Improving Patient Safety in Hospitals
What is Patient Safety?
Every healthcare facility is responsible for keeping patients safe, which is why improving patient safety in hospitals is always a top priority. There’s much more to keeping patients healthy and satisfied than eliminating tripping hazards and stationing security at the front door. While healthcare providers always have the best interests of their patients in mind, it is possible for mistakes to happen. That’s why internal processes that offer a more complete patient health information are vital for patient safety, too.
According to the World Health Organization, “Patient Safety is a healthcare discipline that emerged with the evolving complexity in health care systems and the resulting rise of patient harm in health care facilities. It aims to prevent and reduce risks, errors and harm that occur to patients during provision of health care.” The patient safety experience starts when the order is submitted to the healthcare system by their Clinician all the way until the medical bill is paid.
Errors that are prevented from the get go can have a huge impact on patient experience and patient safety. Fierce Healthcare referenced a study where Clinical staff reported communication disconnects due to paper faxing impacted patients on a daily basis. They also mentioned paper faxing communication breakdowns estimated to be a factor in 70% of medical error deaths.
How Data and Digital Records Keep Patients Safe
Ensuring patient safety in hospitals, clinics, rehabilitation centers, and more begins with the collection, processing, and organization of information. Can your physicians easily find patient data when they need it? Is the information they’re accessing up-to-date and accurate? Does it show a complete picture of what’s happening to the patient? Does it allow providers to easily communicate with one another regarding the patients they share? If not, it may be time to update software programs and integrations your facility currently uses.
While EHRs are one part of the puzzle, they aren’t the end all be all solution for hospitals and healthcare systems. Integrations with your EHR of choice can optimize the information you have access to making a safer overall experience. Reducing errors at the beginning of the process is key, and technology such as digital faxing, automation, or auto-indexing could help do the work seamlessly in a fraction of time compared to a manual process. AI technology can reduce human error significantly keeping patients safer in their paperwork.
Benefits of a Centralized Database of Patient Information
Many healthcare facilities lack a centralized database of patient data and records. Instead of accessing everything they needed through one convenient portal, physicians had to peruse multiple applications and hold multiple conversations to glean the information they needed to make accurate decisions, not to mention having piles of paperwork and lost orders. It doesn’t have to be this way.
Having fully integrated software available that collects, organizes, and shares information with providers streamlines the entire health care process. Referrals, denials and appeals are managed more cohesively, and the patient experience is better than it has ever been. It’s all thanks to innovative solutions that do what you need them to do, and as a result, the benefits are immense. Patients receive a higher quality of care. Physicians have an easier time accessing the information they need. Documentation is captured and stored safely in an encrypted environment for simple retrieval. Payment to the hospital is expedited, and care providers are easily able to communicate with one another regarding the patients they share.
How Vyne Medical Can Help
At Vyne Medical, we’re bringing the future of data management right to your door. We streamline the information you need to track allowing you to improve patient safety and quality of care. How do we do this?
- Vyne Medical is one of the few health information handlers in the nation who is certified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, meaning information is transmitted quickly, safely, and more securely between providers and health care plans.
- Our Trace® platform records and organizes all forms of patient/provider communications, including fax, voice, and image, keeping it in a centralized database and is readily available with ease of access for all team members improving patient safety across the board.
- We help prevent mistakes by collecting accurate information and organizing it in such a way that it’s easy to access and easy to read.
- Our digital faxing solutions, automation capabilities, and auto-indexing technology helps reduce the mountains of paperwork that tie up your administrative personnel, reduce manual entry errors, and prevent lost orders.
- Our software solutions help you get to your patients quicker, schedule them faster, and process payments faster.
Vyne Medical serves a growing base of 800+ active hospital and health system clients nationwide. Best practices are hardwired through technology solutions proven to help hospitals achieve sustainable top performance. Well-published results include improvements in financial performance, physician/staff alignment, patient experience, compliance and patient safety/quality. Get connected today to learn more: vynemedical.com.
If you’re interested in ways to improve the way your system operates, contact us today.