Traditional systems have been client-server based and cost between Rs 75 lakh and Rs 5 crore depending on size,complexity and degree of integration with other hospital systems. It is becoming harder and harder for small hospitals to maintain profitability or even stay in business. Large hospitals while struggling,have economies of scale and more extensive information systems to improve productivity and increase billings.Small hospitals,unfortunately,do not usually have the funds to install the new hospital software(eHIS) that are providing these productivity and billing improvements at larger hospitals.Using Pen and paper and dictation and transcription still dominate patient documentation at these hospitals even though they are costly and inefficient at capturing all elements.

So what’s a small hospital CEO to do? The status quo means a continued deterioration of the hospital’s financial health, but without the money to purchase or lease the hardware and software for a traditional hospital system there is little hope of improving productivity and billing efficiency.Now however, there is an answer for these hard-pressed hospital management. we are beginning to address this dilemma by using a new business Oriented model to deliver high performance hospital management software(HIS)affordably to hospitals.This new paradigm of software delivery is often called a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) model. It provides users access to hospital management software over the Internet for a single monthly or annual fee. The advantage of this model is that there are no hardware or support costs required. The application is available to anyone with a broadband Internet connection and a workstation with a web browser such as Internet Explorer or Netscape. These applications use encrypted data and redundant systems housed in secure facilities with 24-hour security and fail safe backup processes. HealthOnclick software meets the stringent requirements for patient confidentiality mandated by HIPAA. By using HealthOnclick software,small hospitals with limited capital and IT budgets can now afford to use feature rich hospital applications that provide the same functionality and financial advantages oflarge hospital based enterprise systems.One company that has made their hospital software available in this new format,is NKCS,a leader in Hospital automation. HealthOnclick software from vendors like N & K have features similar to those found in large HIS systems at a much more affordable cost.