A community hospital – rather than being inundated with the ideas of “bigger and better” – are working hard to maintain their small town feel and their high service levels for their patients, making them feel comfortable and at home rather than surrounded by big, expensive machines. They aren’t focused on the newest
healthcare IT advances the way the larger hospitals are.
Community hospitals have a unique set of demands, such as improving patient safety and maintaining financial limitations. Because of these demands and the ways community hospitals work, they require a comprehensive, integrated solution at a price they can afford. However, community hospitals need to make sure they are “keeping up with the Joneses” (or, in this case, regulatory and HIPAA compliance) and are incorporating an electronic medical record system into their day-to-day hospital workings.
“The hospital I work in is great,” states Michelle Vasquez, nurse practitioner of a local Vermont hospital, “but I’m unsure how to take those big steps necessary for a change in our patient files and tracking systems.”
There are many other hospital employees out there that feel the same way Michelle does. When a community hospital makes that big change, the backbone of the hospital feels threatened and employees are unsure of how to change.
With the stricter policies regarding regulatory and HIPAA compliance, there are products out there that can help the community hospitals stay on top of the newest regulations as well as maintain their small-town feel. One is Paragon – a Microsoft Windows-based, fully-integrated clinical and financial information system specifically designed to meet the unique needs of community hospitals.
There are other community hospital systems out there to help, but the main point is to make sure your patient’s safety is number one, and the current available systems can definitely get the job done.
