Do you manage ECG services across different sites? Does each department have their own workflow? Are you facing challenges around managing & accessing data? This conversation will share some benefits associated with standardization that you may not have considered.
Read along...
Cardiologists know that when a patient experiences a sudden cardiac issue, they'll often go to the nearest emergency department. Later, they may receive follow up care at a different hospital or cardiology practice. In some cases, those sites may not have shared access to patient records, even if the sites live within the same health system. That can mean spending extra time repeating ECGs, as well as increased costs associated with paper ECG storage and management.
You can significantly reduce and eliminate these problems by expanding and standardizing your ECG management through an enterprise software solution that anyone, at any site inside the system, can access. This type of fully integrated ECG management system can provide a strong foundation for delivering the highest-quality patient care, as well as expanding or building cardiac infrastructure across the entire enterprise.
Now, you might ask, "What have facilities experienced when using an ECG management system?" One facility has seen significant advantages after adopting a fully integrated ECG management system. A regional health system learned it was unable to coordinate the most effective cardiac care when patients were seen at multiple sites. They were performing over 13,000 ECGs a month across multiple locations, with an average turnaround time from acquiring the ECG to the formal reporting of fifteen hours. Because each department had its own workflows and ECG management procedures, cardiac care couldn't be coordinated easily across locations. So, when the facility implemented their Cardiology Information System to solve these problems, what benefits did they find when they standardized ECG management in regards to turnaround time and costs?
- Firstly, ECG turnaround time goes down—in this case, from fifteen hours to less than five hours, on average.
- And because it's faster to record a digital ECG, you receive the waveforms rapidly for reading, and you can read it from any location, improving workflows considerably.
- You can also reduce costs tied to repeat procedures and paper management, as you'll have 24/7 digital access to patients' data, regardless of where they are seen within your system.
So, what about accuracy and quality?
- They found ECG interpretation can improve significantly with digital tools. For example, the site reported that their accuracy rate rose to 99%.
- Increased access to patient data can also help you meet your quality and compliance objectives more easily.
And what type of impact did it have for IT management and billing?
- A centralized ECG management server also means tighter IT management for increased patient data security and confidentiality.
- A streamlined patient charge process inside the software means there's less time to complete, record, and correct billing as well.
- Plus, because each site uses the same standardized digital ECG management system, user competencies can be standardized, saving money on training and future equipment acquisition.
It's important to note that "standardized" doesn't mean "rigid." A software-only ECG management system with 24/7 access and support can be adapted to meet the needs of each facility, so you can increase your productivity without eliminating parts of your workflow that already function well.
In many regards, standardizing ECG management regionally can improve patient care. It enables healthcare professionals to spend more time focusing on patients' health, and less time tracking down their cardiac history records.
