As hospitals in the US move toward meeting Electronic Health Records (EHR) Meaningful Use requirements, they’re trying to eliminate as much paperwork as possible. To this end, Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System (SVMHS) is using Access’s electronic signatures solution at registration.

Instead of printing forms, having patients sign them with a pen, and then scanning them into MEDITECH’s Electronic Health Record (HER), SVMHS offers e-forms that patients authorise with secure electronic signatures and are sent directly into EHRs with no manual intervention.

“Access’s e-signature integration with MEDITECH is a secure system that benefits our patients and our medical staff.” said Sam Powell, SVMHS system administrator. “Once the patient signs the signature tablet, the signed admissions forms are immediately scanned and archived.”

 “Using Access e-Signature alongside MEDITECH impresses our patients because we have a high tech registration approach instead of using pen and paper,” Powell said.

Transitioning to electronic patient signatures is also helping SVMHS meet the demands of EHR Meaningful Use by ensuring consistent data is captured electronically for each patient at the point of registration.

“Patient signatures and e-forms go into a patient’s medical record right away, which eliminates the chance of document loss and means fewer steps for registrars,” Powell said.

As it strives to eliminate even more paperwork, SVMHS is extending its Access project to patient bedsides. Nurses will soon capture electronic signatures on surgery consents using Wacom STU-500 tablets connected to Workstations on Wheels (WOWs).

“Getting Access e-Signature seems like a no-brainer for hospitals,” Powell said. “It’s affordable, you set it up easily and it just works.”