New Enterprise Forms Management from Access Speeds Patient Registration at Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific
Hospital Enhances Clinical Processes and Simplifies Patient Admissions with Electronic Forms Automation Suite
Sulphur Springs, TX (PRWEB) December 22, 2009
When it comes to healthcare, the last thing clinical and administrative staff have time for is processing paper forms. That’s why some forward-thinking hospitals are switching to e-forms management.
The revenue cycle management team at Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific (REHAB) decided that the facility could eliminate the cost of ordering pre-printed forms from a third party vendor, reduce paper use and waste and simplify patient registration by replacing addressographs and the current process with a forms automation system. After evaluating several products, REHAB chose Access's new Enterprise Forms Management (EFM) suite.
“Access’s cutting-edge technology and knowledge of how healthcare systems work were decisive factors,” said Ruth Fearnow, systems analyst at REHAB. “Our positive interaction with Access’s sales and project management teams was also important.”
Fearnow and her colleagues chose to roll out EFM and Access’s e-Forms Repository (EFR) in the patient registration department (http://www. accesseforms. com/Solutions. cfm/Solutions/Admissions_and_Registration), and on clinical floors at the organization’s three outpatient clinics and nursing units. “The project manager was very accessible and responsive, which helped us stay on track during the project management process” Fearnow said. “The attentive, service-oriented project management and implementation teams were a great help in making the initial rollout.”
Access’s proven project planning and implementation methodology contributed to a hassle-free deployment.
“Because we did our preparation ahead of time, when the Access implementation team came on site, implementation of EFM and EFR went smoothly,” Fearnow said. “The implementation consultant was flexible enough to let me be hands-on with troubleshooting and that will help me administer the system in the future. We sent him home early because everything was finished sooner than expected.”
At Access, most implementation consultants have a background in healthcare IT and all go through a comprehensive training program that prepares them to meet the needs of healthcare organizations.
“Our consultant was very knowledgeable and pleasant to work with,” Fearnow said. “I would recommend Access to other facilities based on my experience. Sometimes when you purchase software you come across surprises that complicate the project, but this wasn’t the case with Access. Their professional services team followed through on everything that was promised during the sales cycle, and this consistency was very helpful.”
When a patient comes to REHAB’s registration desk, a registrar enters demographics into the QuadraMed Affinity HIS. Now, instead of gathering forms manually, registration runs an online report and the EFM Server captures the print stream, merges the patient’s information onto every form required for registration and prints the forms.
“Access’s EFM has definitely made the registration process faster and it provides a cost savings because we’re no longer purchasing forms from a vendor,” Fearnow said. “We will also be able to get rid of the cost and hassle of the addressograph machines.”
In addition to simplifying patient admissions, EFM and EFR are creating new efficiency in REHAB’s clinics. When a patient comes to a clinical floor, the nurses there have separate admissions processes. Previously, they used form packets that were pre-assembled by volunteers. These preassembled packets are no longer necessary now that the nurses can print forms on demand (http://www. accesseforms. com/Products. cfm/Products/eForms_Repository).
“With EFR our nurses can print forms on demand at their stations,” Fearnow said. “They always know they’re printing the correct version and the forms look a lot more professional.”
About Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific
Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific (REHAB) is the leading acute-care medical rehabilitation organization serving Hawaii. For more than 55 years, the 100-bed, not-for-profit hospital and three outpatient clinics on Oahu and Hawaii have been dedicated to providing comprehensive medical rehabilitation services.
About Access
Access provides electronic forms and workflow automation solutions to hundreds of healthcare organizations worldwide. Access’s flagship Electronic Forms Management suite creates time and cost savings facility-wide, and integrates with existing HIS, ERP, clinical and document management systems to deliver maximum return on investment. Ease of use, administration and expansion provide even greater value. Learn more about Access solutions. (http://www. accesseforms. com/Products. com)
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