Tag Archives: advancements in healthcare

How Patient Rooming Checklists Streamline the Patient Care Journey

Patient Rooming is the process where nurses greet and familiarize patients with their clinical surroundings before transitioning the responsibility of care to physicians or other health professionals. It is an integral part of the care journey as patients can address any pressing concerns before their doctor or specialist arrives. Despite this, many clinics fail to maximize the patient experience of the rooming process. Long wait times, inefficient use of staff, and the lack of centralized patient records are the primary issues that clinics face when rooming patients. Smart Rooming Checklists can prevent these issues by simplifying the rooming process for patients and nurses.

What are Smart Rooming Checklists?

Smart Rooming Checklists remind Medical Assistants to perform important tasks related to the Rooming of each patient. They contain three sections: Pre-Rooming, Rooming, and the Handoff. Pre-Rooming involves any preparation work that assistants must take part in before the patient arrives. Rooming is the most important section as it requires assistants to greet patients and address any concerns. Finally, the Handoff is when the assistant briefs the physician on any important information in relation to the patient. Each of these sections contains many subsections that detail individual tasks that the assistant is responsible for.

Pre-Rooming Preparation

The first section of the checklist is the Pre-Rooming preparation. This part involves any tasks that the medical assistant would need to perform before meeting with the patient. The medical assistant would start off by Reviewing the Patient’s Medical History. This helps the assistant understand their existing conditions and treatment plan. After this, assistants would review the patient’s recent test/screening results. To finish off the preparation, assistants would take note of any additional relevant information. This could include feedback from past visits. The objective of pre-visit preparation is for assistants to be proactive about the questions or concerns the patients may have. By planning for these in advance, assistants can save time and generate better responses while rooming the patient. Once this section of the checklist is complete, the assistant can approach the patient and begin the formal rooming process.

Rooming

The Rooming section is the most important portion of the checklist as it highlights the tasks that must be completed when interacting with the patient. To maximize rooming efficiency, assistants must ensure that the time from Patient Introduction to the Handoff is minimized without compromising on quality. Assistants can refer to their pre-visit research to streamline this process. Here are the common steps involved in Patient Rooming:

Patient Introduction: Greet the patient in the waiting room and lead them to the appointment room. Ensure that you are engaging with the patient in a warm and welcoming fashion.

Inquire About Appointment Objective: In a kind and compassionate manner, inquire about the patient’s objective of the appointment. Understand why they are there and what they seek to accomplish from the visit. Identify the most high-priority health concerns.

Update Health Records: Add any new conditions or symptoms to the patient’s health record. Be sure that any recent tests or screenings have been indicated on the record.

Address Patient Questions: Encourage patients to be open about any concerns they have about their treatment or condition. Inform the physician of any questions that are relevant to the appointment.

Conduct Patient Screening: Screen the patient using standard protocol to determine any tests or procedures that they will need to undergo. Prepare the patient for any tests that the physician will be performing and if necessary provide them with the appropriate protective gear.

The Handoff

The Handoff occurs when the responsibility of care is transferred from the assistant to the physician. This occurs directly after the Rooming process is complete. Just before the handoff, assistants must take note of the most important takeaways from the Preparation and Rooming process. This can include reaction to treatment, recent test results, or any new concerns. They must then articulate this to the physician in a very direct and brief manner. Once the Handoff is complete, the rooming process is officially over.

Why are Checklists Important?

Smart Rooming checklists can help medical assistants perform their everyday activities in a more efficient manner. By tracking every step of the rooming process, assistants can make sure they don’t forget important tasks. Using this guide will also help them tend to patients faster, which in turn means the clinic can serve more patients and maximize revenue.

Talk to us to understand more about the advancements in the healthcare industry and we will guide you to achieve our common goal “Quality Care for All” seamlessly.

Why Interoperability is Crucial in Healthcare Operations

Healthcare Interoperability involves the use of many complex systems and information technology (IT) to exchange and interpret health-based data. It has been a key aspect of the extensive shift towards computerizing the healthcare industry. As of 2019, a fundamental level of interoperability has been achieved by roughly 75% of healthcare providers in the US. The ability to transfer data from one health system to another becomes quite challenging when acknowledging the differences in technological platforms. The main objective of Interoperability is to ensure a smooth exchange of data across various systems.

Interoperability and COVID-19

The COVID-19 Pandemic has exposed the need for better interoperability in the healthcare industry. The Pandemic has resulted in a significant uptick in the transfer of patient data. This data is crucial for public health officials as it includes testing results, pre-existing conditions, and potential hotspots. Interoperability would allow county and state officials to identify and assist clinics with shortages in essential resources like staff, beds, or ventilators. Without a clean exchange, lots of patient data could slip through the cracks, leaving public officials and health administrators with inaccurate or insufficient information. The inability to make well-informed decisions could impede health officials from containing the spread of the virus. This data must also be shared between clinics, health systems, and insurance providers to determine the scale and responsibility of payment. The lack of a robustly interoperable platform could cost millions to both healthcare organizations and their patients.

Despite exposing a weakness with existing practices, the Pandemic could actually be beneficial for the future of healthcare interoperability. COVID-19 has allowed healthcare providers to address the inefficiencies that plague their existing practices. Many health organizations across the country are fast-tracking the rate at which they establish interoperable systems. By adapting on the run, these providers are positioning themselves for optimal performance during the pandemic while investing in their long-term sustainability.

Levels of Interoperability

Different health systems possess varying levels of interoperability that depend on their size, scale, and complexity.

Foundational Interoperability: The most basic level involves a health system that can send and receive data from another system. It is ideal for smaller systems that need basic interoperability functions.
Structural Interoperability: An intermediate level which allows health systems to exchange data and interpret information with certain limitations. This level is useful for systems that are expanding.
Semantic Interoperability: The most complex level where data can be exchanged across multiple platforms and interpreted without limitations. This level is ideal for large health systems with complex and multidimensional data transfers.

Key Benefits

Emphasis on Efficiency

Interoperability allows organizations to prioritize operational efficiency. The speed at which providers and patients can access Electronic Health Records (EHRs) greatly cuts down on the time spent on each patient without compromising on quality. This allows providers to care for more patients and increase clinical revenue. Easily accessible health records also let health professionals understand the patient before they even meet. Care providers can anticipate the issues the patient might be having and prepare a treatment plan ahead of time. Most notably, Interoperability decreases the burden on Administrative staff by streamlining the data exchange process.

Enhanced Patient Experience

Patients can expect higher quality care due to a faster and more insightful care journey. Digitizing the care journey eliminates unnecessary paperwork which is inconvenient for patients and time consuming for staff. In the case of referrals, the emergence of EHRs helps smoothen the transition of care between physicians and specialists. With a comprehensive summary of the patient’s health history, care providers are able to treat and diagnose patients with greater efficiency.

Deeper Understanding of Healthcare

Healthcare Interoperability involves large amounts of valuable health-related data which can be extremely useful in multiple ways. Patient data can help scientists and researchers understand more about general and demographic health trends. In a pandemic situation, this data can be used to create an organized and systematic response which increases the likelihood of containment. In addition, patient data can be used in the trial stages of potential vaccines. From a holistic standpoint, interoperability can help public health officials gain insight into the condition of the industry.

Talk to us to understand more about the advancements in the healthcare industry and we will guide you to achieve our common goal “Quality Care for All” seamlessly.

Innovative RPM Developments that will revolutionize Care Delivery

The efficiency and effectiveness of Remote Physiological Monitoring (RPM) has allowed it to emerge as a popular practice in the healthcare industry. RPM has greatly increased the accessibility of healthcare, especially for chronic care patients. It has also allowed care providers to increase their revenue through the CPT reimbursement codes. The industry shift towards a patient-centric, Value-Based Model has allowed for sustained growth for RPM devices in the market. The current innovations in RPM devices have the opportunity to reshape the overall Patient experience.

How COVID-19 is accelerating RPM growth

The COVID-19 Pandemic has expedited the large-scale adoption of RPM. As health centers across the world focus on treating COVID-19, patients with other conditions have been encouraged or instructed to avoid health facilities. This has caused a large deficiency in the transfer of care. This disproportionately affects small clinics that need periodic cash flow and chronic care patients who require frequent clinic visits. RPM devices allow patients to bypass the restrictions by monitoring their health conditions from home. These machines help patients and providers stay up to date with their care plan progress. It also allows clinics to recover some of their lost revenue due to the pandemic. Moving forward, it appears that RPM will increasingly become an integral part of care delivery.

Robot Assistants

The prospect of robotic devices has long been entertained in the healthcare industry. Developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in the past decade have made a future with these devices more realistic. Acting as a personal assistant to long-term patients is one way that robots could make their way into mainstream healthcare. Many patients with chronic conditions require periodic monitoring and extended hospital stays. Robot Assistants could track the vitals of the patients and input the results into the patient’s Electronic Health Record (EHR). These machines would be especially beneficial to patients at rural or undermanned health clinics. It is at such places where Robot Assistants would significantly enhance the quality of care without replacing a human. A significant issue associated with Robot assistants are liability/legal concerns. Should any issues arise while the patient is under the robot’s care, it is unclear who would be responsible.

Remote Surgery Robots

A more complicated manner in which Robots can enter the industry is through Remote Surgery. These machines can assist surgeons by simplifying complex procedures in ways that are not humanly possible. For example, they can use AI or ML to improve the accuracy of existing practices. Another benefit of Remote Surgery is the opportunity for long-distance procedures. An advanced Remote Surgery Robot could allow for a surgeon to perform on a patient thousands of miles away. The primary hurdle facing Robot devices involve high development and operational costs. Both the software and hardware of these machines are extremely intricate in nature. If this concern is addressed, Robots could become a cornerstone of modern healthcare.

Wearable Devices

Wearable RPM devices are already in common use by chronic care patients across the country. In a more loosely defined manner, fitness and smartwatches can also be considered as they perform many similar tasks as a medical RPM device. In this sense, over 20% of Americans already use one of these wearable devices. The main reason wearable RPM devices have yet to take off is the lack of multi-use devices. While a smartwatch has multiple functions, many medical RPM devices have very specific uses. This causes many patients to shy away from making a financial commitment to these products. An example of how this issue can be solved is exemplified in DexCom’s partnership with Apple. DexCom is using the Apple Watch as a platform for people to access their Glucose monitoring products. By using an established, multi-dimensional platform, DexCom is able to generate a larger outreach. A breakthrough in wearable RPM devices would greatly benefit patients with diabetes or cardiovascular issues. A device that they could wear around the clock would provide medical professionals with the data to better understand their condition.

Future of RPM

The RPM market has significant potential for growth in the upcoming decades. The shift towards a more patient-centric focus has resulted in a positive outlook for future RPM development. Advancements in the overall quality and scale of RPM devices can transform the Patient Care Journey of tomorrow.

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Improving Patient Experience through Patient Smart Rooming

The Traditional Patient Care Journey is an inherently time and resource inefficient process. Many patients dread clinical visits due to long and uncomfortable wait times. For clinics, this improper use of staff and money results in increased costs and lost revenue. However, a centralized planning system that streamlines the patient workflow could transform the Care Journey. This is where Patient Smart Rooming can emerge as an efficient tool for streamlining the patient journey. Before diving into this innovative solution, it is important to understand the Patient Rooming process.

Pre-Visit Preparation

Before engaging with the patient, it is important for the medical assistant to understand more about them. Medical Assistants can use a pre-visit checklist to prepare for the appointment by learning more about the patient’s medical history. Assistants should review the patients’ current condition, treatment plan, and feedback from past visits. Previous test/screening results should be readily available for the physician to observe. Ensure that any age or condition-specific tests, screenings, and immunizations are up to date.

By preparing for the patient prior to the visits, medical assistants can be proactive about what they may be facing during the rooming process. They better anticipate any patient questions/concerns and prepare accordingly. This also allows them to share any glaring concerns with the patient and physician. A Pre-Visit checklist can also save time by identifying areas of concern before the patient even arrives. After completing this checklist, the assistant can approach the patient and begin the rooming process.

Patient Rooming Tasks

Efficient Patient Rooming requires the medical assistant to perform a variety of tasks. Here are the common steps involved in Patient Rooming:

Patient Introduction: Greet the patient in the waiting room and lead them to the appointment room. Ensure that you are engaging with the patient in a warm and welcoming fashion.
Inquire About Appointment Objective: In a kind and compassionate manner, inquire about the patient’s objective of the appointment. Understand why they are there and what they seek to accomplish from the visit. Identify the most high-priority health concerns.
Update Health Records: Add any new conditions or symptoms to the patient’s health record. Be sure that any recent tests or screenings have been indicated on the record.
Address Patient Questions: Encourage patients to be open about any concerns they have about their treatment or condition. Inform the physician of any questions that are relevant to the appointment.
Conduct Patient Screening: Screen the patient using standard protocol to determine any tests or procedures that they will need to undergo. Prepare the patient for any tests that the physician will be performing and if necessary provide them with the appropriate protective gear.
Briefing The Physician: After collecting all the required details from the patient, be able to summarize this information to the physician. Highlight any glaring issues from the health record or any urgent patient concerns.

The Rooming process ends when the Medical Assistant transfers the responsibility of care to the physician. An efficient exchange of care means minimizing time without compromising on the quality of care.

Characteristics of Patient Smart Rooming

Patient Smart Rooming has risen from the increasing acceptance of Value-Based Care. This shift emphasizes the importance of patient outcomes as opposed to the purely profit-based “fee-for-service” outlook. Patient Smart Rooming can increase the convenience of care and subsequently enhance patient satisfaction.

Centralized Platform: An all-inclusive software platform that has relevant data at readily available.
Pre-Visit Checklist: Acts as a guide for what Medical Assistants should cover in the rooming process.
Access to EMR/EHR: Informs the Assistants about the patient’s existing conditions or previous tests/procedures.

How Patient Smart Rooming Streamlines the Care Journey

Due to the many different steps involved, Patient Rooming is often a long and tedious process for both patients and care providers. HealthViewX’s Patient Smart Rooming software provides clinics the opportunity to digitize the entire care journey. By utilizing a centralized software, care providers can access any important patient information on one platform. This tool also allows clinics to track valuable data like wait/rooming times or availability of assistants. This allows clinics to identify inefficiencies in their practice by tracking every step of the patient journey.

Talk to us to understand more about the advancements in the healthcare industry and we will guide you to achieve our common goal “Quality Care for All” seamlessly.

How Early Adopters of Healthcare Technologies Are Benefited

Today, healthcare technology has extensively transformed the healthcare sector by changing the lives of many people and also changing the way the healthcare industry operates. It is driving healthcare more than any other force and has resulted in meaningful growth for the future. It has helped the industry by bridging the communication gap between patients and providers.

Though American healthcare providers have embraced the use of EHRs at record-high rates, they lag behind the rest of the world in adopting other digital health technologies such as telehealth, artificial intelligence, etc.

Early Adopters of Healthcare Technology Are Benefitted

There is no denying that the early adopters of healthcare technology are benefitting the most. It is extremely advantageous to providers and has played a pivotal role in bringing noticeable changes to the healthcare industry. There are providers skeptical about the implementation cost and the medical value of technological advances.

Though there remains skepticism among providers about healthcare IT, this situation is likely to change among the U.S. medical providers. Efforts are underway to increase the adoption of healthcare IT and spur innovative solutions. The early adopters are witnessing optimistic results like the ability to provide better care, the reduction of administrative costs, and the power to provide value-based care for their patients.

Some of the benefits are

The adopters are benefitting from the increased revenue government reimbursements for Medicare patients. This allows them to optimize their potential revenue and provide value-based care for their patients.

The adopters have been able to retain and expand their patients through a well-connected care system.

Healthcare IT lets patients have access to their health records, allowing them to take part in their care programs or plans.

With the help of electronic health records, patients have been more engaged in their health and have greater satisfaction with care.

The providers have been able to retain and expand their patient base with value-based care and better results.

Health IT provides 360-degree care which enables both the patients and providers to have a better understanding of the patient’s current health condition and unique healthcare needs thus enabling the physician to come up with individual care plans.

Eventually the adoption of health IT will bring great changes in the healthcare system benefitting both the providers and the patients.

Early adopters, in general, are experiencing the following benefits as well:

Connected health helps patients to self-manage their health thus supporting the physicians for a better health outcome.
Providers are able to retain and expand their patient base while focusing on value-based care
Providers are able to bring in additional revenue by increasing their patient base and aligning with their business strategy.
Early adopters are maximizing their profit through increased revenue government reimbursements for Medicare patients.
Adopting health IT reduces the cost of care for their patients.
The technology behind health IT is advancing rapidly and is transforming the way the industry operates.
Healthcare IT enables the secure exchange of sensitive patient data.
Health care IT has helped to build better patient-provider relationships.
Detailed care - Provides physicians more face time, improved outcomes, focus on preventive measures, reduced readmissions, and reduces paperwork.
Patients will experience higher satisfaction, increased confidence, and enhanced treatment adherence.
Enables better care quality and patient-centered care.

In Conclusion, health IT can tackle the increasing demands on healthcare. It is especially advantageous for the industry considering the increase in chronic diseases and people with multiple conditions. Healthcare technology has the potential to improve the overall outcome by reducing healthcare costs and increasing access to care.

Talk to HealthViewX Solution experts to understand more about their HOPE Platform and solutions like Referral Management, Chronic Care Management, Telehealth Solutions, Remote Patient Monitoring, and many more. Schedule a demo today!