Hospitals’ operating margins have declined to 7.7%, with more than 40 percent of rural hospitals facing negative operating margins in 2016, according to recent statistics. With the announcement that Azalea Health, a leading provider of cloud-based EHR and RCM services, has launched a cutting edge ERP solution to streamline back office processes. Rural hospitals can better manage their financials with complete visibility into both revenue and expenditures.

“Many hospitals in today’s rural markets are stuck using antiquated, server-based technology or manually completing tasks due to the high costs of adopting new technology,” said Jeff Meaux, Senior Vice President of Sales of Azalea Health. “Azalea’s core mission is to ensure healthcare organizations have access to tools that enable them to provide the best care possible to their communities, and our customers now have an affordable, modernized option for advancing core business processes.”

On average, critical access hospitals maintain a payroll of $6.8 million, and rural hospitals are typically the largest employer in their communities according to the Rural Health Information Hub. With Azalea’s ERP solution, hospitals can now streamline payroll with advanced technology such as facial recognition and geolocation capabilities - removing the manual process of time cards.

Azalea’s Enterprise Suite now includes a complete, all-in-one ERP solution, including materials management and fixed assets - all fully embedded into financial management and patient accounting. In addition, localized and enterprise wide reporting will benefit hospital management groups and health systems.

“The impact ERP can have on rural hospitals is tremendous and is revolutionizing how they approach the business side of the organization,” continued Meaux. “From automating workflow and providing real-time visibility into financials; to leveraging distribution resource planning to alleviate risks of unavailable inventory; to building shift dashboards for resource planning - the opportunities are endless.”

Azalea Health services rural hospital-based healthcare providers nationwide, providing a complete, cloud-based 2015 ONC Certified EHR for Promoting Interoperability and QPP that is fully integrated with revenue cycle management and telehealth capabilities.