How AI for Hospital Management is Transforming Quality of Patient Care

May 20, 2022

Hospital software systems such as HIS, HMS, EHR, etc are at the forefront of healthcare IT modernization. The use of these software tools is one of the major Healthcare IT Trends as it boosts the administrative capabilities of a hospital while reducing the costs of quality patient care. Today, about 96% of non-federal acute care hospitals use such systems at scale. 

If we talk about Healthcare Technology Trends, the next big leap in the digital transformation of hospitals is being led by the use of Artificial Intelligence in Hospital Management Software. AI systems can be deployed in a number of use-cases to meet the current hospital management challenges. They’re capable of automating costly laborious tasks, monitoring day-to-day activities with resounding precision, and so on.

A report from Sage Growth Partners highlights that about 90% of surveyed hospitals have an AI strategy in place while 25% have moved to the early implementation stage. The finding signifies the crucial role AI has to play in augmenting healthcare, while also depicting strong confidence in AI as a tool for healthcare digitization. 

Moving on, you might wonder, how does an intelligent hospital management software work, and how can hospitals use the same for their betterment? Let’s answer these questions in detail below. 

How does AI Work in Hospital Management?

AI systems are backed by Machine Learning technology that can process mounds of data such as patient records, appointment rush hours, most reported illnesses, etc to find patterns and devise corrective measures for the same.

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The top challenge faced by most hospitals around the world is the slow and error-prone management workflows that elevate costs. Since the global pandemic, healthcare providers have become excessively cost-conscious due to the rising care delivery costs and increasing burden on hospital staff.

An AI system can be trained to automate the most time-consuming aspect of the workflow, such as analyzing patient case studies and offering a quick, vetted result.

For instance, Flagler Hospital in St. Augustine, Florida uses the best hospital management software and deployed an AI system that carefully analyses the patient history and suggests the best pathway to treat pneumonia. This resulted in savings of $1,350 per pneumonia patient for the hospital as it could figure out cost-optimized ways of treating the patient. 

Similarly, other managerial functions such as monitoring patients, controlling infections, and offering affordable treatment can be automated using AI. 

The best part is that hospitals can integrate AI solutions into the best HMS software such as SoftClinic to achieve desired benefits.

Futuristic Use-cases of AI for Hospital Management

Accelerated Rare Disease Diagnosis

Many a time, physicians spend large amounts of resources in narrowing down the correct diagnosis for rare and uncommon diseases. This can affect a patient’s health and pressurize hospital staff while still not achieving the right prognosis for the patient. 

It can compare the patient’s medical records with thousands of patient histories with similar conditions to identify the rare disease they’re most likely to have.

An AI specifically trained for identifying rare diseases can shorten the time needed to diagnose the patient and help the patient get started with the right treatment early.

So, the AI system can achieve the right diagnosis in one or two attempts, which would be reached after several rounds of hit-and-trial by the hospital. 

Automated Customer Service

The hospital inquiry hotline receives thousands if not millions of information requests that can be readily automated. Especially, in times of Covid-19, panicky patients may want to connect to their doctor more often as they notice fluctuating symptoms. 

Automated virtual bots can be deployed that are trained at answering generic to complex questions for hospital customers. Using NLP, they can understand the customer query and offer the most relevant answer without involving any of the hospital staff.

Requests like – “Does the insurance cover my condition?” or “I need to book an appointment” – can be easily handled using virtual agents over chat messages or phone calls.

Healthcare Personalization using Digital Twins

Digital Twins are entities that can replicate the anatomy of a human body by absorbing data points on metabolic function, heart rate, glucose levels, etc, to come up with the best treatments for certain ailments.

Using a digital twin, hospitals can facilitate hyper-personalized care for patients with chronic symptoms. They can drill down deep into the patient’s physiological condition and the impact of the treatment administered by the hospital. 

The technology carefully studies the changes occurring in the patient’s digital replica and course-corrects the treatment plan for optimized outcomes. This can reduce recurring visits to the hospital and digital delivery for chronic conditions such as Type 2 diabetes. 

Facility Control using AI and IoT 

A hospital has several physical spaces that need to be actively monitored and controlled for patient safety. This includes ICUs, hallways, OTs, ventilation ducts, and more. 

With the help of IoT sensors, Machine Learning models, and AI systems, hospitals can now automate the otherwise costly task of keeping a check on these critical spaces.

Sensors can check the fluctuations of temperature around critical spaces, while cameras monitor the entire hospital for potentially harmful activities. AI applications are capable of detecting anomalies with the help of computer vision APIs and real-time sensor data. 

This takes the burden off the shoulders of hospital administrators who have other core responsibilities to take care of. 

SoftClinic Software for Hospital Management

SoftClinic is one of the best hospital management software suites that offers several functionalities for managing the daily functions of a hospital effectively and affordably. It aids doctors and administrators with digital tools for automating Inventory, HR, Accounting, and more so that they can give their full productivity to patient care.

SoftClinic is one of the leading Healthcare IT solutions operational in more than 40 countries, offering next-gen management powers to hospitals of all sizes. 

Key features include:

• Online Appointment System
• Mobile App Access for Physicians
• HIPAA compliant cloud backup
• Fingerprint scan Identification System
• Barcoded Reporting System
• Auto Notifications and SMS Alerts
• Equipment Interfacing
• Advance Data Analytics

Conclusion

As AI advances forward, the use of smart software products in the healthcare industry will reduce the cost of premium care, while making hospitals self-reliant. The latest advances in this sector are already creating promising results for hospitals globally. As new hospitals adopt AI for their workflow, it’s expected that they’ll be able to reap the benefits of a truly modern patient experience.