With each day that passes, our technology is getting smarter and smarter.  One of the most notable inventions in recent years has been the development of the POS system.  The Point of Sale system allows companies to make sure that their operations are running smoothly.  It allows customers the opportunity to make payments for products or services right on site.

In addition to being more efficient than cash registers or using excel to manage the books, it is able to track sales, inventory, and management of customers.  A manager can track just about everything that happens in their business. There are many systems for retail available that can explain more in-depth their services.  Implementing new technology can be a scary and overwhelming process, but the end result will create a much smoother flow and tracking system for your business.

Hospitals, in particular, have a ton of data that they need to track on a daily basis.  In a world where the customers have patient portals available to track their own healthcare (as evidenced in Tackling the challenges of patient engagement with healthcare data), it is even more important now that data is up-to-date and accurate.  In addition to healthcare, hospitals typically have large cafeterias and/or cafes for visitors, employees, and patients to visit.  Implementing a POS system there is a perfect place to start.

Online Ordering

Having a POS system available can provide a huge benefit to effectively getting meals out to the hundreds of patients they have each day.  Patients could be able to order on an online tablet provided in the room or handled by one of the staff members. They would be able to have an up-to-date menu online that can be easily accessible for the customer.  They would also be able to organize the options for the patients depending on their menu restrictions. This would ensure that a customer doesn’t order something they are not supposed to have. This is also a method that can be used to track what food customers are ordering and can be monitored.

Online ordering allows for quick kitchen notification as well.  The orders are routed to the kitchen and the staff can begin on a patient’s meal right away.  It is a much more efficient program than making a phone call, typing it into a computer, and then delivering the order to the kitchen staff.

Payroll Benefits

The POS system would be able to track employee statistics as well.  Business owners would be able to see where the transactions are coming from and ensuring that the employees are doing their job correctly.

The system would allow you to add employees to the system, develop staff schedules, automatically email schedules to employees, track their hours, and keep an eye on their performance.  Scheduling a large number of employees, especially in a hospital, can be an arduous task. But, with a POS system, it can be done right in the program and figure out a balanced schedule that meets the needs of your hospital.

Self-Service Kiosk

In addition to using the POS system to benefit patients, a self-service kiosk system can be implemented to help speed up the delivery and provide additional services to customers and employees.  

This gives them the opportunity to place orders quickly without cash transactions.  With the swipe of a credit or debit card, people can place their order, go back to what they were doing, and then return to pick up what they ordered.  This can help to reduce the wait times, especially around peak hours.

Additional Bonuses

In addition to all of the above, companies can run a loyalty program through their POS system.  This might be a way that you can reward employees who may be purchasing meals frequently from the hospital.  It could also generate more revenue and prevent people from bringing in their own food if they know there is a rewards program.

The program also allows you to increase your marketing by collecting emails.  The collection of emails can be used to email out promotions or other important information people would need to know about.

The POS system automatically creates profiles for people and that can be effective in the future.  Hopefully, there will be a time soon where people can go to a hospital and not have to repeat every bit of information to every single person you run into.  A quick, easily accessible program can be developed with these profiles to speed up the process in the future.

In Conclusion…

POS systems are seen more and more in retail stores and the restaurant business.  The medical field is slowly beginning to implement them into their businesses as well.  In the future, programs like this will help with patient information and help places with large employees run a lot smoother.  Like humans, technology will continue to grow and it is our job to keep up with the pace.