance. This creates added peace of mind for your IT project team, throughout the architectural review process. Security breaches can have catastrophic consequences, not only in terms of patient privacy but also in terms of financial and reputational damage. Fortunately, ReadySet’s products alleviate much of that risk.

 

Here are two more reasons why prioritizing security as a factor in solutions selection delivers greater value:

1. Data protection and compliance — A secure IT application such as ReadySet employs robust data encryption, access controls, and regular security audits. It ensures that the very limited patient data the application processes remains confidential and protected. Furthermore, compliance with healthcare regulations, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in the United States, is non-negotiable. A secure application helps hospitals avoid hefty fines and legal repercussions, not to mention the financial and reputational losses that come with a breach event.

 

2. Building trust in healthcare — Patients and healthcare professionals must trust the IT systems they use. Security breaches erode that trust. Hospitals that prioritize security build confidence among their patients, ensuring that their sensitive medical information is in safe hands. ReadySet’s secure IT environment is an essential part of maintaining that trust. Trust becomes a value measure over time, particularly amongst your patients, partners and your facility’s connected ecosystem.

Onboarding a new clinical software solution, and training your team how to use it can be challenging — the last thing teams want to do is swap solutions every year. At procurement it’s important to look beyond a solution’s feature set. Consider how the solution aligns to your facility’s various data protection and privacy compliance requirements and policies — and where it falls short. Ask the solutions provider to share their approach to product innovation to ensure extensibility is built into the product.

 

The ReadySet application drives real value immediately. Its extensibility ensures that the application remains adaptable to the ever-changing healthcare landscape, custom-fit to the unique needs of each hospital, ultimately enhancing patient care and efficiency. The platform’s built-in security safeguards patient data, maintains regulatory compliance, and builds trust among caregivers and supply chain users, as well as patients.

 

In the complex world of healthcare, the combination of extensibility and security is the key to unlocking the full potential of hospital IT applications. That’s why when it comes to utilizing an extensible and secure platform to drive optimization throughout the hospital’s surgical supply chain, ReadySet stands above all others. Book a demo today and see how ReadySet can help you uncover value.