SENDYS Explorer has various functions that can benefit users in the healthcare industry, from helping with a ward’s administrative tasks and security to minimising a hospital’s carbon footprint.
SENDYS Explorer supports clinical workflow at every point; advanced security features guarantee patient safety and security, while smart document digitising and filing speeds up the reporting process and increases the accuracy of client records.
The key challenges facing the healthcare industry include poor patient care and lack of confidentiality, delays and misinformation, all of which relate directly back to slow, outdated paper-based systems.
For example, the use of paper-based processes can reduce clinical access if patients or HCPs do not have access to physical documents, either because they are not ready or in the wrong place. On top of this, paper documents don’t offer the security of digital files and clinicians are forced to spend precious time on administrative tasks, directly impacting service quality that is already under pressure from budget cuts and an ageing population.
With SENDYS Explorer, healthcare organisations can be more efficient and more effective. SENDYS’ document digitisation is XML/JSON compatible and as such supports widely-used healthcare standards (HL7 FHIR, HL7 version 2) and integration tooling, making the transition to digital smooth and efficient. The system’s modular, extendable framework allows hospitals and clinics to quickly scan, file and share documents in real time, making them accessible anywhere, at any time - but only by those with authorisation.
SENDYS Explorer gives hospitals the ability to manage and visualise patient data in real time, offering one standard system that easily adapts to healthcare sector needs, such as being able to view documents in any location by any Hl7, HIS, CIS, LIS. Paper-based processes are expensive and time-consuming; with digitisation and features such as XML/JSON out-of-the-box messaging, it’s possible to automate and reduce human resource requirements, time spent on administrative tasks and printing costs.
The scanning and pull-printing functions enable a hospital, for example, to reduce the administrative time spent by clinicians, or LOCUM or Agency Nurses, waiting for documents, and ultimately reduce patient waiting times and medical errors, whilst boosting security and providing easier audit trails.
In busy hospitals, administrative tasks must always come second to urgent patient care.
When finding, writing and archiving important information is constantly interrupted, however, this can result in inefficient processes and time wasted looking for documents.
In busy hospitals, administrative tasks must always come second to urgent patient care. When finding, writing and archiving important information is constantly interrupted, however, this can result in inefficient processes and time wasted looking for documents.
With SENDYS Explorer, a nurse can log onto a clinical system in the ward office, select the patient in question and print off a form pre-filled with the patient’s data from Active Directory integration. Later, she can complete the form, log into any hospital MFP running SENDYS Explorer, and digitise the form instantly, flagging it as an incident report. Clinical safety leads can now view and act on the report with ease.
When one document is needed by multiple people in separate departments, paper processes can get confusing. It can be impossible to know which one is the most recent version or if the people who need the document have access to it, resulting in a chaotic system that directly impacts efficiency and the level of care on offer.
A doctor in a small hospital is discussing treatment options with a patient in an outpatient consultation, resulting in the decision to carry out a minor surgical procedure. The doctor prints out a patient consent form, containing the patient’s information and details of the planned treatment, in the ward office after waiting for another print job to finish and gives it to the patient to sign.
The patient fills in signs the form, the doctor keeps one copy as a record for the hospital to be filed and gives the original back to the patient. Once the patient has left, the doctor updates the patient’s records, resulting in more documents to be filed; this takes longer than expected, and the next patient is seen 15 minutes late.
Using SENDYS Explorer, the doctor already has the patient’s record open in the EPR system, enters the information about the treatment to be carried out and uses an EPR function to print, from the nearest SE-running MFP which he is logged into, a consent form prefilled with the patient’s data.
The printed form includes a 2D barcode encoding patient details, form type, form ID and additional document indexing data. The patient signs in the provided signature box, which is captured as an image based on zonal OCR, and the doctor scans the form. It is immediately uploaded to the EPR system, together with metadata ensuring the document image and information is correct. The next patient is seen on time.
When lots of people, all of whom are busy with their own jobs, are printing various documents from one printer, it can get complicated. When that happens in a hospital, with confidential data and patient records left on view, it can become a data confidentiality breach.
A busy hospital with MFPs using various systems scattered around different departments is spending a fortune on print-related costs. With demands on staff time, many HCPs find themselves called away from print jobs, which are then lost or forgotten and subsequently repeated, causing unnecessary wastage.
As well as print spend, the hospital is struggling with security issues as confidential patient records are left in the print tray for anyone to access, and archiving has become slow and often inaccurate, with documents frequently misplaced or updated with incorrect information, due to the sheer volume of paper files.
Implementing SENDYS Explorer across the hospital’s MFPs, an HR manager can monitor and manage print jobs, reducing paper wastage. By placing limits on the number of print/scan jobs allowed per day, requiring authentication to print, or stopping jobs that are left halfway (if, for example, the paper tray is empty), the hospital is able to save money and streamline the printing process.
The hospital also increases security as records are digitised and filed in real time, with the user authentication module ensuring confidential information is kept safe and GDPR compliant. Congestion around the printer comes to an end as staff can access, edit and upload documents digitally via their PC or mobile device, saving time and boosting efficiency.