This article was contributed by Cynthia Madison who works as an author at SmallBizClub.
In recent years, people have started to rely more on using mobile devices and the Internet for different purposes. In a digitalized world, industries need to leverage technology if they want to thrive. The Covid-19 pandemic has led to significant advancements in telemedicine and a boost in patients' experience.
However, there is still plenty of room for change. Unfortunately, medical negligence is common in the UK, and its effects on patients' lives are devastating. According to research, physician burnout is dangerous not only for doctors but for patients, too. Medical professionals who experience burnout are more prone to making errors that could potentially put patients' lives at risk.
Luckily, there is a solution to this. Evolving technologies like automation, cloud computing, sensors, wearables, and AI, are revolutionizing the operations of healthcare providers and physicians. But this is only the beginning, as the healthcare sector can take things even further in terms of better chronic care management and proactive healthcare monitoring.
To that end, Microsoft Power Platform provides a practical solution for decision intelligence, automation, and AI needs. It enables healthcare professionals to create apps in no time via Power Apps without having to rely too much on technical assistance. Healthcare providers are looking for ways to improve service delivery, and the Power platform is just what they need, as it makes efficient use of time and money.
What is Microsoft Power Apps?
Microsoft Power Apps is a tool of the Power Platform that allows businesses to create custom apps that can accommodate your needs and solve problems when a suitable solution is hard to find. It involves a low-code approach, meaning that, unlike traditional app development, it takes less time to develop an app. Plus, it's also cost-effective. The apps can easily be accessed on a tablet, mobile device, or web browser.
Here are a few examples of Power Apps:
- Employee onboarding;
- Crisis communication;
- Service request;
- Employee training;
- Care and medication plan.
How does the Microsoft Power platform benefit the healthcare sector?
With a technological innovation like Power Apps, healthcare providers can enhance patients' experience and interactions while simultaneously reducing physician burnout and boosting efficiencies. Its benefits include:
- Personalized patient care. Patients can access their medical records, book appointments, and interact with physicians through self-service portals. When booking an appointment, there are a lot of interactions between staff and patients. This process isn't efficient, as clinics have to withhold medical professionals' time. Plus, patients also have to wait for a long time. However, an application from Microsoft Power Platform can enable patients to submit requests from a mobile device and get their services in just a few simple steps.
- Increased efficiencies and automation. Process efficiencies play a role in overall business effectiveness, which also applies to the healthcare sector. Automation in healthcare is often associated with patient data and document management systems. However, it goes beyond that – automated workflows enable patient check-ins, virtual medical experts, and treatment plans. Through Power Apps, you can automate tasks like patient registrations, onboarding new staff, processing payment approvals, etc. This allows for more time to focus on other critical tasks.
- Accelerated time regarding insights. The healthcare sector involves an enormous volume of data, making it challenging to derive insights from it. However, it's easy to gain insights into equipment utilization, patient satisfaction, readmission risks, and more through Power Apps.
What are the use cases of Power Apps in the healthcare sector?
Power Apps has different use cases that connect to stakeholders' daily activities, and this technology can result in enhanced patient experience, operational efficiencies, engagement, better care planning, and risk analysis. Let's further look at the use cases of Power Apps.
Daily healthcare operations
Healthcare isn't only about suggesting treatment options and hospital care. It also implies having adequate medical supplies in place and equipment efficiencies that can help detect and manage illnesses. Power Apps use cases help here because it's easy to develop the app, and everyone can access it in no time.
Power Apps is also efficient when it comes to referrals. Generally, referrals between specialties happen via fax or email. However, with the changing landscape, they may cause information silos and roadblocks in accessing patients' data. By developing a referral system in Power Apps, a mental health organization, for instance, can ensure there's no room for delays or errors. A Power Apps portal can decrease physician and staff burnout through a self-help information system that provides an information pool for patients before they visit the hospital.
Emergency response solutions
Consider the scenario where a patient suffers a cardiac stroke. The paramedics attend to them and write down critical medical information they later exchange with the specialty care team. But if any information is lost in the process or there are delays, the patient's life can be at risk. However, if the workflow is digitized, Power Apps allows the specialist care team to follow up on patients during their treatment journeys.
One of the vital elements in the healthcare sector is ensuring effective treatment in emergency care. This can be achieved only through real-time information regarding beds, medical supplies, equipment, and staffing. Without insights about these aspects, information is clueless. By leveraging Power Apps, emergency managers and healthcare service providers can look at forecasts and resource utilization.
Population risk management
Healthcare providers need to understand the risk of illnesses to manage their care and plan for the future. The risk analyzer for diabetes, the risk of readmission, and patients' profiles for potential conditions primarily relied on historical data. The Microsoft Power Platform is based on AI, allowing users to connect to various data sources – both structured and unstructured – and understand the risks based on their lifestyle and behavior.
Vaccine records and their administrations seem dull in the healthcare industry; however, Power Apps provides simple applications to monitor and manage vaccines.
Last words
The healthcare sector must embrace the latest technological advancements to improve operations and enhance patients' experience by providing better services. An innovative solution like Power Apps can revolutionize the healthcare system, offering emergency response solutions, boosting daily operations, and helping manage the risks for the large population.
About the author
Cynthia Madison is an author at SmallBizClub with a solid technical, business, and financial foundation. She's responsible for providing share-worthy articles that deliver value straight to the point. Cynthia enjoys watching thought-provoking TED talks on technology advancements in her spare time. She lives a “never stop learning” life.
Last Updated on October 21, 2022 9:02 am CEST by Markus Kasanmascheff
