Addressing Social Determinants: Does Your Organization Have the Patient Data it Needs?

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On April 1, CMS finalized updates that, in part, provide a better way to care for patients where they spend the most time – OUTSIDE the walls of healthcare, in their homes.

Seema Verma, CMS Administrator said, “…[Medicare Advantage and Part D] plans need greater flexibility in offering benefits that focus on preventing disease and keeping people healthy.”)

This is a welcomed change, given that 70% of a person’s health is determined by factors such as lifestyle and environment.

Under these new benefits, patients have covered access to things such as:

  • Meal delivery
  • Non-medical transportation, such as for grocery shopping
  • Air cleaners or carpet shampooing for patients with asthma,
  • And other services to address social needs

ICD-10 – CM Z codes Z55-Z65 identify patients with health hazards related to socioeconomic and psychosocial circumstances. As of February 2018, documentation from ALL members of the care team – rather than only the provider – can be used to report these codes.

Combined, these changes translate to improved billing and coverage of preventative care for patients based on their social needs. But, without knowledge of the risk factors impacting a patient’s life, medical care can only go so far.

Sixty-eight percent of patients have experienced at least one of the social determinants of health (SDOH), but very few are communicating to their providers about it, according to a recent report from Waystar.

As healthcare moves towards targeted, value-based care delivery, it’s important for providers to collect and understand patients’ social determinants and gain momentum into designing critical parts of care delivery.

The Protocol for Responding to and Assessing Patients’ Assets, Risks, and Experiences (PRAPARE) is a national effort to help health centers and other providers collect the data needed to better understand and act on their patients’ social determinants of health. (source)

With data on the social determinants of health, health centers and other providers can define and document the increased complexity of their patients, transform care with integrated services and community partnerships to meet the needs of their patients, advocate for change in their communities, and demonstrate the value they bring to patients, communities, and payers.

So, how can you learn about a patient’s social determinants? Ask them.

 

Collecting Patient Data Beyond the Walls of Healthcare Organizations: A Key to Understanding Social Determinants of Health

Collecting data related to social determinants of health (which can include home environment, employment situations, physical activity, food security, access to transportation, etc.) is critical as health systems work to improve the health of their communities by analyzing the upstream factors affecting health.

According to a West Corporation survey of 1,036 adults and 317 healthcare providers in the U.S., 86% of Americans are willing to participate in a healthcare survey if prompted by their doctor.

And that doesn’t just include satisfaction surveys. Feedback from patients indicates they are open to participating in a variety of other types of surveys, including health risk assessments, gaps-in-care surveys, medication adherence surveys, remote health monitoring surveys, and post-discharge surveys.

Questionnaires are an important part of Interlace Health’s platform. They can be delivered with pre-registration forms, individually post appointment, or pushed out between visits. Patients can access and submit questionnaires from a computer, tablet, or smartphone from the convenience of their own home (or wherever they may be).

Interlace Health can be a core component of an organization’s PRAPARE Implementation Plan, as our survey and questionnaire capabilities ensure the right questions are asked to patients, at the right time. The information collected remotely or at a healthcare organization is directly archived in the EHR and visible to the care team for assessment and next steps. 

SDOH data collected via questionnaires can support efforts to increase preventive care and reduce preventable hospital admissions and ER visits.

Many promising opportunities to collect and access patient data across a continuum of backgrounds, levels of need, and settings are emerging. The data gathered from remote patients has the potential to yield invaluable information to providers seeking to develop personalized, holistic, care plans for their patients; that ultimately, results in better health outcomes.

 

 

CUSTOMER GROWTH: Cuero Health

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Cuero Health to Implement FastPrint Enterprise, FormFast Capture, FormFast Go and add Managed Service Offerings to Health System

Cuero Community Hospital in DeWitt County is dedicated to provide quality health care in a professional, compassionate manner. Since 1970, we have been serving our communities in DeWitt, Lavaca, Victoria, Goliad, Gonzales, and Karnes Counties with excellent healthcare, striving to exceed expectations and improve community health while efficiently using resources.

Cuero is Implement FastPrint Enterprise, FormFast Capture, FormFast Go and add Managed Service Offerings to their Health System to enhance their MEDITECH environment.

CUSTOMER GROWTH: Duncan Regional Hospital

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Long-time FormFast Customer Adds FormFast’s Mobile App to Enhance Informed Consent Processes

Duncan Regional Hospital has a state-wide reputation as one of the premiere Oklahoma hospitals for medical excellence, advanced technology and nationally recognized high levels of patient satisfaction. The hospital is located in southwest Oklahoma in the city of Duncan. Duncan Regional Hospital is a 138-bed nationally accredited hospital.

As part of their efforts to eliminate paper and the inefficient processes it brings, Duncan Regional Hospital implemented FormFast in 1999. Since that time, the technology has grown with the organization to touch all departments from nursing and registration, to human resources and beyond. The result has been a standardized eForm and workflow solution that the entire organization relies on.

As Duncan continues to grow in their relationship with FormFast, they will implement FormFast Capture & FormFast Go to complement their MEDITECH environment. In addition to automating their registration and bedside consents in the acute setting, FormFast will also be deploying informed consents in their same day surgery.

With FormFast Go clinical forms can be electronically displayed, completed, and e-signed via a mobile tablet at the point-of-care. Leveraging patient wristband scanning technology, the mobile app generates the right documents for the right patient in seconds. Upon completion, forms are instantly added to the EHR, eliminating the need to manually archive the documents.

View Duncan Regional Hospital’s Customer Success Story.

CUSTOMER GROWTH: King’s Daughters Medical Center

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King’s Daughters Medical Center Adds FormFast Mobile App to Bring eForm Technology to the Point-of-Care

King’s Daughters Medical Center strives to be your provider of choice for your various healthcare needs. King’s Daughters Medical Center intends to provide the best in quality care, and meet and exceed your expectations. The standards of quality care you receive in a safe environment are because of this fact–they believe in the importance of sharing our quality performance data and information with you and our community. Read more about King’s Daughters Medical Center here.

 

The 99-bed MEDITECH hospital in Brookhaven, Mississippi is adding FormFast’s Mobile Application to their MEDITECH environment. FormFast Go accelerates documentation by giving your healthcare staff the forms they need, at their fingertips.

FormFast Go enables clinical forms to be electronically displayed, completed, and e-signed via a mobile tablet at the point-of-care. Leveraging patient wristband scanning technology, the mobile app generates the right documents for the right patient in seconds.

Upon completion, forms are instantly added to the EHR, eliminating the need to manually archive the documents.

 

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eConsent Topic Heats Up Among Health IT Industry Experts

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Informed Consent’s Paper Problem Makes Healthcare Headlines – Shedding Light on the Critical Solution

While advances in technology bring the power to improve interactions between patient and provider, informed consent forms often remain a lingering source of manual and paper intensive processes throughout healthcare organizations.

In fact, recent research from CynergisTek shows 76 percent of healthcare organizations surveyed, which use a common EHR platform, still print consent forms instead of using an electronic signature solution.

While consent stands for much more than a signature on a form, the effectiveness of the process in which the consent signature is obtained is extremely important. The industry is starting to take notice of the costly repercussions of sticking to the status quo.

Unfortunately, here we are in 2018 and informed consent documents remain on paper. Why is this such a big problem?

As Shahid Shah points out in his article: ‘Informed Consent: Let Go of the Status Quo’:

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  • JAMA reports that two-thirds of procedures have missing consent forms, causing 10% of procedures to be delayed, and costing hospitals over $500k per year.
  • Joint Commission reports over 500 organizations annually experience compliance issues because of missing consent forms. There’s almost a 1 in 4 chance that your own organization has this compliance problem.
  • A recent JAMA Surgery paper estimated that two thirds of malpractice cases cited lack of informed consent, which increases liability risk.
  • Superfluous paperwork directly contributes to clinician burnout.
  • Patients often don’t understand their procedures or aren’t properly educated about the service they’re about to use.

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As the list above confirms, paper is causing big problems in the processes. Informed consent – one of the most vital forms of communication in healthcare settings, should not be overlooked by healthcare leaders.

Three recent articles from some of Health IT’s top influencers speak to the paper problem with informed consent and highlight the solution to one of healthcare’s biggest process issues: implementing an electronic informed consent solution.

 

Industry Experts Highlight the Solution to the Common & Costly Problem

Health IT Influencers Shahid Shah, Colin Hung, and John Lynn weigh in on the topic in the following articles and the value electronic informed consent brings to healthcare organizations:

Informed Consent: Let Go of the Status Quo (Shahid Shah, Hospital EMR & EHR)

Shahid Shah, award-winning Government 2.0, Health IT, Bio IT & digital Medical Device Inventor & CTO with over 28 years of technology strategy, architecture, engineering, entrepreneurship, speaking, and writing experience, uncovers the big problem with the healthcare industry’s informed consent status quo.

“Today, many healthcare institutions go without automation of consent documents – which I’m calling the status quo. Even though this document is essential, and its non-digital status quo creates many financial, clinician, and compliance burdens, it’s not high in the list of priorities for digitization or automation.” – Shahid Shah

Shahid recognizes the benefit of turning to an automated process with solutions, such as Interlace Health, which he describes as: “a universally applicable, easy to deploy, and easy to use software package with a fairly rapid ROI”.

“With eConsent software, clinicians aren’t interrupted in their workflows, patients are more satisfied, compliance becomes almost guaranteed, and procedures aren’t delayed because of lost paperwork.” – Shahid Shah

 Read the full story

 

Going from Paper-Based Consents to eConsents in Healthcare (John Lynn, EMR and HIPAA)

John Lynn, Founder of the HealthcareScene.com blog network, showcased the need for an improved informed consent process in his interview with Interlace Health’s Director Clinical Solutions, Robin McKee. John points out a reason the paperless office still alludes us is paper-based consents.

In the interview, Robin offers a lot of great insights into consents in healthcare, the value an eConsent solution, and how Interlace Health is helping organizations successfully make the shift.

“Electronic consent forms are superior to paper in this regard. While paper consents get lost or have to be carried around in a paper chart until they are scanned into the EHR, eConsent forms are instantly archived into the EHR. This ensures the document is archived correctly every time.  Plus, it is easy to access the form in pre-op, as well as confirm in the OR during timeout. We utilize a variety of methods, including HL7 and FHIR, to integrate with any EHR or document management system.” – Robin McKee, Interlace Health’s Director of Clinical Solutions.

Read the full story

 

Looking to Improve Patient Experience? Simple Options Can Yield Big Results. (Colin Hung, Hospital EMR and EHR)

Highlighting the overlooked, yet quick-hit improvement area, of the informed consent process in healthcare, Colin Hung, co-founder of the #hcldr (healthcare leadership) tweetchat one of the most popular and active healthcare social media communities on Twitter, also highlighted this hot-topic issue.

He shares The National Center for Ethics in Health Care has a special guideline that prohibits gurney consent (when a patient is asked to sign consent forms ‘on the gurney’ or after they have been sedated in preparation for a procedure) although the situation is a reality in many organizations.

….”That handbook states that “Patients must not, as part of the routine practice of obtaining informed consent, be asked to sign consent forms ‘on the gurney’ or after they have been sedated in preparation for a procedure.” This clause was meant to ensure the consent does not occur “so late in the process that the patient feels pressed or forced to consent or is deprived of a meaningful choice because he or she is in a compromised position. Sadly, gurney consents are an all too common occurrence in hospitals that use paper-based consent forms.” – Colin Hung

Colin details the easy win opportunity for improving patient experience with an eConsent solution like Interlace Health.

“Improving patient experience is a top priority. Instead of grandiose new programs, hospitals and practices would see better results by focusing on simple options that have a big impact – like an eConsent solution. Interlace Health eConsent makes it easier for organizations to treat patients with respect and gets patients involved in their care.” – Colin Hung

Read the full story

 

The Time is Now: Turning to an Electronic Informed Consent Solution

As these articles convey, the healthcare industry is recognizing that even though the informed consent document is essential – and its non-digital status quo poses many financial, clinical, and compliance risks – the problem often remains yet to be addressed by proven automation solutions, such as Interlace Health.

For many health systems, improving the informed consent process has quickly become integral to a proactive approach to key strategic initiatives such as patient experience, cost savings, and risk management.

As Shahid, John, and Colin’s recent articles point out, Interlace Health’s eConsent solution addresses the industry’s growing need for a more streamlined, reliable, and consistent informed consent process and provides an alternative to the error-prone, paper-based process.

Interlace Health’s eConsent Workflow

Interlace Health provides robust form technology that presents clinicians with a simple, intuitive, and straight-forward process to capture consents.

By scanning the barcode on a patient’s wristband, the appropriate forms for that patient are launched for review and completion. The patient can read the form on a tablet device at the point-of-care, and conveniently sign the form electronically with their finger or stylus.

Staff can then quickly self-sign the form and date-time stamps are automatically applied. Upon the submission of the consent form, it is archived instantly into the EHR – preventing lost information and making documentation instantly visible to the care team.

 

Interlace Health cuts costs associated with paper, toner, printing, scanning and storage by digitizing consent processes and increasing productivity. On forms costs alone, hospitals can save thousands of dollars per year with Interlace Health’s mobile bedside consent.

In addition to a large financial savings, Interlace Health allows healthcare organizations to meet regulatory, ethical, and legal requirements while creating a more efficient and standardized consent experience for staff and patients.

See why today’s leading healthcare organizations are turning to Interlace Health to automate the critical process of informed consent.

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Informed Consent’s Paper Problem Makes Healthcare Headlines – Shedding Light on the Critical Solution

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While advances in technology bring the power to improve interactions between patient and provider, informed consent forms often remain a lingering source of manual and paper-intensive processes throughout healthcare organizations.

In fact, recent research from CynergisTek shows 76 percent of healthcare organizations surveyed, which use a common EHR platform, still print consent forms instead of using an electronic signature solution.

While consent stands for much more than a signature on a form, the effectiveness of the process in which the consent signature is obtained is extremely important. The industry is starting to take notice of the costly repercussions of sticking to the status quo.

Unfortunately, here we are in 2018 and informed consent documents remain on paper. Why is this such a big problem?

As Shahid Shah points out in his article: ‘Informed Consent: Let Go of the Status Quo’:

 

  • JAMA reports that two-thirds of procedures have missing consent forms, causing 10% of procedures to be delayed, and costing hospitals over $500k per year.
  • Joint Commission reports over 500 organizations annually experience compliance issues because of missing consent forms. There’s almost a 1 in 4 chance that your own organization has this compliance problem.
  • A recent JAMA Surgery paper estimated that two-thirds of malpractice cases cited lack of informed consent, which increases liability risk.
  • Superfluous paperwork directly contributes to clinician burnout.
  • Patients often don’t understand their procedures or aren’t properly educated about the service they’re about to use.

As the list above confirms, paper is causing big problems in the processes. Informed consent – one of the most vital forms of communication in healthcare settings, should not be overlooked by healthcare leaders.

Three recent articles from some of Health IT’s top influencers speak to the paper problem with informed consent and highlight the solution to one of healthcare’s biggest process issues: implementing an electronic informed consent solution.

 

INDUSTRY EXPERTS HIGHLIGHT THE SOLUTION TO THE COMMON & COSTLY PROBLEM

Health IT Influencers Shahid Shah, Colin Hung, and John Lynn weigh in on the topic in the following articles and the value electronic informed consent brings to healthcare organizations:

Informed Consent: Let Go of the Status Quo (Shahid Shah, Hospital EMR & EHR)

Shahid Shah, award-winning Government 2.0, Health IT, Bio IT & digital Medical Device Inventor & CTO with over 28 years of technology strategy, architecture, engineering, entrepreneurship, speaking, and writing experience, uncovers the big problem with the healthcare industry’s informed consent status quo.

“Today, many healthcare institutions go without automation of consent documents – which I’m calling the status quo. Even though this document is essential, and its non-digital status quo creates many financial, clinician, and compliance burdens, it’s not high in the list of priorities for digitization or automation.” – Shahid Shah

Shahid recognizes the benefit of turning to an automated process with solutions, such as Interlace Health (formerly FormFast), which he describes as: “a universally applicable, easy to deploy, and easy to use software package with a fairly rapid ROI”.

“With eConsent software, clinicians aren’t interrupted in their workflows, patients are more satisfied, compliance becomes almost guaranteed, and procedures aren’t delayed because of lost paperwork.” – Shahid Shah

 Read the full story

 

Going from Paper-Based Consents to eConsents in Healthcare (John Lynn, EMR and HIPAA)

John Lynn, Founder of the HealthcareScene.com blog network, showcased the need for an improved informed consent process in his interview with Interlace Health’s Director Clinical Solutions, Robin McKee. John points out a reason the paperless office still alludes us is paper-based consents.

In the interview, Robin offers a lot of great insights into consents in healthcare, the value an eConsent solution, and how Interlace Health  is helping organizations successfully make the shift.

“Electronic consent forms are superior to paper in this regard. While paper consents get lost or have to be carried around in a paper chart until they are scanned into the EHR, eConsent forms are instantly archived into the EHR. This ensures the document is archived correctly every time.  Plus, it is easy to access the form in pre-op, as well as confirm in the OR during timeout. We utilize a variety of methods, including HL7 and FHIR, to integrate with any EHR or document management system.” – Robin McKee, Interlace Health’s Director of Clinical Solutions.

Read the full story

 

Looking to Improve Patient Experience? Simple Options Can Yield Big Results. (Colin Hung, Hospital EMR and EHR)

Highlighting the overlooked, yet quick-hit improvement area, of the informed consent process in healthcare, Colin Hung, co-founder of the #hcldr (healthcare leadership) tweetchat one of the most popular and active healthcare social media communities on Twitter, also highlighted this hot-topic issue.

He shares The National Center for Ethics in Health Care has a special guideline that prohibits gurney consent (when a patient is asked to sign consent forms ‘on the gurney’ or after they have been sedated in preparation for a procedure) although the situation is a reality in many organizations.

….”That handbook states that “Patients must not, as part of the routine practice of obtaining informed consent, be asked to sign consent forms ‘on the gurney’ or after they have been sedated in preparation for a procedure.” This clause was meant to ensure the consent does not occur “so late in the process that the patient feels pressed or forced to consent or is deprived of a meaningful choice because he or she is in a compromised position. Sadly, gurney consents are an all too common occurrence in hospitals that use paper-based consent forms.” – Colin Hung

Colin details the easy win opportunity for improving patient experience with an eConsent solution like Interlace Health.

“Improving patient experience is a top priority. Instead of grandiose new programs, hospitals and practices would see better results by focusing on simple options that have a big impact – like an eConsent solution. Interlace Health eConsent makes it easier for organizations to treat patients with respect and gets patients involved in their care.” – Colin Hung

Read the full story

 

THE TIME IS NOW: TURNING TO AN ELECTRONIC INFORMED CONSENT SOLUTION

As these articles convey, the healthcare industry is recognizing that even though the informed consent document is essential – and its non-digital status quo poses many financial, clinical, and compliance risks – the problem often remains yet to be addressed by proven automation solutions, such as Interlace Health.

For many health systems, improving the informed consent process has quickly become integral to a proactive approach to key strategic initiatives such as patient experience, cost savings, and risk management.

As Shahid, John, and Colin’s recent articles point out, Interlace Health’s eConsent solution addresses the industry’s growing need for a more streamlined, reliable, and consistent informed consent process and provides an alternative to the error-prone, paper-based process.

INTERLACE HEALTH’S ECONSENT WORKFLOW

Interlace Health provides robust form technology that presents clinicians with a simple, intuitive, and straight-forward process to capture consents.

By scanning the barcode on a patient’s wristband, the appropriate forms for that patient are launched for review and completion. The patient can read the form on a tablet device at the point-of-care, and conveniently sign the form electronically with their finger or stylus.

Staff can then quickly self-sign the form and date-time stamps are automatically applied. Upon the submission of the consent form, it is archived instantly into the EHR – preventing lost information and making documentation instantly visible to the care team.

 

Interlace Health cuts costs associated with paper, toner, printing, scanning and storage by digitizing consent processes and increasing productivity. On forms costs alone, hospitals can save thousands of dollars per year with Interlace Health’s mobile bedside consent.

In addition to a large financial savings, Interlace Health allows healthcare organizations to meet regulatory, ethical, and legal requirements while creating a more efficient and standardized consent experience for staff and patients.

See why today’s leading healthcare organizations are turning to Interlace Health to automate the critical process of informed consent.

The Impact of Informed Consent – Part 3: Cost

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Informed Consent: Letting Go of the Status Quo

In Part 1 of this blog series, we examined informed consent’s impact on compliance, the legal and ethical implications of missing consent forms, and the standardization an eConsent solution brings to the process.

Part 2 looked at how a paper-based informed consent process and its intrinsic inefficiencies can impact satisfaction for both clinicians and patients.

Now, in Part 3 we will uncover the true costs associated with a paper-based informed consent process and how an eConsent solution can reduce costs associated with paper and surgical delays.

 

Can Your Healthcare Organization Afford the Cost of Paper-Based Consent Forms?

Despite advances in automation technology, many hospitals today are still documenting informed consent on paper.  This exposes the hospital to the risk of missing forms, improper documentation, and the costly liabilities associated.

Research from CynergisTek shows that the average 1,500-bed hospital prints more than 8 million pages per month, and with an average cost of four cents per printed page, the costs add up, equating to about $3.8 million of spend per year – and that’s not including printing equipment, such as printers, scanners, and storage. According to the analysis, 76 percent of healthcare organizations surveyed, which use a common EHR platform, still print consent forms instead of using an electronic signature solution.

While paper processes bring obvious costs to an organization, the possibility of losing or misplacing consent forms is a highly expensive risk to take.

According to an article citing a study from JAMA Surgery, missing consent forms occurred in 66 percent of procedures.  These missing forms are estimated to delay 10 percent of surgeries and can cost hospitals $580,000 each year.

The cost of an inefficient consent process isn’t just financial, it can lead to a higher probably of litigation for a hospital.  A hospital’s inability to prove informed consent in a malpractice case can be very costly.

The costs of paper processes paired with the repercussions of an idle procedure room can’t be ignored.

 

Cutting Paper (and Costs) from the Informed Consent Process

Consent automation cuts costs associated with paper processes 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. Removing paper-based forms can also decrease the chances of costly delays and liability issues.

“FormFast enhances staff efficiency and saves on expenses. We used to have piles and piles of forms that were ordered from the printer and if we made one little change, then we’d be tossing thousands of dollars of forms away. So it’s very cost effective.” Johns Hopkins Medicine, Systems Analyst

As a result of FormFast’s eConsent Solution, customers have reported:

  • 10+ minutes a day saved per patient in scanning consent form signatures
  • 2+ surgeries performed daily
  • This equals 2.3 Million in revenue each year.

FormFast offers a solution to improve your informed consent form process whether it’s currently all paper-based or partially automated. FormFast integrates with your EHR system to present the correct documentation for patient signatures on mobile devices. Consents are quickly signed by the patient on a mobile device, immediately archived, and instantly visible to the care team. Healthcare staff can deliver better patient care and realize higher levels of productivity with an electronic, standardized process; while patients appreciate the familiar and intuitive interface, and overall seamless process.

The problems with paper-based informed consent are common and costly. Learn how you can partner with FormFast to take strategic action to improve the efficiency of the critical process of informed consent. 

Stay Tuned for Part 4: Examining Informed Consent’s Impact on Productivity

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CUSTOMER GROWTH: Marion General Hospital

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Marion General Adds FormFast Mobile App to Generate Clinical Forms on Demand – Wherever Care is Needed

Marion General Hospital is a not-for-profit, 99-bed, acute care, rural, sole comm

unity hospital located in Marion, Grant County, Indiana. With a qualified and professional hospital and auxiliary staff of more than 1,100, MGH is teamed with more than 90 physicians from multiple specialties to meet the needs of our Healthcare Community.

Marion General is expanding their relationship with FormFast and implementing FormFast Go. FormFast Go enables clinical forms to be electronically displayed, completed, and e-signed via a mobile tablet at the point-of-care. This solution helps the hospital accelerate documentation, achieve more accurate form selection, and improve clinical workflow.

FormFast works to help empower With a focus on 100 percent customer satisfaction, MGH works to fulfill its mission: to transform the health of our community through patient-centered, high quality, affordable care.

NEW CUSTOMER: Warren General Hospital

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Warren General Hospital Turns to FormFast to Help Enable More Accurate Form Selection, Improved Document Workflow, and Mobile eForm Capabilities

We are excited to welcome to Warren General Hospital to our FormFast customer base. Marion General Hospital is an 89-bed acute care, not-for-profit facility located in the Northwest corner of Pennsylvania, one-hour from Erie. WGH is a full-service hospital, providing Community Health with Quality and Compassion.

Marion General Hospital plans to deploy FormFast Capture & FormFast Go to complement their MEDITECH environment.

  • FormFast Capture offers features to collect data, signatures, and other types of input on fillable, electronic forms.  FormFast Capture enables traditionally paper-based processes, like bedside consent, to be digitized.
  • FormFast Go enables clinical forms to be electronically displayed, completed and e-signed via a mobile tablet at the point-of-care. This solution helps the hospital accelerate documentation, achieve more accurate form selection, and improve clinical workflow.

The Impact of Informed Consent – Part 2: Satisfaction

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In Part 1 of this blog series, we examined informed consent’s impact on compliance, the legal and ethical implications of missing consent forms, and the standardization an eConsent solution brings to the process.

In Part 2, we will take a deeper look at how a paper-based informed consent process and its intrinsic inefficiencies can impact satisfaction for both clinicians and patients.

Informed Consent’s Impact on Satisfaction: Clinicians & Patients and the Paper Trail’s Impact

Satisfaction in healthcare is important. Both clinician and patient satisfaction are directly tied to clinical outcomes, patient retention, and medical malpractice claims. It affects the timely, efficient, and patient-centered delivery of quality healthcare. To ensure future success, hospital leaders continue to find new strategies to improve satisfaction rates.

Informed consent is a critical process that touches both clinicians and patients alike, and has a direct impact on satisfaction.

From the Clinician’s Perspective:

Ask any healthcare professional what one of the biggest issues in healthcare is today and you will most likely see “physician burnout” near the top of the list.

The physician’s work world is one of efficiency. The goal is to move through each patient encounter effectively, while also developing rapport, establishing the professional physician/ patient relationship, and accurately determining the plan of care. Paperwork, learning new technology systems, federal requirements, and the ongoing need for developing relationships with healthcare insurers creates time away from patients – resulting in a disconnect.

Medscape’s recent National Physician Burnout & Depression Report found that the top contributor to physician burnout was excessive administrative tasks. Managing paper consent forms and asking for another consent form from a patient certainly falls under the bucket of administrative tasks.

Members of staff join in the dissatisfaction patients feel when they are asked to re-sign consent forms. It’s not comfortable to be the bearer of bad news and stand there while an upset patient vocalizes their displeasure. After all, the staff member is not the one that lost the form.

Activities such as scanning, retrieving, and labeling forms and indexing them with patient records are time-consuming. These lagging processes distract staff, such as nurses, whose core focus should be placed on quality time spent with patients, not tracking down their paperwork.

 

From the Patient’s Perspective:

Cumbersome paper-based processes also frustrate patients because they are accustomed to the convenience of using apps for everything from having dinner delivered to their door, to avoiding rush- hour traffic.

Attention continues to surround the focus on improving the patient experience. This is partly due to a changes to reimbursements that directly tie revenue to patient satisfaction (specifically HCAHPS scores).

One of the easiest ways to show respect for patients is to value their time and prevent long delays during their hospital stay.

Sadly, JAMA reports that missing consent forms cause 10% of procedures to be delayed, costing each hospital over $500K each year. This of course does not count the emotional toll it takes on patients. “Gurney consents” are an all too common occurrence in hospitals that use paper-based consent forms

As Colin Hung States in his recent article: Looking to Improve Patient Experience? Simple Options Can Yield Big Results:

“For patients, it is a horrible feeling to show up at the appointed time for a procedure, only to be carted to a waiting area in nothing but a flimsy robe and left to wait with no explanation. Now imagine how it would feel after 20 minutes of waiting to have a member of staff come and ask you to fill out another set of consent forms because your originals had been lost. Of course, while the patient is filling out the form, the staff member must review all the risks and implications of the procedure before you can sign the forms again. I know I would be about as calm as a palm tree in a hurricane.

The informed consent process is a golden opportunity for hospitals to improve the patient experience. It is a chance for health professionals to engage patients in their care. This engagement has numerous benefits including:

  1. Reducing the anxiety patients have about the upcoming procedure, which in turn helps improve patient outcomes. This study published in the British Journal of Surgery, shows patient who are less anxious have fewer post-procedure wound complications.
  2. Demonstrating that the health professional (and by extension the hospital) care about the patient as a person.
  3. Mitigating the risk of malpractice. Lack of communication and feeling like clinicians didn’t care about them are common reasons cited by patients who decide to sue for malpractice. This New York Times article has an excellent summary of various studies into this phenomenon.”

From a patient’s perspective, paper-based forms can lead to overlooked sections, forgotten forms, or the absence of a signature in a required field. Additionally, patients lying in a prone position in a hospital bed may experience discomfort and have difficulties viewing and signing paper documents and writing with a pen.

As Colin Hung states in his article, improving patient experience is a top priority. Instead of grandiose new programs, hospitals and practices would see better results by focusing on simple options that have a big impact – like an eConsent solution. eConsent makes it easier for organizations to treat patients with respect and gets patients involved in their care.

In a world where mobile technologies and the speed they bring are prevalent – delays in care can leave a big impression in the minds of those that have the most influence in shaping the future of a health system: the patient.

eConsent: Delivering a Better Experience for Clinicians and Patients

FormFast’s eConsent solution eliminates the need for outdated, paper-based consent process and enables the informed consent process to be automated. FormFast’s replaces paper forms with eForms that offer many benefits to both patients and staff.

With an eForm solution, consents are quickly signed by the patient, immediately archived, and instantly visible to the care team. Healthcare staff can deliver better patient care and realize higher levels of productivity with a reliable and standardized process; while patients appreciate the familiar and intuitive interface, and overall seamless process.

Informed consent is a small change, that produces big results and impacts key areas ripe for improvement, such as satisfaction. See why today’s leading healthcare organizations are automating the critical process of informed consent. 

 

Stay Tuned for Part 3: Examining Informed Consent’s Impact on Cost

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