In every business, streamlining operational workflow is critical to maximizing cash flow. Home health agencies – providing in-home care services to potentially thousands of patients per week – are no exception. These services are provided by clinicians — skilled nurses; physical, occupational and speech therapists – who are based at the agencies they work for, but mainly work independently while making visits to patient homes. Each visit involves a workflow process that can be either cumbersome and disjointed or streamlined and efficient. The more efficient the home health visit, the more an agency can profit, grow and maintain regulatory compliance.
Mobile technology in healthcare has been growing rapidly. The U.S. government, healthcare corporations, caregivers and mobile technology companies have worked together to support this growth and, as a result, changes and improvements have been taking place. For example, in a recent Healthcare Information and Management Systems (HIMSS) Analytics Mobile Technology Survey, it was revealed that more than one half of respondents reported their organization had a mobile technology plan in place. In addition, more than one third of respondents indicated that mobile technology will substantially or dramatically impact patient care in the future.
Looking specifically at home health agencies, many agencies still face challenges related to technology. Clinicians often carry around paper documentation or a combination of paper and laptops to document both the care given and the proof that the visit took place when and where scheduled. This no longer has to be the case. Agencies can empower their clinicians to gain workflow efficiencies by adopting mobile technology and cloud-based computing. A Smartphone or tablet with a mobile app and Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) capabilities can maximize their efficiency.
Through their mobile device, clinicians have the ability to:
- access GPS-guided directions to patient homes;
- electronically verify visits through the EVV feature by checking in at the start of the visit, which captures the GPS location and date and time stamps the record;
- manage patient schedules;
- review patient charts and record vital signs;
- make notes with reminders about contacting a physician’s office for an order;
- quickly compose and send internal emails to their agency through HIPAA-compliant and secure messaging on the mobile device;
- record the patient’s electronic signature through EVV to document that the visit took place; and
- check-out at the end of the visit, which captures the GPS location and date and time stamps.
The importance of mobile technology in healthcare will continue to grow as home health agency operators look for ways for their clinicians to be efficient at every step of their patient visits. Agencies will rely more on mobile devices for faster, easier and more reliable documentation and visit verification. The end result will be empowering for home health agencies and healthcare institutions – creating operational efficiency and improved cash flow.
