3 Ways G Suite for Healthcare Drives Collaboration & Reduces IT Costs

SADA Says | Cloud Computing Blog

By SADA Says | Cloud Computing Blog

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One of the biggest challenges facing hospitals and healthcare providers is how they can increase collaboration among staff, deliver stronger patient outcomes, and shave off rising provider costs in the process. Adding to the quandary is that doctors, nurses, and staff all need tools that will help them overcome the balancing act of trainings and meetings with seeing patients and developing a care strategy. With admins being pulled in so many directions, how can they build a more collaborative future that remains focused on outcomes?

Check out the top three ways that G Suite helps care centers to:

Rein in Spiraling IT Costs

Costs are rising fast, and hospitals that choose to still rely on a “this is how we’ve always done it” approach will see a 15.8% reduction in operating margins by 2021. Hunterdon Healthcare is an example of a company which looked towards the future to avoid repeating their costly, decades-long mistake of buying IT tools on an as-needed basis. They previously had no overall strategy which reduced operational efficiency and put patient care at risk.

However, after reviewing cloud productivity solutions, Hutderdon Healthcare found great success in migrating to G Suite and fully leveraging its productivity applications. Over 3,000 workers adopted the new platform, with over 84% being satisfied with the change. And the effect on productivity? One department had transferred over 130,000 files to Drive in the first 30 days alone. The biggest effect, though might be on the bottom line, as Hunterdon anticipates over $1.3 million in overall cost savings.

Blend Healthcare Collaboration, Accessibility, and Productivity

Data breaches have become increasingly devastating: their financial impact has risen for 7 straight years, and the average cost of an attack on hospitals is $380 per stolen patient record. To add insult to injury, these figures are over twice the global average among all industries. While malware attacks are part of the ‘new normal’ in the digital age, employees often invite risk by downloading 3rd party apps or using public networks to increase their own productivity. How can hospitals encourage this productivity-focused mindset while also safeguarding their infrastructure? G Suite’s desktop applications are all available for download as mobile applications, enabling employees to engage with files from any hospital-issued or approved device. Also, many of G Suite’s functionality is available, even if there is no available internet connection, or VPN/public networks are too risky to use. In a recent panel discussion of healthcare providers, Jim LaPlante, Sr. Director, Technology and Biomedical, Cambridge Health Alliance, noted that while many users quickly adopt what they’re already familiar with, many continue to learn additional apps in the suite, effectively learning how to make it work for them, ultimately benefiting patients. This facilitates greater productivity, all while protecting hospital systems from potential security threats.

Drive Workforce Collaboration

Poor healthcare collaboration affects not just patient care, but also operating costs: knowledge deficits among teams of workers are a causal factor in 48% of diagnostic errors, while not having a coordinated approach to care sinks over $2 trillion from care networks’ resources.

G Suite is a HIPAA-compliant group of tools that boost collaboration. Hangouts, for example, is a messaging application that enables real-time communication. All of G Suite’s productivity tools allow users to make edits and leave comments for the team, which enables collaboration even when workers are in different buildings or time zones. Given that all files are stored in the cloud, changes are saved automatically, so staff will always be looking at the most recent version of a file. The days of endlessly emailing files back and forth are over. Staff can even share calendars and team drives; this makes it easier to schedule meetings and them more impactful, while also protecting files from being seen by non-approved users. This approach can be blended into the organization’s overall mobile strategy to maximize ROI.

G Suite offers a combination of collaboration and productivity tools, all from one single location. It also empowers administrators to ditch their legacy systems and patchwork 3rd party downloads for a safer, more secure approach to achieving desired patient outcomes. Patient care and the tools behind it are evolving; shouldn’t your employees have what it takes to the challenge?See how G Suite can be adapted and rolled out to solve the specific needs of your hospital. Contact a SADA representative today!

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