April 12, 2022 | Net Health

3 Minute Read

5 Reasons for Making E-Signatures a Part of Your SNF Rehab Therapy Workflow

Five days. That’s how long it takes on average to obtain just one physical signature.1

In a skilled nursing facility (SNF), where rehab therapy services are only reimbursed by Medicare if a physician signs off on each patient’s plan of care (POC), those five days can feel like a lifetime

Sure, we can create elaborate spreadsheets of signature needs, print and fax relevant documents, and quite literally chase down physicians for physical signatures to expedite the process. With the sheer volume of patients and physicians who require signatures in a single day, however, spreadsheets no longer seem like much of an expedited or economical tracking method for SNF teams at large.

This could explain why electronic signatures, or e-signatures – a valid, legally-binding option to streamline signatures and ensure compliance – have gained popularity among SNFs in recent years.

Discover five ways e-signatures can revolutionize your SNF rehab therapy workflow. 

1. Save Time and Money 

In SNFs with robust rehab therapy services, it’s not unusual for one employee to be responsible for printing patient POCs, chasing down the appropriate physician for a signature, then scanning and archiving each signed document. That employee may be thrilled to learn that e-signature software can save an organization both time and money. 

In fact, e-signatures can save organizations $36 per document on average by boosting employee productivity (read: not chasing down and tracking signatures) and reducing hard costs.2 

SNFs can also save money by going paperless and eliminating the need to print and store paper documents, which can reap a whopping 55% to 78.62% in total savings when transitioning to an e-signature solution.3

2. Improve Workflows (and Compliance)

While the process of chasing down physicians to obtain a physical signature is certainly time-consuming, so are unexpected compliance errors, which can also be quite costly.

E-signature solutions help reduce processing errors within SNF rehab therapy workflows and can reduce the risk of human error during signing by up to 80%.4 Plus, these solutions lessen the amount of time it takes to retrieve aging or archived documentation, which contributes to a tighter, faster workflow. 

3. Reduce Turnaround Times

Did you know that 65% of organizations that collect physical signatures add an entire day to their workflow process with manual methods?5 E-signature solutions can drastically reduce turnaround times, as it can take just minutes to receive an e-signature – just 37 minutes, according to one study.6

E-signature solutions support centralized access to all patient documents and enable physicians to receive automatic alerts when documents must be signed, eliminating the need for a middleman (or woman). Physicians can access, review and sign documents directly from their portable devices. 

4. Enhance Tracking Capabilities

Move over spreadsheets. There’s a new way to track which documents need signing and by whom – and it’s in real-time.

E-signature solutions enhance the tracking abilities of SNFs to provide moment-by-moment updates on which documents require signatures. Plus, SNFs can monitor which physicians take the longest to turn around documents so workflow issues can be addressed.

5. Evolve with the New Normal 

SNF rehab therapists have heard a lot about “new normals” lately, and unsurprisingly, technology that streamlines workflows is part of this evolution. E-signatures, in particular, have grown in acceptance and popularity, with the number of organizations leveraging the technology climbing by 50% just since the pandemic.7 

To date, 69% of organizations prefer e-signatures to in-person, physical signatures.8 When we consider the number of patient POCs and updates to patient POCs that are signed daily in relation to SNFs across the nation, it’s no wonder digital signatures are becoming a staple of the healthcare industry. 

Accelerate Your SNF Rehab Therapy Workflow with CliniSign 

As more elements of SNF rehab therapy workflows become digital, why not modernize and streamline the signature process, too?

E-signatures are a Medicare valid, legally-binding method to revolutionize your SNF rehab therapy workflow, and CliniSign, an e-signature solution by Net Health, can help you take your first step into this more streamlined world.

CliniSign provides SNF rehab therapy teams with the ability to reduce their reliance on paper, save money, and remain compliant with documents requiring a signature. Better yet, CliniSign reduces compliance risk by saving documents in your patient EMR, eliminating concerns around misfiling documents.

With a centralized portal that enables physicians to sign in from anywhere, on virtually any device, now is the time to learn how CliniSign can accelerate your SNF rehab therapy workflow. Schedule a demo today.

The Ultimate Guide to Therapy Productivity

Download this guide to get 30+ pages of detailed info to help your team manage this crucial element of your rehab therapy operation.

SOURCES: 
1, 3, 4, 6  The National Law Review, “eSignature’s Growth Across Industry Proves its Benefits to Law Firms,” Feb. 1, 2022
2, 7, 8  Finances Online, “62 e-Signature Software Statistics You Can’t Ignore: 2022 Market Share Analysis & Data,” Apr. 6, 2022
5 Finances Online, “57 Essential e-Signature Statistics: 2021 Market Share Analysis & Data,” Dec. 2021

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