Clarity Through Connections

You can’t turn on the television, listen to the radio, log into Facebook, or even walk through the grocery store without hearing something about the rapidly-heating healthcare debate. I’ll leave the debates to the political blogosphere, but I do think we can all benefit from a closer look at the issues.

There are plenty of issues surrounding President Obama’s healthcare plan that provoke argument. Depending on your political persuasion, terms like “single-payer,” “deficit,” “affordable drugs,” or “universal care” will stir up strong emotions and force you to choose a side. Not every detail in the proposal is debated, however.

There are some parts of the idea of healthcare reform that cross political boundaries. One of the things that resonates loudly with both sides of the aisle is the need for streamlined, efficient processes in the medical field. Costs will continue to rise if the bulky, slow, and inaccurate ways of doing business continue.

Here is what President Obama said recently:

“We can no longer afford to put health care reform on hold. Our recovery plan will invest in electronic health records and new technology that will reduce errors, bring down costs, ensure privacy and save lives.”

The need for streamlined practices in the medical field is now the elephant in the room. We know it, and now the world knows it. Our best kept secret (the fact that we haven’t quite hopped on the technological revolution bandwagon) is now being debated on prime-time news. Whether or not the government should show us how to be efficient is not the issue. It’s time for us to change – with or without a government mandate.

Case-Connect is a way for surgical offices to shed some weight…so to speak. Schedulers will find that the digital age has led to time-saving, headache relieving strategies for scheduling a case. Using an online platform for communication with support staff, hospitals, patients, and vendors streamlines the scheduling process. Records, data, and conversations can be sent securely, quickly, and efficiently. No more lists of 30 phone calls to make after lunch…computers will take care of the confirmations. No more fax blunders, either…digital copies of instructions and records are immune to pen leaks, soda spills, and misplacement.

The government may dictate many of the regulations and processes for our industry in the coming months. Whatever happens, we can help ourselves by embracing technology and using it to streamline our practices. That’s a proposal that we can all get behind. All in favor? “AYE.”