Healthcare professionals are tasked with ensuring patients receive the best possible care. This often means completing a variety of forms, many of which need to be filled out in order for the patient to receive treatment. With so many forms to keep track of, healthcare practices are liable to make errors on forms. Further, healthcare practices can often have a large paper inventory that comes with a costly price tag and takes up valuable space that could be used for other purposes. In this blog, we will discuss the different types of paper forms that can be replaced by an electronic forms solution (eForms), and what this transition means for the healthcare industry going forward.
eForm Types & Their Advantages
There are several reasons why eForms can be beneficial for healthcare practices. eForms can be stored electronically right within your EHR, making them easier to keep track of and access. Moreover, eForms can also be modified with industry standard tools, which increases efficiency without the learning curve involved.
In contrast, paper forms can be lost, misplaced, and even compromise the security of PHI, causing delays in care, or even revenue loss. eForms effectively solve these common issues, no matter what type of form is needed. So, what are some of the most common types of eForms and what are their advantages?
Clinical eForms
Making the move to electronic clinical forms means easier and more accurate patient data collection. eForms have the ability to be modified accordingly, as well. For example, if you have multiple forms with only one section that is different between them, a clinical eForm can change itself automatically based on patient information available in the EHR. This not only drastically cuts down on paper, but it saves time as well.
Patient Registration eForms
eForms for patient registration ensure a better overall experience from patient to provider. Having these forms available electronically eliminates the costly inventory of paper, as well as the time and cost of manually completing paper forms. Electronic forms can be saved automatically into your EHR, also eliminating the need to scan paper into the EHR. Finally, eForms can be completed and signed electronically on portable devices such as tablets and mobile devices.
eForms for Medical Release
The use of electronic forms for medical release is a great way to ensure patient privacy and improve compliance. Not only does it reduce time spent on paper-based procedures, but once signed, the release form is immediately available in the system for the right people to see.
Medical Consent eForms
eForms for medical consent streamlines the consent process for healthcare facilities. It ensures compliance with all regulations and contains many security features to protect against unauthorized view, as opposed to paper forms that can easily fall into the wrong hands with no added safeguards.
eForms for Facesheets, Armbands and Labels
Facermbands, armbands and labels can be created to include patient photos for identification purposes. Further, barcodes with various symbologies can be added to make filing into patient folders automatic.
Given the numerous form types and their varying purposes, the advantages that eForms offer over paper forms become more and more apparent. eForms allow healthcare practices to design and curate forms that can be completed electronically, enter critical health information with fewer errors, and benefit from far more efficient process times. So, just how transformative can eForms be for the healthcare industry?
How eForms Streamline Processes in Healthcare Practices
There are a multitude of ways that eForms can support workflows and ensure compliance for healthcare practices. Just a few examples…dbtech’s eForms solution allows healthcare organizations to design their own eForms with ease. We incorporate industry standard tools such as Microsoft and Adobe Acrobat into building and maintaining your electronic forms. Patient information can be pre-populated on eForms with dbtech. This eliminates the potential for errors, and cuts out some of the manual process of filling out paper forms and then having to scan them into your EHR.
dbtech’s eForms come equipped with eSignature, allowing signatures to be captured electronically, which further eliminates the need for paper forms. Ensure and maintain compliance by building workflows that prompt users to collect specific forms at specific times. By making the transition to eForms, healthcare organizations can increase revenue as well as patient satisfaction. Spend less time and money handling and maintaining a paper inventory, and get your patient to the treatment areas more efficiently.
Why Choose eForms With dbtech?
dbtech has nearly 40 years of experience with helping healthcare organizations transition away from paper, and has implemented our solutions in well over 100 hospitals over the years. Check out our eForms module to learn about the benefits they provide for every type of form.