Almost every visit to a doctor’s office starts with the same scenario. At the front desk, a receptionist captures a patient’s information—personal identification, insurance cards and accompanying signed forms such as HIPAA releases—typically via a small-footprint desktop scanner.
These compact scanners are great, as the front desk person can easily and quickly scan all sorts of documents, from ID cards and passports to batches of signed forms and releases. Thankfully, the scanners help ensure this information is captured accurately, as the information will be used to initiate or update an electronic medical record (EMR) for the patient. The EMR will be shared with everyone at each stage of care, following the patient from point of entry to completion of the requisite healthcare. This ensures that one record is used for each patient, eliminating the creation of duplicate files which result in confusion and incomplete information.
Scanning in the midst of giving patient care
However, what if patient care starts elsewhere? Like on the scene of an accident, during a hospice home visit or in an emergency room, where an EMT, hospice worker or nurse practitioner must capture the same kind of patient information—and sometimes more. These skilled caregivers are not front desk administrators. Their primary responsibility is providing their patients with expedient and often, urgent, healthcare services.
Take the case of the nurse practitioner in a hospital emergency room (ER), who will initiate the admissions process by either creating a new EMR for the patient or find an existing one in the system. Although the nurse’s duties extend way beyond admissions, it is now his or her responsibility to capture and scan any new vital admission forms or documents. Accuracy is critical because the patient’s EMR will now be shared with all medical and operational people involved in services during and after the hospital stay.
The EMR may ultimately contain hundreds of scanned and electronic documents related to this visit such as admittance forms, in-hospital care instructions, lab and test results, services and medications, as well as release forms, follow-up directions and insurance and patient billing data. The information captured and shared in the EMR helps ensure that the patient gets the right services at the right time by the right medical team. Therefore, accuracy and speed in scanning documents from the point of admission onward is of utmost importance.
Accelerating errorless information capture
In this scenario, as well as the other point-of-care ones mentioned above, high-powered, easy-to-use scanners are imperative. For instance, a scanner like the fi-800R can save the emergency nurse time and free up resources for the patient’s care. Here’s how:
- Small accessible footprint. In environments like emergency rooms, nurses often use mobile workstation on wheels. The small footprint of the fi-800R makes it ideal for this tight workspace, allowing the nurse to scan any important documents efficiently without leaving the patient’s side.
- Accurate, versatile capturing. The fi-800R automatically updates settings for paper handling and image quality, so paper size, direction and type of documents is not a concern. It can handle everything from insurance IDs to batches of signed forms without any adjustment of settings.
- Easy connectivity. Scanners on mobile workstations can be connected directly to a laptop computer through a USB cord, or to the workstation’s battery, so there is a continuous supply of power whenever needed.
- Immediate information sharing. When connected to a nurse’s laptop, the scanned information can automatically be uploaded into the EMR record or any related software. The patient’s vital data can be shared immediately with all pertinent staff as the EMR record initiates all downstream processes, from the next step in medical services to the final billing after the patient leaves the hospital.
- Compliant and legal ready. When patient information is scanned versus manually processed, there is a greater degree of compliance with regulations such HIPAA and other healthcare mandates. The comprehensive and accurate capture of historic patient data also reduces the chances of malpractice claims due to inaccurate information.
Speed, efficiency—and accurate records
No matter what kind of care is being provided—or where—medical personnel can rest assured that the patient information is being captured correctly the first time, thanks to scanners like the fi Series document scanners.
This is a win-win for all involved. Healthcare workers can focus more on patient care rather than time-consuming administrative tasks. Hospitals and other healthcare organizations can ensure patients receive the care they need in the most efficient way from medical staffs and that backend offices have accurate records for billing and insurance. And, of course, patients get the care they need in the fastest way possible in time of need.
Besides the fi-800R, we offes health care organizations other options, such as: