The healthcare industry is at a crossroads. While electronic health record systems have become mainstream and the first wave of meaningful use-led innovation has taken hold, many hospitals, clinics and physicians' offices are struggling to develop more mature EHR models. This creates an environment in which the technology has a moderate impact on operations, but does not provide the transformationneeded to breed healthcare reform, reduce costs and make day-to-day processes easier for clinical staff members.
Part of the problem is that many healthcare organizations do not have the funds to continue the breakneck pace of innovation set by the U.S. federal government. Another key issue is that there are not many solutions out there that unify technological innovation with operational processes to enable growth. Appian is changing that through business process management software aimed directly at the healthcare sector.
BPM software in healthcare
Hospitals face a major challenge when applying technological innovation to clinical workflows because many physicians, and medical-specific systems, are not equipped to handle IT-related functions. As a result, there are major interoperability gaps throughout the entire data workflow. Appian's BPM software suite can go a long way toward overcoming this challenge, but BPM alone is not always enough in healthcare. Instead, the industry faces too many compatibility hurdles and specificchallenges. To overcome this problem, Appian has partnered with Quest Diagnostics to create an integrated BPM and document management and imaging solution.
Matthew Calkins, president and CEO of Appian, explained that the partnership should go a long way toward helping hospitals and other care organizations deal with broad industry challenges.
"The healthcare industry is under pressure to maximize the quality and speed of patient care delivery while reducing costs," said Calkins. "Enhancing the industry-leading ChartMaxx with our worksocial platform creates a unique and powerful solution for 21st century healthcare organizations."
Considering the implications of BPM in care settings
Physicians complete a variety of processes as they prepare to see a patient, consult with that individual and handle data entry and similar tasks. These often include collaborating with other physicians, such as specialists or lab workers who perform tests that involve a patient. In some cases, these processes can take hours because of inefficient data-sharing platforms that severely limit communication in the sector. BPM can provide social-like functionality that is secure enough to handle patient data, making it an ideal option in many situations.
