Healthcare organizations have spent the past year adapting and transforming — with technology playing a major role. Providers everywhere have seen the power of digital healthcare solutions and are now implementing them to strengthen operations.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare providers have worked to limit the spread of the virus and keep both staff members and patients safe. Given how easily the virus can spread through contact with contaminated surfaces, especially in places like hospitals and doctor’s offices, it has been imperative to protect people and minimize exposure.

Technology made that possible. Digital solutions like electronic informed consent and eSignature help healthcare providers limit the risk of staff members and patients coming into contact with contaminated surfaces.

The more healthcare providers implement solutions like this, the safer and better healthcare becomes. These solutions enable providers to gather necessary information, register patients safely, and transmit information electronically, all without the need for direct contact. They also reduce the time patients spend in waiting rooms with staff and, as a result, limit the risk of the virus spreading in those environments.

The Benefits of Informed Consent and eSignature

While many digital solutions can greatly impact healthcare, informed consent and eSignature solutions, specifically, provide the following benefits to both staff and patients. They ensure that electronic forms are:

1. Filled out and archived.

Electronic consent forms and eSignature create quick and seamless workflows. Healthcare providers can easily generate the forms they need by scanning a barcode on a wristband or finding it in the on-demand form library. These forms can then auto-populate and pre-fill certain content, sometimes even via speech-to-text functionality.

When patients sign consent forms using eSignature, their forms are temporarily stored, saved, and ready for additional clinician signatures. Incomplete forms remain easily accessible to ensure they’re reviewed and completed on time before a procedure. Once forms are completed and all signatures are captured, the documents are instantly saved to the EHR.

2. Compliant and complete.

Compliance is a critical part of healthcare, and ensuring that forms are compliant is a critical part of the process. Our Informed Consent and eSignature solutions ensure that forms meet all regulatory requirements — and in a way that’s easy to understand.

Forms using eSignature are always legible (because they require no handwritten information), collect all necessary details, ensure patient education, and meet all CMS guidelines as well as state, local, and organizational requirements. All signatures are also time-stamped, recording the date and time every consent took place.

3. Convenient and reliable.

eSignature capabilities and electronic informed consent have completely changed the way hospitals and health systems collect, store, and use information. Clinicians can collect electronic signatures from anywhere — at a patient’s bedside or from that patient’s home. Even more, the signatures are immediately available to the care team anywhere, anytime, and on any device.

This technology keeps patient signatures and consents from getting lost. It ensures forms are easily accessible and readily available on the day of a procedure. Healthcare organizations that rely on paper forms must contend with lost or misplaced paperwork, incorrectly filed information, and manual entry. With informed consent and eSignature, healthcare organizations know that paperwork will be ready whenever and wherever they need it.

At Interlace Health, we transform workflows with our digital solutions. If you’re ready to implement these solutions in your organization today, click here to learn more.