When software experts talk about the future of the outpatient facility, they use words like "connectivity," "interoperability," and "standardization." Although these terms have different meanings, they are all paths to the same vision. Within the next five years, experts predict that virtually all types of computer software and hardware will be able to communicate intelligently and rapidly, greatly reducing the administrative redundancies that now keep staffing costs up and stymie even your best efforts at further improving efficiency.

Take inventory management, for example. According to Thomas Pliura, MD, JD, owner and Chief Executive Officer of Z-Chart, an electronic medical records company, the vast majority of outpatient facilities do not fully use their current inventory management software because it is more trouble than it's worth. Even with current systems, someone must input initial inventory, log usage, send purchase orders, post deliveries, and update prices. It is an endless