Advocate Eureka Hospital Speeds Patient Registration with Access Electronic Patient Signature and E-Forms Solution
Sulphur Springs, Texas (PRWEB) January 08, 2014 -- For the past few years, Advocate BroMenn Medical Center in Normal, Illinois, has been using Access’ electronic patient signature and e-forms solution to enable paperless registration and get completed e-forms directly into the site’s MEDITECH 6.x EHR. So when its sister organization, Advocate Eureka Hospital in Eureka, Illinois, needed a way to get rid of preprinted paper forms and the associated costs and delays, they also turned to Access.
“We knew that Access’ electronic patient signature and e-forms system would help with document control,” said Lynnette Haller, Medical Records Manager at Advocate Eureka Hospital. “We were surprised just how much paper and time it’s saving us.”
After an admissions clerk registers a new or returning patient in MEDITECH, they simply click a button to generate a customized e-forms packet with patient data mapped onto the forms. The patient then completes the remaining forms and applies a secure electronic signature to each one. The Access system then sends the forms into the right place in the correct chart via MEDITECH Scanning and Archiving.
“Access e-Signature and e-forms have removed paper and hassle from patient registration,” Haller said. “We’re able to archive forms in the MEDITECH patient record without printing, and we are also saving money on labels.”
With a paper-based admissions process, the burden is on staff members to remember which consents and other forms are needed for each new and returning patient. This can be tricky enough for experienced team members, but is particularly difficult for new employees. Not so with e-forms on demand.
“Patient access is a high turnover area at most hospitals, and so we have to train new staff quite often,” Haller said. “The Access e-forms system makes this easier because it does the work of assembling packets, so we don’t have to show new employees which forms go with each patient group.”
Previously, Advocate’s Medical Records team spent time manually indexing each form. As forms are now generated with document and patient IDs, they go directly into the correct chart, eliminating manual steps.
“The Medical Records team no longer needs to check if forms are in the right chart within the MEDITECH EHR or the correct place in that chart, because they’re just there,” Haller said.
If Haller or someone else on her team needs technical help for their electronic patient signature and e-forms project, they simply submit a support ticket via the online Access support portal. She is continually satisfied with the timeliness of the response.
“Support is the first thing I’d recommend about Access,” Haller said. “If you could clone their support staff, everyone could learn how to do customer service right.”
About Advocate Eureka Hospital
Advocate Eureka Hospital is a 25-bed facility that has served and cared for the people of Woodford County, Illinois, and the surrounding area since 1901. As the only hospital in the county, Eureka Hospital has been certified as a Critical Access Hospital in acknowledgment of the vital role it plays in serving the needs of this primarily rural area. Learn more at http://www.advocatehealth.com/eureka
About Access
Hundreds of hospitals worldwide use paperless Access solutions to integrate e-forms, electronic patient signatures and clinical data into EHRs. Access helps improve care, eliminate financial and environmental costs and enhance patient safety and downtime planning initiatives. Learn more at http://www.accessefm.com and discover how you can help Access’s partner The Last Well bring fresh water & the Gospel to Liberia here.
About MEDITECH
MEDITECH has been the leader in the EHR industry since 1969. MEDITECH's applications unify clinical, administrative, and financial information across a health care organization, including acute care, long-term care, home health care, and physician practices. Today, more than 2,300 institutions worldwide use MEDITECH's information systems. For additional information on MEDITECH products and services, visit http://home.meditech.com/en/d/home/.
Lindsey Eaton, Access, http://www.accessefm.com, +1 (913) 752-9938, [email protected]
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