An Enterprise Resource Planning, commonly called ERP, is a business system that manages, integrates, and reports the financial, operational, commercial, manufacturer, and even human resources sides along with the company supply chain. The tools of this software allow the users to automate processes partially or totally.
ERP systems are used in several industries, each incorporating its own sector variable. Still, all of them look to provide four primary benefits: (1) boost business innovation, (2) serve as a platform for processes efficiency, (3) play as the corporate standard program, (4) and generate savings for the TI department.
While the Enterprise Resource Planning systems have been in the market since the 90’s decade, these software have experienced changes and revolutions along with their lives. Gartner, the American TI-specialized consulting company, states that we are experiencing the ERP’s fourth era, having these characteristics:
• AI-driven: Artificial intelligence helps companies collect and integrate their portfolios' services and operations, allowing the executive team to guide and support complex decisions through analytics and forecasts.
• Data-centric. The primary attention these processes had now is turned into the data they generate. This comes along with how companies use the information to improve organizational outcomes.
• Consumable. Several ERP processes are already normalized in the market, such as recording and reporting. AI will boost these activities.
• People-augmented. AI will not replace people; instead, it will make them more efficient. Now, workers execute activities better and faster, freeing time for high-impact decisions.
• Enabling. ERPs allow programmers to have more agility and flexible offer processes and implementations options.
• Customer-facing. Whether it's public-visible or not, each ERP function is an opportunity to upgrade the organization's value and customer satisfaction.
Benefits of an ERP for a company
Companies that choose to integrate a software of this kind enjoy multiple benefits:
• Cost reduction and fewer cycles time, outcoming into quicker and improved services
• Identification of lowering-cost solutions, improving the operations, mitigating risks, and anticipating results.
• Creation of organizational flexibility for current and future changes.
• Each company department has access to real-time updated and more precise reports coming from a unique information source.
• Data flows between departments, dividing operational costs.
• Remove repetitive manual processes and costs oriented to the data collection.
How to select the best ERP software for hospitals.
Currently, there is software of this kind for many sectors, including healthcare. When selecting an ERP for hospitals and medical centers, there must be taken into account some critical aspects:
Functional and technical requirements.
The executive team must take time and map the unsolved hospital needs and prioritize innovation. This will help have a more specific view about what is needed and guide further talks with ERP representatives.
Integrations.
One ERP software won't solve all the problems that a medical center has due to the high complexity and unique and numerous operations it generates. We cannot expect the exact solutions for a twenty-bed general hospital as for a high-specialty forty-bed with double medical staff.
The needs with the highest priority must be addressed. Also, during the initial presentations, the technical and infrastructure requirements must be well known to integrate the ERP with the software the hospital already counts, like the HIS (Hospital Information System), the EHR (Electronic Health Records), or in some cases, billing system.
Implementing and standardization of the ERP records in a hospital or medical center eliminates the repetitive patient identity and treatment recording, which are shared with TI, medical, pharmacy, nursery, and administrative staff.
Reports and data centralization
Most businesses require an ERP that fully complies with reporting, as this essential function is closely related to operational and financial efficiency and customer satisfaction.
With the implementation and standardization of records in an ERP within a hospital, the repetitive patient identification and treatments record is eliminated. This information is shared with several departments such as the systems teams, medical and nursing staff, and even pharmacy.
Post-sell follow up
It's crucial to know in detail the ERP's post-sell service. The software stagnation and the possible incompatibility with newer software are a barrier to innovation, and it will result in a strong inversion for the software correction and replacement.
In most cases, companies depend on the ERP provider for maintenance and updates. The ERP of health centers must address sanitary and legal regulations that safety protocols and governmental and international standards dictate since the non-proper addressing of these protocols may result in fines or license suspensions. Also, ERP must be flexible and prepared for upcoming regulations.
Information safety.
What if there is an interruption of the hospital safety or ERP? While data is the 21st-century "gold," the information safety must be clear and well-known against human or digital malicious agents, or, on the other side, against natural disasters that compromise the informative library.
Artificial Intelligence, analysis, and results forecasts.
The predictive analysis supports decision-making, such as maintaining healthy supply levels in stock based on historical data. Suppose the hospital uses some supplies at a fast pace in some specific seasons. In that case, the ERP's predictive analysis may alert the number of supplies, the frequency, or the distribution, avoiding a shortage.
The Enterprise Resource Planning software streamlines the business's operations in several sectors, being healthcare no exception. While selecting and implementing an ERP in hospitals and staff training take time, the medical center and medical staff will benefit from an operations digitalization and a more ordered and organic information flow.
Cirrus' Enterprise Resource Planning software achieves the optimization of administrative and clinical processes in an intuitive, always up-to-date and easy-to-use interface, allowing the reduction in operating costs and better patient care throughout their hospitalization.
The experience in hospitals in Mexico, Argentina, Latin America, and Saudi Arabia has helped implement the best solutions through HIS, EHR, and ERP products to clients with world quality.