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says Ms. Mentz.. "We decided to look into the whole process of how we interact with patients before admission."
A time-management study pulled back the curtain on a beleaguered staff that was spending far too much time on paperwork and being forced to rely on 11th-hour communication to get all needed information to and from patients.
"Our nursing staff was contacting patients only 1 or 2 days before scheduled procedures and administrative duties consumed almost 50% of their time," says Ms. Mentz.
The first step was to deploy an online preadmission program, One Medical Passport. At first, the nurses at Elmhurst created passports for patients, but the more significant progress came when the facility started encouraging patients to complete the information themselves.
"We revised our patient brochure and began directing patients to go online and complete their medical history as one of the first steps for preparing for surgery," says Ms. Mentz. "Having patients involved resulted in more accurate and complete histories. Patients essentially create their own electronic health records that can then be updated anytime and shared with other providers."
And the staff that was having to spend so much time pushing paper? "They've been able to shift their focus," says Ms. Mentz. "Nurses now spend more than 90% of their time speaking to patients. They've shifted their focus from inputting patient information to conducting a more thorough review of medical histories, clarifying questions and providing pre-surgical instructions."
MOBILE MESSAGING Patients receive automated text messages.
