How Mobile Healthcare Apps Are Combatting Staffing Shortages
As hospitals continue to navigate their ways through the COVID-19 pandemic, perhaps the biggest obstacle to overcome has been the devastating wave of staff shortages healthcare facilities across the country have been forced to experience. In fact, roughly 25% of all hospitals in the U.S. are experiencing critical staffing shortages, putting even more strain on an industry that’s been constantly dealing with extensive barriers and setbacks for the past few years.
These staffing shortages are attributed to a number of factors, ranging from rising COVID cases, to overwhelming working conditions, to varying health and safety protocols, and dozens of other constituents. With this employment uncertainty begs the need for more innovative technological solutions, specifically designed to offset the workload and stress healthcare workers are dealing with on an everyday basis.
One such solution that’s positively impacted the healthcare industry has been the recent emphasis on investing in mobile application development. More and more hospitals are building custom mobile apps that help them better accommodate their patients and reduce the daily tasks and chores hospital workers must take on a daily basis. Here are a few of the ways mobile healthcare apps are combating staffing shortages, and providing much-needed relief to doctors and nurses all across the country.
Managing Workloads
We tend to think of mobile healthcare apps as more designed to enhance the patient experience, when they can often be utilized by hospital management teams to effectively and efficiently manage their staff’s workloads. By creating healthcare workforce management apps, hospitals can precisely monitor everything from working hours, to scheduling, to overtime, and every other aspect of staff workload. These types of features can help reduce employee burnout and over-scheduling.
By keeping a better eye on how hard and how often staff workers are on the clock, hospital management can quickly indicate when employees are being pushed to the brink of their abilities, and help provide them with any relief or resources they need to stay committed and productive. Healthcare workforce management apps have become an essential tool for hospitals to help combat rising turnover rates.
Accessing Patient Data
In today’s world, every second is valuable at any given hospital. Because time is always of the essence, healthcare workers can significantly reduce the amount of time spent on accessing, sharing, or updating patient data through innovative mobile healthcare applications. When patients can quickly sign in to their healthcare provider accounts on their smartphones, hospital workers can instantly access or edit any of the following pieces of patient data:
● Recent check-ups, hospital visits, or treatments
● Prescribed medications, past or present
● Vaccine records
● Past medical history
● Allergy notifications
● Emergency contact information
● Insurance provider information
The faster nurses and doctors can access, share, or store patient data, the more efficiently they can manage their workloads and stop wasting time sorting through file cabinets, desktop computers, patient databases, etc.
Enhancing Patient Experience
It’s safe to say that the happier hospital patients are, the happier hospital staff workers will be. Mobile healthcare apps are doing wonders when it comes to enhancing the patient experience, through a variety of customized features and accommodating designs intended for simplifying the hospital visitation process. These applications put more power into the hands of patients, allowing them to personalize their hospital experience through accessible tools and resources ranging from:
● Expedited check-in or sign-in process
● Immediate check-up or hospital visit scheduling
● Instant access of any essential medical records or information
● Customized medication ordering options
● Interactive digital wayfinding and hospital mapping services
● Treatment or testing tracking notifications
When patients have an arsenal of digital healthcare resources resting securely in their pockets, healthcare workers can spend less time accommodating their needs, questions, or concerns.
Mobile Healthcare App Development from Oppna Digital
In these trying times, exploring ways to adhere to both employee and patient needs alike is an absolute necessity for every hospital. At Oppna Digital, we develop customized mobile applications hospitals can utilize to reduce the workloads of their staff, while working toward improving overall patient satisfaction levels. When you need custom mobile application development services, contact Oppna Digital today to request a demo of all of our digital healthcare solutions!