Hospitals under pressure: How technology can transform operations
Hospitals under pressure: How technology can transform operations
By Jeff Harper | Published: 2025-12-03 14:30:00 | Source: MedCity News
Hospitals and health systems face significant challenges, one of the most important of which is how to operate clinical pharmacy effectively and efficiently. Some drug prices have Doubled Over the past ten years, while others have shown an increase of More than fifteen percent In one year. At the same time, regulatory and compliance expectations are rapidly evolving, and managing the operational needs needed to support better outcomes and patient safety has become more complex than ever. Although more data and information are available, they are usually stored in various systems that are not designed to support the operation of an optimized business environment. The stress of all these challenges and the shifting sands of healthcare has placed incredible stress on the workforce Fatigue and exhaustion are common In pharmacy and across the healthcare system.
In the razor-thin operating margins of most hospitals and health systems, accuracy, efficiency and pharmacy supply chain optimization are critical to survival. However, continuing to do the same thing we have been doing for years will not lead to a different outcome. There are a number of innovative technology-based solutions that provide opportunities to help improve operations, and investing in the right technology can provide a significant return on investment immediately and in the long term. However, implementing new technologies in any healthcare environment can be challenging, from selecting the right options and suppliers to the change management associated with implementation and moving toward leveraging performance data to increase ROI. In this article, we will discuss three key considerations for investing in technology and digital transformation to enhance hospital operations.
Deliver programming with trust-based change management
No dialogue on technology transformation can begin without discussing change management and the expected obstacles to its adoption. Technology serves people, whether those individuals are service providers (such as doctors, nurses, and pharmacists), administrative staff, financial staff, or support staff. Helping humans adapt to process changes is difficult, especially when those changes disrupt a system that has been the norm for decades. Leaders, including those outside the service line where change occurs, must effectively lead change management while helping the team understand and trust the technology.
It is important to anticipate and plan for needs that can help the new system operate effectively, such as additional staff time, potential operational changes, and other ad hoc necessities during implementation and transition periods. For example, in a hospital implementing radio-frequency identification (RFID)-based tracking, RFID tags must be added to a specific drug inventory. These tags are added at the source or at the facility. This means that everyone, from leadership to employees, may need to make some clear changes to how they schedule and manage their time. Most importantly, this must be understood and taken into account in advance. Such changes make it easier to implement the new system and will result in immediate value. However, they need support all the way through to leadership, and the entire team must adapt and understand that starting a new process requires time to build this new muscle.
In every industry, now more than ever, people are experiencing major technological shifts that affect how they work, and most individuals find these changes difficult. A critical element of change management is devoting time and energy to training teams to work with new systems. In a He studies Which focused on corporate employees, 40% reported that they felt their employers were asking too much of them when it came to technologies like artificial intelligence. In healthcare, where employees are already pushed to their limits, we can imagine that these pressures to adapt to technological changes constitute an additional burden. Thus, hospital management must focus attention on how to introduce change, be realistic about the ways in which the change will affect employees day to day, and administer the necessary training.
Understand the need for and leverage customization and flexibility
While hospitals and health systems face similar issues with supply chains, costs, and staffing, the complex nuances of each facility are unique. The services provided, the number of patients served, geographic locations, medication supply, and professional capabilities all impact hospital operations. Two hospitals in the same system, in the same city, often have distinctly different needs. While technology can help solve critical problems and improve operations, the best options will have specific workflows with features and capabilities that are flexible enough to customize for each facility.
Machine learning (ML) is an example of a software capability that can dramatically increase the value of technology. Machine learning is better at predicting future behaviors or needs within a given environment over time because it uses data specific to that system to improve its algorithms. The longer the program runs in a machine learning environment, the more accurate it becomes because it has been trained and learned from a specific data set.
When applied to drug inventory management, machine learning enables every health system, hospital and facility to forecast its specific drug needs based on its own performance. Customization like this is incredibly helpful for pharmacy departments in running a more efficient and effective business, especially since many of them pay for medications even if they expire before they are used. Instead of overstocking medication due to concerns about spikes in demand, hospitals can make stocking, ongoing management and ordering decisions based on the recommendations of a predictive algorithm trained on that hospital’s unique usage data.
Interoperability, or the ability of technology to share valuable data from inside and outside the hospital, is another customization requirement that is critical in the context of complex hospital systems. For example, if medication tracking software can be successfully linked to electronic health records (EHR), the process of recording medications given to patients and obtaining documentation needed for billing can be streamlined, saving practitioners time while improving charge collection.
Focus on value, not fashion
The number of technology solutions available for healthcare providers to consider has risen dramatically in the past decade, at an almost dizzying pace. From artificial intelligence to predictive analytics to automation technologies, determining which technologies are the most appropriate can be incredibly complex. Trendy software like ChatGPT dominates the news, but improving hospital operations isn’t about trendy technology. It’s about finding solutions that can provide short- and long-term value, and partners are evolving at the pace required to meet the changing demands of healthcare.
When analyzing technology, consider its role in the system and the needs that will make it a meaningful addition. For example, many hospital pharmacies will benefit from more transparent inventory management and tracking systems to address key gaps. Ideally, this would indicate a need for a system that can provide support with in-depth documentation, medication security (such as drug waste disposal), and seamless tracking of medications across the hospital. Appropriate technology in this area can significantly improve hospital pharmacy operations and result in time savings and reduced medication waste, a major source of revenue loss for hospitals.
The company behind the technology plays an important role in determining which tools have staying power. As needs change, requirements change and systems adapt, it will be the partnership between the hospital system and the technology provider that ensures technology solutions continue to solve hospital operations problems in a realistic and meaningful way.
Approach technological improvement with open eyes and the right partner
It is time for digital and technological transformation of hospitals. The pressures on hospitals may be increasing, but technology is here and can save costs, streamline workflow and save staff time. However, successfully implementing the technology can be difficult and require decisions that may reverberate for decades. To achieve ultimate success, hospital managers must approach technology solutions with open eyes and the right partner to help them navigate change.
Photo: Phototechno, Getty Images
Jeff Harper He is the head of product for IntelliGuard Its solutions help build the pharmacies of the future. Jeff has 20 years of healthcare software leadership experience, as an entrepreneur building enterprise software serving health systems and children’s hospitals, and as an executive leader at Advocate Healthcare, the third largest health system in the United States.
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