Healthcare Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic
COVID-19 is a new strain of virus discovered in China, in December 2019. At present, the entire world is affected by this contagious disease-causing virus. Healthcare centers and hospitals are facing a lot of challenges due to the sudden onset of a pandemic.
While the healthcare centers are keen on taking care of the patients concertedly, they should care for doctors and other staff too, by providing them with personal protective equipment (PPE). Plexiglass panels are being installed in reception, medicals and more to avoid direct contact with other people.
The increasing number of patients demanded a large number of beds and rooms, so normal wards are transformed into intensive care units for treating COVID-19 patients.
To avoid transmission from an infected person, hospitals have had to adapt to a few modifications like separate access points for patients with symptoms of COVID-19 infections and CCTV operated rooms to monitor them, arranging a separate dialysis area to serve COVID-19 patients, and separate paths and lifts for them, etc.
As a consequence of these adaptations, healthcare centers prefer to enhance the use of technologies to interact with patients. Zero-touch patient intake is a digital service offered by HealthAsyst which enables the virtual meet up.
Technologies to interact with patients
Technologies are upgraded to endeavor e-health in this pandemic condition. It is highly recommended to use zero-touch digital intake services amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Few e-health services include:
·Biometric and telemedicine devices working on a remote basis are used to detect and diagnose other diseases to avoid contagion.
·Effective use of Electronic health records (EHRs) and personal health records (PHRs) with the health history of the patient.
·The most recent technology is a software application for telehealthcare that avoids queues and frittering away the time in a healthcare facility.
·CheckinAsyst, from HealthAsyst, is recommended as one of the leading digital patient intake software. The application allows an easy way to zero-touch patient services in digital patient intake, front-office, patient communication, revenue cycle, clinical efficiency and more.
·In CheckAsyst, digital patient intake is achieved through pre-registration via a mobile device. A seamless bi-directional data transfer allows for better EHR usage, flexible payment services like credit/debit cards and card-on-file, and automatic reminders on facility visit. A zero-touch digital intake is crucial to avoid the probability of getting infected by COVID-19.
·The front-office is assisted by the CheckinAsyst dashboard which makes the front office works easier by automated capturing of patient’s data, simplified payment options, and enhanced communication.
·The revenue cycle is improved via automatic payment reminders, various modes of payment and payment plan options, verification tool to choose the eligible and more benefiting insurance, and automatic analytic report formation on financial performance.
·Clinical efficiency is obtained by
1. Maintaining the quality of data.
2. Easy access to EHR for information regarding the patient.
3. The reconciliation screen includes rechecking of the data before being sent back to the EHR.
CheckinAsyst also makes it very easy for virtual visits by providing a link to enter the online waiting room, once you set an appointment. Even though it is the present pandemic situation that makes us adapt to zero-touch digital intake services, it is the smartest way to be followed in the future.