Skilled nursing facilities have always rightly focused on efficiency and accuracy in their clinical and financial systems. Automating the many steps that it typically takes to admit a patient can be just as important to efficiency and accuracy in patient care and financial profitability. As the number of patients and continuing care providers grow, and specialization of care expands, many skilled providers are addressing efficiency in admissions with the same rigor as with clinical and financial systems.
Consider the room for improved efficiency. Consultants working with a nursing home organization conducted research in 2008 that found the admissions process typically involves 160 steps: 69 handling steps, 36 forms to complete, four family trips to the hospital and 15 delays.
The research also found that making an offer of a bed in a nursing home involved 53 steps, five staff members, and nine forms.
The following is a short sample list of the steps, people and time that are involved to admit a patient to a continuing care facility:
Managing and processing patient referrals and admissions require a significant amount of time and resources. Today there are simple tools and technologies that streamline your admissions process, from initial inquiry to final decision. Automation gives greater productivity at lower cost. For a long-term care provider, automation would mean greater market share by capturing more referrals and admitting more qualified patients faster.
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