eSignature Technology: A Boon For The Healthcare Industry

Introduction
The healthcare industry across the globe is known for its overwhelming paperwork requirements. A patient seeking healthcare support typically has to fill in multiple forms requiring multiple signatures in order to receive appropriate treatment. Moreover, physicians waste almost two-third of their time in conducting routine paperwork, which means their efficiency going down the drains. Processes such as patient registration, prescription, discharge, billing, insurance claims and many more are all document-intensive, and the pen-and-paper way to fill and sign documents drastically impedes the speed and efficiency of the healthcare processes. And, not to forget the poor patient experience that it imparts.
Well, we are in the midst of a rapidly evolving era, where one must not forget that the patients’ expectations too are swiftly evolving. They demand speedy, simple and efficient processes that could streamline their entire healthcare journey, right from the entry until the exit. As per a report from Accenture, 60% of patients are willing to communicate with their healthcare providers using technology.
Apart from this, the industry faces numerous other challenges such as mounting government regulations, security of sensitive patient and medical data, etc. Although paper signatures are legally binding, maintaining the security of data is a key concern with them, since physically signed documents can easily be lost, misplaced, tampered or stolen, while also being highly prone to errors.
The Solution – eSignatures!
The adoption of eSignatures in the healthcare ecosystem creates a win-win situation for both, patients and medical practitioners. By automating the workflow and by facilitating instant, safe sharing and signing of documents, it infuses tons of efficiency into the system, while also maintaining an optimum level of compliance. Healthcare employees are able to manage all their document-intensive processes in a fast, secure and efficient manner, which ultimately transforms their productivity and in turn, the patient experience.
During the recent times led by Covid-19, when the world was going contactless and human interactions were strictly being minimized, more and more healthcare providers began to realize the benefits of the new-age eSignature technology and march towards it. This helped them handle their diverse paperwork requirements remotely and thus enhance their competitiveness even amidst the unusual times.
Modern-day e-signature solutions are not just about building the signing capabilities of an institution. There are a host of additional functionalities that enable smart document management for the crucial service providers. Let’s have a look at some of the top benefits that an eSignature Solution offers to the world of healthcare –
- Superior Patient Experiences – The eSignature solutions offer unparalleled convenience to patients by allowing them to remotely sign all documents from any device, at any time and place. All registration or onboarding forms, medical bills, insurance claims, etc can be electronically reviewed and approved in a matter of few minutes, with the help of just a few clicks. Discharge summaries can be electronically signed, which minimizes the patients’ waiting time, thus making their outbound process simple and faster. As the need for manual, paper-based signing gets eliminated, patients are able to reach and access clinical care faster. With this ease and speed, the best outcome is generated, ie, patient satisfaction. For any healthcare organisation, the patient is the customer and needless to say, their experience is of paramount importance.
- Increased Efficiency of Healthcare Staff – As all the paperwork processes such as form creation, ID verification, compliance checks, status tracking, etc gets automated with the help of an eSignature solution, the medical staff is freed from performing the mundane documentation tasks manually. The routine jobs of printing, scanning, faxing documents or sending couriers from one physical location to another are all done away with. Moreover, the hassle of reaching out to different signatories, gathering physical signatures, compiling and storing them indeed becomes a thing of the past. With eSignatures, each signed document is electronically stored and can be easily retrieved whenever required in future. This enables the healthcare workers to utilize their valuable time more productively and generate better patient outcomes.
- Enhanced Security of Medical Data – One of the key responsibilities of any healthcare provider is to safeguard the sensitive, personal patient data and store it securely. The eSignature solutions are built in the with the highest security standards and comply with all patient privacy laws. This means that all the sensitive patient documents are protected with multiple layers of security through measures such as document validation and authentication control, signer identity verification, tamper-proof seal and audit trail. This eliminates the risks of document misplacement, tampering or any unauthorized access. Thus, patients can be rest assured that privacy of their health information is duly maintained. Moreover, electronically signed documents can easily and securely be shared between providers, with a strict check on confidentiality of the documents. The crucial health information can be accessed by the authorised people only, whenever required.
- Legal and Regulatory Compliance – The modern eSignature solutions are as legally binding as physical signatures, as they adhere to all requirements stipulated by HIPAA. As electronically signed documents are encrypted and compliant with even the toughest government and healthcare industry standards, it adds a robust layer of credibility and security, thus assuring the healthcare providers and patients.
- Time and Cost Savings – Once the initial investment of configuring the electronic signature technology is done, the healthcare institutions can save on multiple big cost that arise out of printing, scanning, storing, postal services, physical storage, labour, material, etc. Moreover, since all documents get stored, processed and shared digitally, the time saved leads to better utilization of staff, leading to enhanced patient care.
Clearly, eSignature solutions are a boon for the healthcare sector. While choosing one for your healthcare institution, it is advisable to identify and lay down the specific requirements of your healthcare institution and then evaluate the offerings of the solution.
MSB Docs is a next-gen, powerful eSignature tool that will effectively streamline all the documentation requirements of your healthcare institution. We enable you to sign, store and manage all your documents electronically in a smart, secure and simplified manner.
Paperless documentation is a key requisite for building a resilient, productive health system that imparts exceptional patient care.
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