POS systems are traditionally associated with the retail or hospitality industry. In reality, POS systems can help any business that needs to track many different transactions and ensure that all this data is available on command. In that sense, POS systems make perfect sense for any medical facility. Hospitals and clinics often have to track multiple transactions across the board, which may vary in nature. For example, hospitals will often have a dispensary where drugs are dispensed, cafeterias for food, and many other points of transaction. A well set up POS system can help any medical facility manage all the transactions and much more. Here are some other reasons why more hospitals are adopting POS systems.
Meal Orders
One of the critical (yet often overlooked) functions in a hospital is meal orders. Hospitals have to feed hundreds of patients every day, all of who have varying nutritional requirements. A POS system helps to streamline these meal orders. The POS system would allow patients to even make orders online and can restrict individual orders in line with what the doctor has recommended for the individual patient.
A POS system can also route any orders to the kitchen, thus ensuring that the preparation of meals begins immediately after the patient places an order.
Staff Scheduling
Within a hospital setting, a POS system can be set up to manage employee schedules. The system can be programmed to monitor staff hours and much more. Even better, the system can track transactions per department, helping hospital administrators to understand where the bulk of the revenue is coming from. If the hospital offers free or discounted meals to staff, the POS system can help distinguish between patient/employee orders and record them respectively.
Selfcare Options
As a way of cutting costs, many hospitals are implementing systems that encourage customers to choose self-service options. This kind of automation is easier when linked to a good POS system. This is because such POS systems already come with bill-generation capability as well as various payment options. Rather than have customers queuing to obtain and settle their bills, the entire process is reduced to a single transaction.
These self-service kiosks can be implemented in a variety of places such as the drug dispensary, the cafeteria, and many other places.
Inventory Management
By linking the various hospital departments to a POS system, hospital administrators are able to keep track of inventory. This means that there is little danger of stock-outs. This applies to food items, medicine, and other hospital supplies. Even items such as medical gloves and other supplies can be linked to the system so that the POS system can give an alert when stocks are running low. This saves the hospital money due to reduced wastage.
There are many other ways in which a good POS system can be of great benefit to any hospital. For example, hospitals with branches (or clinics) can wirelessly link their POS systems so that administrators can access data for each satellite for comparison purposes. When you need the best POS systems for your medical facility, reach out to Nationwide Merchant Solutions. We are a leading merchant services provider with over ten years of experience.