As we shared in our last blog post, we are very excited about the upcoming HIMSS18 Conference in Las Vegas, especially for this year’s HIMSS Interoperability Showcase.

In addition to highlighting our role in improving the informed consent process, we also wanted to shed light on the important process that is the key link between scheduling and admissions at healthcare facilities: pre-registration. Once a “nice-to-have,” pre-registration is now considered a critical process for ensuring that patient information is properly collected, and that staff are fully prepared to deliver care.

The Problem with Pre-Care Data Collection

A mobile pre-registration process has the power to accelerate admissions, yet many outdated methods of collecting Patient Generated Health Data (PGHD) before care (think mail, phone, websites, downloaded forms, and even patient portals) still exist.

These methods rely heavily on information being re-entered into the EHR or registration system as information collected via forms is not automatically integrated with these systems. This leaves room for error, delays, and can impact patient experience and staff satisfaction.

Due to pre-registration being the start of a patient’s “care journey” and often the first impression a patient gets of their healthcare organization, hospital stakeholders are putting special attention on streamlining the important process.

In today’s market, mobile forms technology exists that acts as an add-on to your EHR, providing the forms features needed for patients to easily complete intake documents electronically before they arrive for treatment. This ensures healthcare organizations collect and provide quality clinical information to staff and create a positive experience for patients.

Where FormFast Fits In

FormFast’s Pre-Registration solution ensures patients review and complete required admissions documents and checklists electronically at home. This gives providers the real-time data they need to deliver better care, while helping the patient feel more engaged in their care journey.

FormFast integrates with EHRs or patient portals to streamline pre-registration and capture patient-generated data remotely. Documents and data are instantly visible to the care team as the patient completes online forms.

Upon a patient’s arrival to their appointment, their documentation has already been reviewed and processed, so admissions are accelerated, and treatment is expedited.

Accelerate Admission Workflow Through Interoperability

FormFast integrates with all major EHR systems to improve how information is shared between patients and providers. Using HL7 and FHIR protocols, FormFast prefills data from the EHR into forms to expedite form completion and reduce errors.

Data and forms collected by FormFast can be shared with the EHR or other systems to provide real-time information to the care team before the patient even arrives for treatment.

Additionally, FormFast integrates with patient portals to provide forms capabilities, not typically offered by the patient portal, needed to improve pre-care data collection and EHR integration.

With best-of-breed forms features – like eSignature, image capture, dynamic field display, and more –FormFast is a “must-have” for enhancing your patient portal or EHR.

Expediting Care with Better Data Collection

Providing patients with more convenient ways to complete admissions forms, you will see an increase in patient engagement and a greater of percentage of patients who pre-register for treatment. A few benefits of eForms technology for pre-registration include:

• Save clinicians time by allowing patients to fill out information prior to their healthcare event.
• Allow users to provide longitudinal data, to provide patient history beyond a single encounter.
• Track critical information that will allow clinicians to reach out to patient between visits. This intervention can lead to a reduction in ER visits or miscommunication in care transition activities
• Contribute to shorter patient wait times by allowing staff to receive completed patient information in the pre-registration phase.

Empowering Patients

With mobile forms technology, patients can complete and review forms, checklists and educational materials at a time suitable for them and in an environment in which they feel comfortable.

This can help patients better understand their care plans, since patients absorb little of what is told to them in an office visit – 40-80% is forgotten immediately. Additionally, medical conditions and anxiety can alter a patient’s ability to recall medical information while in the clinical setting.

Completing forms in their home setting enables patients to provide more accurate information (such as family history and current medication usage) as they have the time and resources needed to review information with family members or caretakers.

Pre-registration was created to streamline admissions, not to complicate the process more. We look forward to sharing how FormFast’s solution is removing the all too common data collection headaches that exist today in the pre-registration process to make the most of the very important first step on the patient encounter cycle.

Don’t miss us at the HIMSS18 Interoperability Showcase where we will share a cancer imaging case to illustrate the importance of a better pre-registration process for patients and providers! Visit the HIMSS website for details. 

Visit FormFast booth #4825 at HIMSS18 in Las Vegas. To schedule a meeting and to learn more, visit: FormFast.com/HIMSS18.