RxWeb
CLEAR HORIZON THANKS TO CLOUD SOFTWARE
CLOUD-BASED SYSTEMS NOW SHAPING HEALTHCARE SECTORS, WRITES DAVID ROSS OF RXWEB
t is evident that the pharmacy sector has undergone dramatic changes in recent years. Not so long ago, it would have been unheard of for a pharmacist to abandon the traditional form of written dockets and convert to a computer system for typing records. Yet now, to suggest a revert in practice would prove not just unconventional but also unfeasible.
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The healthcare sector as a whole is one which is ever-changing and despite the advancements in healthcare technology today, it is often the shortfalls in day-to-day management that create the greatest challenges and draw the strongest criticisms. Healthcare management is continuously evolving and pharmacy management is no different. Over time, we see customer needs changing, demands changing and the role of the pharmacy changing
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as a result. This can make customer management more complex in the process, more so than it might have been in the time of docket and pen.
To keep up with changing trends, pharmacy practices must remain flexible and position themselves so as to assure they are in the best position to adapt to sector changes. Along with the healthcare sector, pharmacies must remain tech forward and embrace IT developments to maintain a flexible business model.
EMBRACING THE CLOUD As customer-centric, the process of creating, recording and storing patient information has always been an essential practice of pharmacy management and one which cloud computing has been designed to facilitate. In essence, cloud computing means you use web-based applications
as opposed to locally installed applications on your computer; information and programmes are stored on a remote database accessed via the web rather than your own hard drive. In reality, you have probably been using cloud computing without even realising it through sites such as Google, Facebook and YouTube, accessing information stored in a ‘virtual space’, ie, the cloud.
Among the many benefits to web and cloud based computing include cost savings. Progressing away from hosted software systems means that software and hardware updates become a thing of the past, resulting in a significant financial savings for pharmacies. These cost benefits apply even further across pharmacy groups also, who often have an application, database and server in each pharmacy under a hosted IT system. Each pharmacy can also
differ in itself in different hardware models or software versions as well as differences in pricing, third-party plans and drug files. Web-based servers eliminate such costs and complexities as they are in themselves centralised applications.
SAFER IN THE CLOUDS Healthcare providers can often be reluctant to embrace web-based or cloud technologies due to security concerns and fear of data breaches, resulting in the exposure of confidential information. However, given that the majority of internet users today access banking, financial and accounting information online through web-based applications, most are already well accustomed to it. The majority of data breaches today often originate from loss or theft of hardware, failures in hardware systems or by human error. Therefore
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