By Dan Slates, manager, Hyland Software
If each packet of related patient forms averages 12 pages or more, requires more than 14 signatures, and includes 40 or more unique fields, then the 153 million patient registrations in the U.S. alone generate enough paper to circle the earth more than 15 times.
Think about that. Now think about the processes required to manage that much paper and how much time it takes to do so. It all seems unnecessary in an age when so many of us no longer bother to carry cash or look at a street map unless it’s on our smartphones.
Consumer technology has influenced the way we interact with information and healthcare solutions must accommodate the way we work. Who wants to push a cart around a 10-acre campus when he or she could carry an iPad instead? More importantly, what patient wants to repeatedly produce his or her insurance information when visiting different departments within the same healthcare organization?
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By Dan Slates, manager, OnBase by Hyland
If each packet of related patient forms averages 12 pages or more, requires more than 14 signatures, and includes 40 or more unique fields, then the 153 million patient registrations in the U.S. alone generate enough paper to circle the earth more than 15 times.
Think about that. Now think about the processes required to manage that much paper and how much time it takes to do so. It all seems unnecessary in an age when so many of us no longer bother to carry cash or look at a street map unless it’s on our smartphones.
Consumer technology has influenced the way we interact with information and healthcare solutions must accommodate the way we work. Who wants to push a cart around a 10-acre campus when he or she could carry an iPad instead? More importantly, what patient wants to repeatedly produce his or her insurance information when visiting different departments within the same healthcare organization?
Show me the value
While there had been financial motivation prompting healthcare organizations to purchase electronic medical records (EMR), the federal grants that subsidized those expenditures have dried up. Increasingly it is the business value of IT solutions that’s now driving technology investments. This isn’t to say that healthcare reform doesn’t influence innovation – one can almost feel the weight of the reimbursement penalties awaiting those who’ve yet to adopt a Meaningful Use-certified EMR. But now, more than ever before, healthcare organizations are using a new set of criteria when investing in new technology.
Not only must every application, system and process in every department of every healthcare organization comply with the federal regulations designed to improve healthcare quality and delivery, they must also bring business value to the healthcare organization. When considering new solutions, whether it’s a financial reporting, quality, provider contract or case management solution or an enterprise operational system, healthcare IT professionals seek technology that streamlines processes, reduces operational costs and expedites decisions. More than that, though, technology must empower the clinicians and staff at their respective hospitals and health systems to provide quality care and deliver better service.
Go beyond scan, store and retrieve
Health systems have had to manage paper-based information for a long time, but healthcare reform has changed not only how healthcare organizations store information, but how they must interact with it. The limited capabilities of existing legacy document management systems no longer meet expectations, spurring many healthcare organizations to invest in enterprise content management (ECM) solutions.
To deliver the most value, an ECM solution integrates with existing applications – most notably the electronic medical record (EMR) – optimizing those technology investments while collecting accurate patient information and driving key related processes, in any context, without relying on paper forms. With ECM, healthcare organizations manage forms electronically and ingest electronic feeds – like, EKGs ECG, pulmonary function tests, hypnograms, etc. – directly from the source, securely storing the data in its native format. Mobile capabilities allow ECM users to collect discrete patient data and map it to other applications. This not only opens up possibilities for home health providers, but for onsite bedside patient registration with electronic signature capture and the ability to upload wound photos and more to the EMR – from wherever, whenever.
Provide the tools that meet demand
Much like the healthcare organizations that employ them, clinicians and staff want to perform better, produce more and enjoy higher levels of satisfaction. Closing the gap between your users’ experiences with technology as consumers and their experiences with technology at work will bolster user adoption, creating greater acceptance of new, innovative technology and maximizing its impact on your organization’s bottom line.
Healthcare IT solutions must provide a healthy return on investment (ROI). And, the sooner that ROI is realized through operational efficiencies, the opportunity to reduce overhead and eliminate support and maintenance fees of systems that are no longer needed – the better.
About the author
Dan Slates, RHIA, CPHIMS, manager of global integrated solutions at OnBase by Hyland, has worked in healthcare for more than 20 years. He began his career in Health Information Management and over time moved to Information Technology.
