At the beginning of the year, conversations on the future of healthcare administration surrounded themes of managing the aging patient population and methods for processing and storing rising levels of patient data. That future has since been indelibly impacted by the global COVID-19 pandemic crisis.
The new focus is centred around ongoing emergency preparedness and response, as healthcare facilities do what they can to ready for whatever’s coming next. This evolution calls on health administration pros with relevant training to help with the necessary adaptations.
Let’s take a look at a few ways COVID-19 has changed the current healthcare landscape, and what those in health administration can expect to see in the days ahead.
Medical and Health Administration Training Will Be Helpful in Quickly Adapting Facilities
As soon as the pandemic hit Canadian soil back in March, healthcare facilities all over the country launched into emergency tactics to cope with what was to come. Hospitals and the staff working within them braced themselves for the worst, anticipating the possibility of over-capacity and the inability to treat everyone.
Over and above making sure medical staff was equipped with enough medical supplies to handle patient loads, healthcare teams found themselves tasked with finding vacant buildings to create makeshift hospitals and quarantine centres. Others suggested additional plans, such as a “hospital in a box” type of kit that would enable a medical facility to quickly expand by 500-100 beds at a reasonable cost.
As we await the possibility of a second wave, hospitals and other healthcare settings will continue to look for creative response plans to adapt to incoming patient numbers and needs. They will rely on pros with medical and health administration training to assist in quickly adapting to new plans. Whether reminding patients to use hand sanitizer when arriving on premises, or screening patients by telephone to make sure that no one with coronavirus symptoms arrives unannounced, their adaptability will be important as healthcare continues to evolve.
Helping with Virtual Care and Telemedicine After Your Health Administration Courses
Before COVID dominated the future landscape, the use of emerging technologies was a major topic in the discourse about future healthcare. The pandemic has thrown one of those technologies into immediate practice, with the use of telemedicine surging across the country.
Recognizing the benefits of giving Canadians more convenience and choice in accessing healthcare, the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) has created a task force outlining recommendations to the federal government and stakeholders for improving and expanding virtual care throughout Canada.
As virtual care continues to grow, medical teams will rely on graduates of health administration courses to keep the practice running smoothly. Administrators will continue to be at the forefront of creating and tracking virtual appointments, liaising with patients, and keeping medical personnel updated on the pertinent details of each patient file.
Are you interested in making a difference to healthcare by entering this fascinating and quickly evolving field?
Learn how to earn your medical and health administration diploma from Canadian Business College!