ERP or Enterprise Resource Planning has seen an impressive growth in almost all sectors with the Healthcare education sector being no exception. Campus management solutions (ERP) in healthcare education are critical because of the huge investments and long-term impact of improved workflow for all stakeholders. The courses that are delivered in healthcare education institutions, government and private colleges alike are of great national importance and act as the growth triggers of the future. Therefore, it is imperative to manage campus workflows/processes with maximum efficiency.
10 Key challenges (high level only) faced by healthcare education campuses:
- Deep Communication gaps between key stakeholders due to lack of a common platform.
- Lack of Accountability and Transparency
- Information technology adoption Deficiency
- Lack of IT infrastructure
- Absence of Structured MIS reports
- Lack of Role and Time management
- Lack of timely and efficient coordination between various departments
- No data mining
- Lack of Quality goals setting in both education standards and campus management
- No Regular audits on workflow efficiency
For any medical institute to be at par, there should be a healthy relationship as well as clear communication between its major stakeholders involving Investors, Top Management, Principal, AO, HOD’s, Faculty, Students, Parents, Non-teaching staff, and Alumni. Without a robust and tangible campus management ERP, efficient campus communication is next to impossible. Campus management solutions can therefore act as a Communication-Bridge Insurance between all stakeholders of medical education institutes.
I strongly believe that there are only two key Investors in a medical education Campus. Management/government who invest in finance and infrastructure and Parents who bid the future of their most valuable assets, “their children” by enrolling and paying for their education. If the ROI of these two is protected, there is no way a Campus can ever fail.
For the investor management, power does not reside in ownership alone. Today power is a function of efficient data collection, data mining and thereafter prompt and timely usage of the learnings for better productivity. A good campus ERP can provide a live dashboard interface for the investors on a real time basis and hence protect their monetary and brand equity.
For parents who invest a whopping amount of money towards their child’s medical education, ERP solutions enable transparent and two-way communication. Healthcare education management solutions help Parents keep a track of their child’s educational journey from attendance, examination results, fee due dates, fines, to other critical information. The advanced tools under ERPs also promptly issue critical timely alerts to the parents around all academic and non-academic progress parameters for their ward thus avoiding any last-minute shocks or surprises.
Some of the features that institutes should look at while searching for ERP solutions for medical college are:
Trustworthiness: The system will collect your crucial and sensitive data, so make sure that the solution provider is trustworthy.
Customization: Different healthcare institutions have different needs. When it comes to ERP solutions for medical colleges, the ERP system should offer customized services and solutions enabling smooth workflow automation.
Stakeholder friendly: It should cater to the needs of all stakeholders and provide maximum user satisfaction.
Integration: Every institution has unique workflows. While selecting the ERP solution for the campus, leadership should consider how well the new solution can align/integrate with the current workflows/userbase/infrastructure.
Seamless support: Once the ERP solutions are integrated, universities/campuses will also need continuous support from the solution provider. So, it is better to select the ERP solutions provider with an adequate experience and an established after-sale support protocol.
One-stop workflow: Make sure the ERP solution streamlines the complete campus workflows, from pre-admission to alumni management.
Over the next few weeks in my articles, I shall be elaborating on how medical campus ERP solutions act as an insurance for medical campuses by addressing the individual challenges faced by each of the key stakeholders in a healthcare education campus. We shall address issues and discuss probable solutions along with best international practices. Over this journey I shall also share a few case studies and success/failure stories as well. I shall be more than happy to address your queries or to learn from your experiences with respect to healthcare education campuses. Kindly feel free to email me.
Harjeet Kakkar