Digital Signatures: Elevating the Healthcare Service Experience

It's a truism that the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed our lives – from unusual working styles and elevated digitization practices to the ubiquity of teleconferencing. However, what we are seeing is just the tip of the iceberg. Perhaps the most significant change has been seen in the healthcare sector – transitioning from tedious, lengthy processes to fast, automated ones.

The application of digital tools in the healthcare sector promises to significantly speed up the progress of the healthcare system – with enhanced patient experience, improved provider experience, and reduced costs. However, digitization isn’t just about using technology; perhaps, it’s an entirely new way of working that requires long-term vision, leadership, and accurate planning.

Having said that, a new wave of innovation and digitization of day-to-day activities has taken the healthcare industry by storm, accelerating the pace of several trends. One such trend is the integration of digital signatures. Considering the amount of paperwork signed in the healthcare industry on a daily basis and the urgency to get them signed within a short span, e-signature integrations are coming to the foray. Healthcare leaders are increasingly moving towards trusted digital technologies to digitize and automate their HR processes, patient intake forms, and back-office contracting processes. Nowadays, thousands of healthcare providers rely on electronic signatures to improve patient experience and create automated workflows.

Employing digital signatures enables you to:

• Reduce the possibilities of human error.
• Reduce the amount of time patients spend waiting in long queues.
• Manage paperwork efficiently and effectively.
• Secure patient data.
• Increase operational efficiency.

Digital Signature Use Cases in Healthcare Companies

There are several applications of e-signatures within the healthcare sector. Here are a few:

• Approve and sign prescriptions, patient intake and discharge forms and timesheets.
• Conduct a fully digitized staff onboarding process, including offer letters and training documents
• Facilitate the clinical trial forms regulated by health agencies.
• Expedite patient consent forms.
• Enable faster billing for Medicare.
• Process insurance forms.

A healthcare company comprises various departments, such as legal, finance, and service teams. Often due to paper-laden processes, these departments fall short of time, commit errors and disrupt patient and caretaker experience. With the help of digital signatures, you can streamline your entire process and provide your patients with a smooth, organized experience.

Also Read: How Electronic Signatures Improve Patient Experience in Healthcare

DrySign e-signatures

The healthcare industry is fast-paced and dynamic, where providing the very best service is not an option but a necessity! Providing high-quality care requires healthcare providers to have their paperwork in order. DrySign automates the signing process, helps streamline workflows, and eliminates dependency on paper forms. With DrySign, healthcare professionals can speed up patient admissions and payments and store all documents online for easy access. DrySign has many salient features that make it a reliable and user-friendly e-signature partner. This blog talks about how an e-signature solution can quickly be adopted into the cogs of a healthcare organization.

There are billions of documents flowing in and out of hospitals and pharmacies daily at a languid pace. Traditionally, patients have been standing in long queues waiting to receive and sign patient consent forms, hospital admission forms, patient intake forms, prescriptions, bills, etc. A digital signature solution with features that eliminate manual handling and improve digital coordination is the perfect solution to this challenge. Here are a few document workflows that become seamless once you partner with DrySign.

• Faster patient admissions and discharge

• The healthcare sector primarily works under stringent working conditions and has a constant demand to process urgent paperwork. Treatments cannot be delayed, and online signatures and digital documentation can accelerate the process. From hospital admissions to discharge, all the paperwork can be swift and rapid with minimum manual handling.

• Electronic prescription/ E-prescriptions

• Since the pandemic, everything has been so uncertain – including our health conditions. The outbreak has pushed e-appointments and e-prescriptions to the fore. Patients don't need to go to the hospital physically unless it is critical. The situation elevates the need for e-prescriptions, and there is no doubt that doctors must sign prescriptions before sending them. With digital signatures, doctors can sign and share e-prescriptions within no time.

• Maintaining medical history

• For decades, hospitals have followed the practice of maintaining patients' records in paper form. To look for any particular medical history, you would be led to a room with more giant paper stacks. Furthermore, maintaining manual medical reports invites additional shortcomings – loss of data, breach of sensitive information, misplaced documents, unauthorized access, and more. With digital signatures, you no longer have to deal with manual records. Instead, you can sign, share, and manage documents on the go. Moreover, it allows you to track your document status, saving you all the trouble of following up.

• Stocking up medical supplies

• There will be multiple instances where you may face a shortage or need to order medical supplies, which requires paperwork and signatures from various entities involved. With traditional documentation, the situation is more likely to cause a delay, as it can take days or weeks for a manual process to be completed. However, when digital signatures are the spine of your documentation, you never have to wait too long for paperwork. Getting the paperwork done takes just a few minutes with electronic signatures. The best part, you don't even need to be present at the hospital or pharmacy to get the documents signed; you can do it from the comfort of your home.

More DrySign Benefits

• Reduced time and effort

• DrySign allows you to invite one or more people to sign a document using the Group Sign feature. Using this feature, you don't have to get signatures from every signatory separately, saving you countless hours and efforts spent on getting documents signed. In addition, the DrySign Group Sign feature allows you to set priority for signatories, helping you manage your signing preferences.

• Increased accuracy and consistency

• As you no longer have to share documents separately with every signatory, you can maintain accuracy and consistency in document signing.

• Enhanced security

• It's no secret that digital signatures are the safest form of signatures. DrySign provides 128-bit secured signatures to integrate end-to-end security in your documents. In addition, DrySign allows you to add a password to your document, preventing further alterations.

Common patient forms that can be signed digitally:

• New patient intake form
• Patient rights and responsibilities
• Patient information and policies
• Financial Policies
• Consent to treatment
• Patient informed consent
• Health information release authorization
• Medical records release form
• Notice of privacy practices

Conclusion

Healthcare executives have always chosen to research and explore their options for finding and scheduling medical services. However, the changing times and technologies have changed how consumers make their healthcare decisions. Digital experience in a patient's journey plays a huge role.

To stay ahead of the curve in today's competitive market, practitioners have no choice but to provide an experience per consumers' changing preferences. Embracing digital signature solutions enables healthcare providers to deliver an efficient digital experience. DrySign, a leading eSignature provider, has a wide range of features that will streamline your processes, helping you scale consumer experience. Get DrySign today!

DISCLAIMER: The information on this site is for general information purposes only and is not intended to serve as legal advice. Laws governing the subject matter may change quickly, and Exela cannot guarantee that all the information on this site is current or correct. Should you have specific legal questions about any of the information on this site, you should consult with a licensed attorney in your area.

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