eForms, Automation Move From Luxury To Requirement

By Dave Chase, CEO, Avado, www.avado.com
Twitter: @chasedave

I recently observed a telling scene at a medical clinic. A gentleman was checking in for an appointment, and the receptionist gave him a clipboard with the standard intake forms we’ve all filled out hundreds of times. The patient handed it back to the receptionist stating he’d filled it out before. She stated “we need you to fill it out for today’s appointment.” Growing increasingly agitated, the patient firmly stated nothing had changed and handed it back to the receptionist. She apologized and said he really needed to fill it out. The patient promptly pushed it back at her loudly proclaiming “nothing has changed, you fill it out,” turning heads in the waiting room.

Coincidentally, I was at the clinic to meet with the executive director of the facility. She shared how they were spending $500,000 per year taking forms completed by hand and keying them into their systems. Historically, these costs could be absorbed in the perpetual inflation that underpins healthcare business assumptions. The fiscal cliff discussions are just the latest reminder of how healthcare is entering a deflationary period similar to what has affected many other industries such as media and technology. The good news for providers is eForms can lower their costs and greatly improve the patient experience.

Not only is cost an issue, patient engagement has become critical in the ascending “no outcome, no income” era. At a recent forum where Pioneer ACOs (accountable care organizations) shared lessons learned, one of the ACO executives stated: “With our finite resources, we must figure out ways to offload what we have thought as tasks that needed to be done by our staff. In most cases, it’s the patient who can do it more effectively. In the process, the patient is more engaged, and it’s more efficient for everyone.”

One can look at the travel industry for a view into how eForms and workflow automation will evolve in 2013 and beyond in healthcare. Can you imagine if you still had to call a number to book a flight, your airline was still using paper tickets, and you were given a clipboard when you wanted to check in for a flight? As people directly pay for their own healthcare due to high deductible health plans, it’s only logical that the expectations consumers have in every other area of their life will extend to healthcare. Providers can be pleased to know that this can lower their costs and greatly improve the patient experience without the excruciating implementation cycles they’ve become accustomed to with other systems. With outcomes, HCAHPS (hospital consumer assessment of health plans survey) surveys, and the like driving reimbursement, eForms and workflow automation go from a luxury to a requirement.