ARMC Adopts Electronic Consent Solution Using Logical Ink

Terri Andrews, Clinical Systems Manager at ARMC, was part of a hospital-wide task force that examined where paper was being used and sought ways to replace it with an electronic solution. Andrews discovered that ARMC was still using paper consent forms in patient access. Alamance had 9 consents that had to be filed and signed by patients including:

• Advanced Beneficiary Notice (ABN)
• Consent
• Elon Release
• HIPAA Privacy Practices
• Important Messages from Medicare
• Important Messages from CHAMPUS
• Insurance Liability Waiver
• Patient Directory
• Procedure Denial

"Going paperless was more about operating efficiency than anything else," said Jesse Long, CIO of ARMC. ARMC looked at several solutions, including digital pen. Because ARMC has both Allscripts™ Sunrise Clinical Manager and Siemens® Document Imaging, registrars had to scan completed forms into both EMRs which wasted time. ARMC was also moving primarily to bedside registration in the ER, requiring a solution that was mobile and didn't require the registrars to carry around a lot of paper on their computer on wheels (COWs).

"We had paper forms all over the place and it was difficult to keep track of which forms had been signed by the patient," explains Andrews. "Scanning forms was really time-intensive. Additionally, documents were misplaced or lost and not entered into the EMR until much later." ARMC estimated a 5% failure rate.

Andrews recognized that the tablet was a perfect form factor and began researching software vendors that were using the tablet for this purpose.

To continue reading about the Logical Ink® solution from Bottomline Technologies implemented at ARMC and the benefits of the implementation, download this case study now.