The Lab
The challenge
As a full-service provider in geriatric care, offering inpatient, outpatient and day-care services, we face a key challenge in the admission management of our customers. While we have a waiting list in the inpatient area, we lack a digitized and networked system for customer admission in the outpatient and day-care area. This leads to the problem that the outpatient care service and day care facilities are not informed when their clients are admitted from the waiting list in the inpatient area.
This lack of networking not only impairs the flow of information, but also prevents us from recognizing the individual needs of customers in the outpatient and day-care sector and being able to offer additional preventative services. In addition, we have no way of avoiding inpatient stays if there is still potential for outpatient care. At the same time, we cannot create capacity for customers for whom outpatient care has already been exhausted and an inpatient stay is necessary. This leads to inefficient use of our resources and suboptimal care for our customers.
Possible solutions
To solve this problem, we need a tool that digitizes the admission process in the outpatient and day-care sector and at the same time enables a seamless link to the inpatient sector. This system must facilitate the exchange of information between the areas and ensure that relevant data is available in real time. In this way, outpatient and day-care services could be informed immediately when their clients are admitted to the inpatient sector.
It is also crucial that the tool is compatible with our existing care software. In this way, the relevant data can be transferred directly without the need for duplicate data entry. This would not only reduce the administrative workload, but also increase transparency and efficiency throughout the entire admission process, which would ensure better utilization of our capacities and more needs-based care for our customers.
Requirements and boundary conditions
- technical requirements:
- Interface compatibility: The tool must have interfaces (APIs) that are compatible with the existing care software so that data can be exchanged seamlessly.
- Cloud or server-based solution: To enable access from different locations (inpatient, outpatient, day-care), the tool should be cloud-based or operated via a central server solution.
- User-friendliness: The interface should be intuitive and easy to use in order to minimize administrative effort and promote rapid acceptance among employees.
- Real-time data synchronization: All data must be synchronized between departments in real time so that all departments are always up to date.
- Mobile accessibility: The tool should also be available on mobile devices to provide optimum support for outpatient services on the move.
- legal and data protection requirements:
- Data protection and GDPR compliance: The tool must meet all the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This includes encrypted data transmission, access restrictions and the ability to view data only by authorized persons.
- Security standards: The system must meet high security standards to protect sensitive health data. This includes regular backups, firewalls, authentication procedures and access logs.
- Documentation requirements: The tool must be able to record and store all relevant data and documentation in accordance with legal requirements.