The healthcare sector is undergoing tremendous change these days due to regulatory, economic, and technological drivers as discovered in the Front Line of Healthcare 2015 Bain Report, which we will be referencing throughout this post.  The healthcare industry is ripe for improvements in cost optimization and better coordination of care for several reasons. Shifting revenue models (quality of care vs. quantity), an aging Boomer population, mobile healthcare apps, and electronic record management for patients are the primary ones identified in the Bain Report.

So, how can a hospital intranet help you manage these changes and lead your business to innovate and take advantage? From facilitating knowledge sharing to reducing costs, these 5 benefits of a hospital intranet will set you and your healthcare organization up for success.

The top 5 reasons for using an intranet for your hospital

1. Facilitate organizational growth and knowledge sharing

With the push towards accountable care organizations, we see a lot of merger and acquisition activity as well as partnerships. In addition to this activity, the Bain Report documented an increase of younger healthcare providers moving towards larger management-led organizations for stability, better pay, and the opportunity to advance.

A hospital intranet can improve communication to the expanding management and healthcare staff through executive blog posts, departmental or provider sub-sites, centralized Policy Management, and employee onboarding applications.  It’s critical through uncertain times to keep your team in the loop and connect physicians to the resources they need, giving them a sense of identity and belonging within the overall organization’s vision and mission.

2. Reduce hospital costs

Close to 20% of spending in the US is on healthcare, with the World Health Organization 2015 Report forecasting it will only be increasing as the years go on.  This knowledge is simply staggering.  A lot of these increases are due to the lack of consistency in care, unnecessary readmission, poor staff coordination, and difficulty identifying problem areas within the hospital or healthcare organization.

To counteract the increase in costs, you can empower the physicians and staff to work systematically, giving them standard treatment protocols online.  Protocols can be displayed in a variety of formats, from documents and videos to photos. These online protocols come with the benefit of adding testing materials (online surveys and exams) to measure comprehension.  Getting a handle on cost-cutting initiatives can go both ways. A hospital intranet allows you to tap into your employees and get feedback using engaging intranet features to exchange ideas or provide a procurement site to collaborate between parties on purchasing decisions.

3. Boost caregiver satisfaction and morale

While more physicians choose to work at management-led organizations for stability, it’s difficult to ignore the decrease in physician satisfaction and morale by a whopping 13% when physicians go this route, according to the Bain Report. To counteract this effect, studies have shown that when an organization invests in alignment and engagement between staff, there is an increase in satisfaction. Also, an increase in systematization can garner that highly desired morale booster.  The report states that upcoming generations of caregivers have higher expectations around collaboration, purpose and expect transparency in their organization.  You want staff that so profoundly believe in what they’re doing they will promote you, attract high-level talent, and lower staff turnover rates.

You can make use of multiple tools in your hospital intranet to build ongoing professional development programs, highlight team building or community events, share photos, and promote peer recognition to build your positive culture.  Engaging hospital intranet applications can encourage communication between different departments and lead to an increase in collaboration.

4. Better coordinated care teams

According to the Bain Report, the use of treatment teams and care coordination has doubled in the past two years.  As groups come together to streamline patient flow and other processes, it’s often difficult to find suitable solutions to facilitate these discussions.  A robust online information management system that includes Online Forms and Automated Workflows, such as a hospital intranet platform, can allow you to capture information, automate notifications to necessary departments or staff, and get their approval to move forward.

Tip: It’s also possible to externalize your hospital intranet to allow controlled access to physicians or Department Sites, documents, Company News, or Online Forms that are needed to improve the ability for healthcare staff to work together.

5. Get measured results

Facilitating knowledge sharing, reducing costs, boosting physician satisfaction, and improving coordination between healthcare employees are some of the many benefits that implementing a hospital intranet can offer to your organization. That being said, without the ability to measure the impact these initiatives have on your healthcare organization, the efforts may not reach their full potential.

Although it’s clear that your hospital can leverage an intranet to address critical issues you are experiencing in today’s ever-changing market, the extent to which an intranet can improve your information and management system relies heavily on tracking and measuring results.  Using your hospital intranet, you can utilize tools such as; surveys, statistics, analysis of adoption rates, and overall satisfaction to ensure you’re getting the results you’re healthcare organization is looking for.

Benefits of a hospital intranet webinar

Download a recorded version of our exclusive OnDemand webinar discussing these key benefits in detail, as well as how a hospital intranet addresses common pain points felt by our IC Thrive’s Healthcare Customers. 

I’d love to hear from any existing healthcare intranet clients or prospects to see how you’re tackling these issues head-on in the comment section below.
Do try our Drive Internal Communications Assessment for a detailed report on where you stand, plus resources to help you become a stronger internal communicator. If you have not yet started your intranet journey and are willing to give it a try, book a 15-minute FREE DEMO call with our product specialist today!

Key Benefits of a Hospital Intranet – OnDemand Webinar

Download our recorded version of the exclusive OnDemand webinar discussing the key benefits of a Hospital Intranet.

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