Healthcare Policy Management System Benefits

It’s no secret healthcare is rife with policies, regulations, rules, and compliance requirements to ensure patient safety, proper reimbursement by payers including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and adherence to internal policies such as disaster preparedness and mandatory new-hire training.

For decades, healthcare policies have been typed in a word processor and either printed or emailed for edits and revision. The document was then passed around for board members to sign. Once all approval signatures were collected, the new policy document became final, and the printing and employee signing started. 

With everything likely on a company drive, only certain people had access, there was no version control, it was hard to determine if everyone had acknowledged the policy, and employees couldn’t easily access the policies when a question arose.

The healthcare industry needed a better process.

What Is a Healthcare Policy Management System?

Now, digital healthcare policy management systems manage these complex processes with every single step in the example above happening in one cloud-based platform that is easily accessible to employees, management, and regulators.

A healthcare policy management system is a computerized solution to store, share, track, sign, and manage files and documents. Every step of a healthcare policy workflow – from drafting, distribution, signature capture, and reporting/tracking – is managed on one platform. By managing healthcare policies in one place, organizations can meet compliance and accreditation requirements with automated, multi-person electronic signing. Plus, HR saves time on new hire onboarding by assigning all policies with one click.

Four Key Benefits of a Digital Healthcare Policy Management System

1. Keep Policies Organized and Easily Accessible

Healthcare policy management platforms use a drag-and-drop folder system that makes it easy to keep things organized. Cloud-based storage ensures all employees have access to important documents. Since surveyors want to see versions, approvals, and acknowledgements of a document or policy, having a solution where actions are automatically tracked provides confidence with real-time status, analytics, and reports.

2. Maintain Compliance With Electronic Signatures

Chasing signatures and walking from office to office is one of the most time consuming parts of a manual process. E-signature capabilities in healthcare policy management systems make it easy to get board member approval with a chain of signers. Once the first approver signs, the policy is automatically sent to the next person in line. Once all signatures are collected, the system notifies the policy owner. When it comes to acknowledgements, a signed digital copy is stored within the system so you always know who has approved each policy.

3. Stay Compliant When Regulations Change

There are many federal and state agencies governing healthcare operations and there are even more regulations that are frequently updated, which means policies need to be revised, approved, shared, and acknowledged. Using a manual system, you might weigh the risk of not updating the policy with the time you know it will take to complete the approval/acknowledgement process. With a digital system, the process is much less complicated so it is an easy decision to make needed updates.

4. Complete New Hire Onboarding Faster

The average new hire completes 54 tasks from paperwork to training and everything in between. Healthcare’s high turnover rate makes this process even more daunting. Using a healthcare policy management system, you can assign all policy acknowledgements with one click by the new hire’s role, department, and location. You could even do it prior to their start date, which means you’re getting the new hire in place faster. See how it works. 

Simplify Compliance with MedTrainer Document & Policy Management

MedTrainer accelerates compliance with a unified digital platform that optimizes workflows and streamlines education, credentialing, and documentation. Request a demo of MedTrainer Document & Policy Management by clicking here. Our healthcare policy management system experts will show you how MedTrainer differs from other platforms and is the go-to choice for organizations of all sizes.