This article is written by Doug Rabkin, President and Co-Founder of AccreditSoft!.There has been a great deal in the news regarding digitizing healthcare records. The Affordable Healthcare Act (Obama care) requires medical offices to have electronic medical records by next year. ASCs are still in the "Pen and Paper" era (an era that most businesses left in the dust years ago) with regards to accreditation record keeping.
Technology like AccreditSoft!, a software company based in Pasadena, Calif., seeks to change all of that. AccreditSoft! (www.Accreditsoft.com) Using an iPad, AccreditSoft! allows the staff to move around the facility entering "log Books" without the book. No need for paper forms and 3 ring binders anymore. It also keeps track of medication expiration dates.
Over an 18 month period, AccreditSoft! visited dozens of ASCs to understand what would be genuinely helpful to the owner and the staff. We also made numerous phone calls to the accrediting organizations and the CDC for clarification on issues we uncovered. In addition, we received input from various Accreditation Consulting companies and Surgical Techs.
Here are the areas where ASC staff is impacted the most and where revenue savings could be quickly realized using this technology.
NOT ANOTHER BILL THIS MONTH
The last thing any ASC needs is another bill each month. After extensive research and visiting dozens of facilities we uncovered the huge unseen costs associated with current paper form logs. The time involved in writing information in the myriad of paper forms was the biggest culprit. The time spent actually writing in the data is quite small, however, the time spent "catching up" from forgetting to write in the log book over time really adds up. The main mission of accreditation is patient safety. "Catching up" is not in the spirit of patient safety.
Automated data systems eliminate forgotten log entries by reminding nurses of unfinished tasks throughout the day ensuring accurate log books and eliminating the need to "catch up." Many small centers hire a consultant to help them pass inspection. A large part of the inspection preparation process involves log review. With the right automated technology in place, ASCs can drastically reduce the time required to review log data in preparation for inspection. Reduced time equals reduced costs for both nurses and consultants.
STANDARDIZATION
One of the more difficult and time eating elements of accreditation record keeping we found was the myriad of forms centers use. The log form to record sterilization data, as an example was different in almost every center we visited. Centers that were almost twins with different owners and the same accreditation organization (AAAASF, AAAHC or JCAHO) had different forms. Many of these facilities were entering completely unnecessary data in their forms. It's like paying taxes. If you pay too little, you're going to hear about it. If you pay too much, you won't hear anything. Entering un-necessary data costs time.
Another problem we uncovered regarding accreditation documentation forms relates to new centers just getting started. Many small, single doctor facilities are left to troll the internet looking for forms or worse, creating their own. We know of instances where a doctor will build his/her own facility and hire a nurse to manage it. The nurse comes from a hospital environment or large organization and when faced with the daunting task of creating accreditation material, will simply up and quit.
Automated technology like AccreditSoft! takes a huge burden off of these new facilities and the nurses that manage them by having standardized forms for most of the nurses responsibilities regarding accreditation documentation. It allows the nurse manager to get on with other important matters for the start up and not waste time reinventing the wheel.
In every start up facility we interviewed we saw extreme anxiety amongst the owner and the manager regarding inspection. The owner has a huge investment riding on the passage of that first inspection. Using a product like AccreditSoft! with its standardization of forms and built in compliance tools, the owner, manager and the inspector are immediately on the same page.
What happened to that log book?
Data safety is another very important benefit of digitizing valuable accreditation documentation. Facilities are inspected every three years. That means they have collected 3 years worth of data and it's all in a three-ring binder. The larger the facility, the more data and books it has. Is there ANY business one can think of that keeps its most valuable data in a book or binder on a shelf?
It's more practical when user data is stored on secure and backed up cloud servers. This has two benefits. The first is the obvious. The facilities data is safe…very safe. The second benefit is accessibility. If your data is online, you can access your "books" from anyplace that has an internet connection. Managers can review data without having to "get the book." This is especially helpful for managing multiple facilities. Corporate organizations that own large numbers of facilities can review data or get reports on every center and every form right from the home office.
Bottom Line
Products like AccreditSoft!, represents a quantum leap in ASC administration and accreditation compliance. They allow a center to efficiently manage its accreditation requirements and thereby have a significant savings in time and money. They also allow the center to generate meaningful information through extensive reporting. For new facilities, they provides a quick and easy way to get their accreditation documentation in order and feel more confident when that inspector arrives.
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