Anderson Hospital, a 136-bed community hospital in Illinois, has reduced overhead, increased the accuracy of patient and business information and, most importantly, enhanced patient care and satisfaction with the Access Patient Flow System (PFS) suite, which provides comprehensive forms automation features. Before implementing PFS, Anderson ordered forms from a third-party vendor and then paid for off-site storage. This incurred high costs, particularly for complex forms such as the multi-page consent to treat. There was also a time delay involved with waiting for forms printing and delivery. PFS has eliminated these inefficiencies. It enables the IS team to design forms in a secure electronic environment and print them on demand as needed.

Areas using Access solutions: HIM, business office, admissions, emergency department

Integration: Meditech, document management system

Access products deployed: Patient Flow System

• Purchasing pre-printed forms from a third party vendor and storing forms is costly
• Manually processing admissions packets delays registration
• Hard copies of forms are unsecured and may be outdated and/or duplicated
• Filing, photocopying and searching for forms wastes employees' time

• Printing forms on demand in-house instead of through a vendor saves $35,000 annually
• Fast, one-time check in speeds care delivery and increases patient satisfaction
• Managing forms electronically protects patient privacy and ensures data integrity
• Elimination of manual, forms-centric tasks enables staff members to focus on meeting patient needs