Why do we need a full intranet if we have Network Drives?
Most of our clients that I visit before we implement their intranets rely heavily on shared network drives. This is where they keep everything from newsletters to their policies and procedures. It works okay, but other alternatives work even better…way better. We recommend that our clients put these documents on their hospital’s intranet for several reasons. When handling internal communications in healthcare, you should try to leverage technology for announcements, news sharing, information transfer and document management activities.
One reason why we recommend using an intranet to host things like newsletters and policies is because it makes these documents easier to access. There is no need to map to a drive when the documents are on your intranet. You can navigate to the document as if you were clicking through your favorite website instead of going through some complicated folder structure. Since most people are now familiar with the layout of websites, this should be an easy transition. Also search functions are usually a lot faster and more robust than Windows Explorer in many ways.
Healthcare Intranets can also be used to facilitate engagement and collaboration; something that a regular shared network drive has little effect on. Where the drives fail is not being visually stimulating. A healthcare intranet has the ability to add supporting graphics, system driven notifications and various ways to layout information that is easier to digest. This draws users back to the intranet to stay up to date on the latest news and information in the hospital. Shuffling through network folders just doesn’t have the same draw. Some intranets, like HositalPORTAL, even allow you to comment on some documents to gauge employment interest.
Network drives are a great way to store documents securely for everyone in the hospital to have access to. However it offers little else. This is why many hospitals are moving toward a more robust, effective, and easy to use intranet. Don’t get left behind. For more information sign up for a free online demonstration of what an intranet can do for you and your hospital.
