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Filling out the forms when you go to the hospital or clinic is necessary. This lets the doctor know about the reason for which the patient has come to the clinic. But is it necessary to use the pen to fill out the form? It is not about the necessity, it is about the criteria that the hospital or clinic is following to collect the patient information. The health industry should use technology to improve the workflow and efficiency of hospitals and clinics. Using digital patient forms can help with it a lot.
You may have heard about HL7 standards. These are guidelines that are created to improve the exchange of information between healthcare providers. Using HL7 standards, hospitals or clinics can share patient records in a faster way. They do not have to wait for the courier to be delivered. When manual processes are cut off, it improves the efficiency of the healthcare institute. Moreover, it saves time that can be utilized to improve the quality of patient care as well.
The use of electronic health records causes convenience for both doctors and patients. Patients do not have to wait long in the clinic for their turn. They can easily fill the form online and reach the hospital or clinic at the time of their appointment. The use of electronic health records has made sure that patients do not need to carry their medical reports to every clinic or hospital they go to. Doctors can access the necessary records from EHR and make decisions accordingly.
Why Electronic Patient Forms?
Patients have to fill the forms to provide their information. This information needs to be secure and away from unauthorized users. When patients provide the information on paper forms, they put their trust in the healthcare provider. They believe that their personal information is secure and can not be misused. But there are security risks with physical forms. Anyone can access the information and use it according to its requirements which is not good for the patient and the image of the hospital too.
Apart from security, paper forms lack efficiency too. They are among the slow means of registering a patient. If you lack efficiency and security in your clinic or hospital, then patients will not trust you again. So, it is better to use the technology and improve your registration and information handling processes. By using electronic medical records, you can not only improve productivity but patient care as well.
This tells that the use of electronic patient forms is getting very necessary. It takes care of all those things that traditional forms can not. A very common problem with physical forms is that they get mixed with other forms and it gets very difficult to find the form you are looking for. Moreover, patients have appreciated electronic forms. Instead of filling the form physically, they find it easy to fill the online forms. So, the use of EHR has got a lot of benefits. Some are discussed below:
Provides Safety
Patient information needs to be secure. When using electronic medical records, hospitals and clinics can make sure that the information is secure. No one can access the information without having a password for the system. Well, this is not possible with physical forms as they are available in draws or cabinets.
Improves Efficiency
Efficiency is the key part of a healthcare institute. If your registration processes are not digital, then you can not improve the efficiency of your clinic or hospital. With digital medical records and online form filling, you can improve efficiency. Moreover, you can increase the accuracy as well.
Improves Patient Experience
The primary focus of healthcare providers is to make sure that patients are getting a good quality of care. But this is not possible if you are using physical forms. This asks them to wait long until their reports come. With digital medical records, patients do not have to wait long. Doctors can see the reports and provide the treatment accordingly.
Away from Germs
Different patients have different diseases. So, it is better to avoid touching things in a hospital. Many patients use the same pen while filling the form. This leads to having more germs with you when you touch the same pen. Electronic forms take you away from getting germs.