By Devin Partida, Editor-in-Chief, ReHack.com
LinkedIn: Devin Partida
LinkedIn: ReHack Magazine
With health information technology (IT) systems, human resources (HR) teams can streamline time-consuming administrative processes, increasing provider engagement, reducing overhead expenses and improving patient outcomes. HR leaders should consider how to optimize integration since it is no longer a matter of if, but when.
How Health IT Can Streamline HR Processes
While regulatory hurdles and administrative red tape have made health care infamously resistant to change, it has embraced digitalization. According to one survey, more than half of HR leaders in the United States added telemedicine solutions to their annual health care budget in 2024. As this statistic suggests, many changes have been patient-facing.
However, institutions are beginning to adopt internal health IT solutions like portals, monitoring tools and automation technology. The HR department is a prime candidate for these integrations because it handles everything from workforce planning to regulatory compliance. Using hardware and software to offload repetitive tasks and provide much-needed support helps professionals communicate more effectively and lighten providers’ workloads.
The HR department gains unprecedented visibility into countless administrative operations by digitalizing critical systems. They can use these insights to determine an accurate benchmark and create actionable objectives. Measurable goals are more likely to be successful because they facilitate accountability.
4 Health IT Solutions Improving HR Efficiency
These health IT solutions streamline administrative tasks, improve regulatory compliance and enhance employee engagement within health care organizations.
Digital Credentialing Platforms
A digital credentialing platform lets HR teams create and manage virtual credentials that verify training, skills, or accomplishments. It replaces traditional paper certificates, enabling automatic expiration reminders and seamless sharing.
Automated Management Systems
HR management systems with automation capabilities cover training, applicant tracking and scheduling. Artificial intelligence is currently a leading solution. Already, almost eight in 10 organizations use it in recruitment. It works with plain language commands, which is particularly useful for individuals with little technical expertise.
With these management systems, HR can automate everything from payroll to hiring. For example, decision-makers can configure their platform to send updates to candidates throughout the recruitment process based on predefined triggers.
Electronic Employee Records
The era of keeping employee details in filing cabinets is over. HR professionals can securely store personal information, job history, qualifications and training records electronically. This approach streamlines information exchanges, mitigates human error and reduces administrative costs.
Performance Tracking Technology
In health care, performance is more than an intangible metric on a spreadsheet — it affects patient outcomes. A tracking tool can help staff ensure providers are meeting standards of care while also hitting corporate milestones.
Benefits of IT-Driven Workforce Management
Manual methods are time-consuming and prone to human error. Even some technology-based solutions are outdated. If the HR department relies on them for workforce management, it can slow down the entire facility, affecting patients.
Research shows primary care physicians spend as much as 45.7 minutes on electronic health records (EHR) and up to 10.7 minutes in electronic inboxes per each 90-minute visit, meaning up to 62.7% of their time is spent on chart review, documentation and ordering.
The researchers found interdepartmental collaboration and health IT tools were associated with lower EHR time, demonstrating its value. While payroll and employee satisfaction tools may not have a massive impact, every minute saved on onboarding, compliance and professional development can improve patient outcomes, boosting reputation and revenue.
In an interview with Healthcare IT News on how AI health care tools can improve clinical efficiency, Beth McCombs — the executive vice president and chief technology officer at a Fortune 500 health IT company — said they “free up more time for clinicians to engage with patients,” “promoting patient safety.”
Health IT can improve everything from recruitment and onboarding to professional development and performance evaluations. While research shows it has only achieved incremental improvements in productivity and patient outcomes so far, experts believe the industry is on the verge of significant enhancements due to increasing adoption rates.
Using Health IT Solutions to Improve Health Care
HR leaders can use health management solutions to reduce cost variability, eliminate human error, reduce task time and unify data, improving employee satisfaction and patient outcomes. Of course, they must coordinate effectively with the IT department throughout deployment and utilization to maximize their facility’s gains.