Healthcare institutions are facing more pressure in today’s world than ever before. The healthcare market is rapidly evolving and this has created major challenges for health systems. Among the six challenges the institutions are confronted with include:
Deteriorating hospital security
In recent times, the health sector has faced major security lapses. Healthcare facilities are open 24/7, and this has led to security concerns like theft of hospital assets and theft of drugs. In order to curb this challenge, a hospital can utilize an integrated security system with real time location system tracking. This system sounds the alarm and locks the designated perimeters in case a thief is in the premises. Installing video cameras will also help the security staff scan the live feeds.
Financial challenges
Healthcare costs are on the rise compared to previous years. It can be difficult for healthcare institutions to accurately track finances without the right tools. IT Works provides a grant accounting software solution which could be beneficial to hospital operations. The software solution acts to supplement your institution’s general ledger. It maintains budgets and balances for multi-year projects. The software also calculates projected personnel costs.
Lack of compliance with the regulatory standards
The increased number of patients has led to noncompliance with the set regulatory standards. This has resulted in poor quality of care and sometimes disruptions in operations in some places. Healthcare institutions that are no longer complying with the set standards face serious challenges ahead. It’s important for healthcare institutions to make necessary changes to meet standards, which may include hiring more employees.
Shortage of physicians and overspecialization of the available physician workforce
Physician shortage is one of the major challenges facing healthcare institutions. Statistics show that each physician in a shortage area sees about 3500 patients. The increased need for primary care has seen an increased demand for physicians. Medical students are now opting to go for more lucrative sub-specialties instead of going into primary care. This now means that the demand does not equate the supply, thus causing a major challenge in the healthcare sector.
Patient safety
It is estimated that thousands of people die a year from an infection they received while in hospital. Hospitals are now faced with the challenge of reducing the risk of infection. In addition, power failures and water shortage are compromising the quality of healthcare. In recent years, many hospital-related infections have decreased, and it’s important for healthcare institutions take extra sanitary steps to help prevent infection.
Patient dissatisfaction and hospital closures
Patient satisfaction is becoming a major challenge for healthcare institutions. This is because a lot of people are readmitted after treatment while others are kept in the hospital for longer periods of time for evaluation purposes. This dissatisfaction affects the hospital’s operation immensely and can lead to hospital closures. In order to curb this, hospitals should improve their operations and hire qualified physicians to treat the sick.
While healthcare institutions face many challenges today, there are many steps being taken to improve patient care and the facilities. It’s important to find ways to ways to improve and use the latest technology and programs.
