Surgeries are difficult and tricky procedures for the most part. Any discrepancy and mistake can lead to big problems and can put the patient’s life at risk in no time. Among many things that make up the surgeons’ process, preference cards play a big role. In the medical field, every surgeon tends to have a preference card that defines the medicines, medical instruments, supplies, etc., required by a certain surgeon.
Without accurate preference cards, it can lead to delays in the surgeries and a lack of proper instrumentation and supplies required by the surgeon. Even today, many hospitals and surgery centres tend to have paper-based preference cards. These cards tend to get old and are not updated, causing major issues in the process. That is why medical centres need to update and automate preference cards daily. And, this can be possible only if the systems are automated, and digital preference cards are used.
Who gets affected?
One may think that old and ratty preference cards won’t make a big difference. But that is not true. Old preference cards can put an effect on the doctors, patients and supply chain equally. Inaccurate instruments in the surgery room can make the doctors and surgeons flustered, affecting their performance and process likewise. Not having the right supplies can put the patients’ lives at risk and can lead to delayed recovery or complications. Also, having old and up-updated preference cards can lead to delays and blockages in the supply chain of the supplies and instruments.
Cons of paper preference cards
Some of the major setbacks in using paper preference cards are:
– Misplaced: it is very easy to misplace paper preference cards. This can lead to an increased cost of supply and inventory system gap.
– Jeopardized surgery: not having the right things on the surgery table can make the surgeons anxious and disgruntled. This can affect the outcome majorly.
– Time wastage: when things go missing on the surgery table, it can lead to disagreement and late in starting the surgery.
– No digital record: when it comes to technology in the healthcare system, paper preference cards cannot be updated and recorded. This can cause a gap in data and information.
– Misinterpretation: paper can get ruined, crumpled, and bad handwriting makes things worse. This can lead to misinterpretation and issues with surgical processes.
Benefits of automated preference cards
To solve all the issues mentioned above, healthcare systems are more inclined towards using automated preference cards these days. This can solve several problems and can make the surgical process more efficient. Some of the benefits of using automate preference cards are:
Efficiency: Using automated cards makes the process efficient and leads to less time and resources. This can helps in saving cost that is wasted on inventory gaps and inefficacy.
– Record keeping: automation allows the healthcare institutes to save the record digitally that can be easily shared digitally. Also, digital records can be stored at the cloud level for easy access.
– Cost comparison: having digital records allows the system to compare the cost of the various instruments and supplies used by the surgeons. This helps in better cost analysis and waste of financial resources.
– Customizable: lastly, the automated cards allow customization as per the need of the surgeon. This allows the cards to be made more scalable and easy to interpret and use. This is not a possibility with paper cards.
In the era of digitization, using paper cards can be cumbersome and may lack efficiency. That is why now is when healthcare institutes need to upgrade their system and use automation to create and store preference cards of their surgeons.
