Leveraging automation to improve the admissions process and promote patient engagement
It has been said that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. When it comes to an organization’s operational processes, this saying rings true in that the longer a process bottleneck remains in place, the more expensive, and potentially detrimental, the outcomes are to mend.
The patient access department has always been an integral piece of each hospitals operations, as the department touches each patient who walks through the door. But, even with an EHR system in place, many hospitals are still dealing with a growing amount of paperwork in their patient access processes. This can lead to preventable errors, unhappy patients and frustrated clinicians — not to mention, a negative financial impact on a healthcare organization.
Leveraging automation technologies during initial, and critical, patient access processes, such as registration and admissions, can help reduce or completely eliminate errors and the risks associated. A modernized approach to patient access is needed to establish a better patient experience, deliver better clinical outcomes and improve organizational performance via increased revenue and staff efficiency.
Top 4 Reasons to Modernize Your Patient Access Processes
- Reduce manual processes and eliminate errors.
Did you know 60% of denied claims in healthcare organizations are a result of errors made during patient access activities? The information gathered at registration is used for submitting insurance claim forms, among other things, and any errors at this initial stage can lead to negative outcomes, such as denials, on a patient’s care journey.
With a fully automated patient access department, admission packets are generated dynamically, producing the right forms for a particular patient, imprinting their demographics and barcoding the forms and wristbands without requiring any manual steps be done by registration staff. Additionally, the collection of signatures is automated to ensure consent is properly recorded and efficient. The result is a better workflow in patient access to help ensure the right information is collected (and then transferred to the care team) for each patient.
- Increase clinical continuity with EHR integration.
The core goal of the patient access department is to schedule and admit patients efficiently, making the experience seamless for staff and the patient. Unfortunately, paper-based form process can disrupt and delay these processes. With paper forms, staff in other departments have to wait for documents to arrive, after they are manually copied, scanned and archived in the EHR of course.
Featuring interoperability with core hospital systems, automation solutions contribute to the continuity of information during the patient’s visit. Information gathered during patient access is readily available to those that need it the most: the care team.
- Promote patient safety and satisfaction.
One of the reasons that patient access has become such an important health system issue of late is that today’s patients are expecting a higher service standard with regard to access. In today’s world, where customers’ expectations of accessibility and quality have increased, healthcare organizations cannot simply rely on paper-based manual processes.
Creating a paperless admissions process not only ensures they get the treatment they need fast, it helps promote a safe and positive experience in the eyes of the patient. Since electronic forms include demographics specific to an individual patient, the forms comply with the first goal of the Joint Commission’s National Patient Safety Guidelines (NPSG) which mandates that hospitals improve the accuracy of patient identification. This is a vital part of an organization’s patient safety initiatives.
- Cut costs and streamline operations with a paperless patient access department.
The challenge for the hospital is that managing paper forms is inherently inefficient. Documents often get misplaced during the patient’s stay, requiring staff to find the document or repeat paperwork processes. This causes not only headaches, but delays in treatment.
Automation solutions cut costs (and time) associated with paper, toner, printing, scanning and storage by replacing paper-based, manual processes with digital workflows. On forms costs alone, hospitals can save thousands of dollars per year with the right solution in place. Additionally, resources previously dedicated to printing, scanning, retrieving and labeling forms and indexing them with patient records can shift their time gained back to more valuable activities.
With the right patient access automation solution, hospitals have the opportunity to set the entire patient care encounter on the right track. The time is now to take advantage of the latest advancements in patient access automation solutions and adopt more modern, patient-centered strategies that bring about more agile communication between patients, providers and care teams.
Modernizing Patient Access with FormFast
With over 20 years exclusively focused on healthcare needs and over 1000 healthcare clients, FormFast is considered the industry leader in electronic forms solutions. By creating a partnership with FormFast, the large and sometimes daunting goal of automating core process in patient access and beyond.
FormFast customers have reported an average of 5-10 minutes saved per patient in their patient access department with FormFast’s eForm automation solutions in place.
“Prior to FormFast, the Patient Access Managers would have to locate the correct form, order new forms, stock the forms and manually replace old forms with new forms. Now, forms can be printed automatically when needed.” – Clinical Data Analyst (FormFast Customer)
FormFast complements leading EHR systems and fills in the remaining gaps with a best-in-class forms management solution for ALL clinical documentation. Your clinical and administrative staff members, and the patients they serve, will benefit from your healthcare organization’s commitment to replace paper-based processes with the endless solutions FormFast has to offer.
By using FormFast, hospitals achieve new levels of operational efficiency and productivity, allowing them to concentrate on their core mission – delivering quality care.
Ready to take your patient access department to the next level with FormFast? Contact us today!
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