As of the writing of this blog, over 120 million people in the United States have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19 and another 30 million have had their first dose. That’s quite an effort by all of the healthcare providers that have played a role in this unprecedented accomplishment. They’ve transformed football stadiums, school auditoriums, music venues, pharmacies, and even parking lots, among other places, into vaccination sites. This unified effort has allowed the United States to reach and significantly surpass our goal of one million vaccinations per day.
From my own experience and those of my friends and colleagues across the country, almost everyone has said that the actual process was quick, efficient and easy. Of course, it was challenging to get an appointment early in the process due to supply constraints. As soon as that was addressed, it became much easier. From the point of registration and the associated back-office workflows, the process has also been pretty smooth. I applaud the hundreds of thousands of front-line healthcare professionals who’ve made this achievement possible.
Document scanning at the point of care creates a better patient experience
One of the tools that is playing an important role in this process are document scanners. A lot of people are using vaccination providers that aren’t connected to their regular health system. Document scanning solutions are making the capture of registration and authorization documents easy. Also, some people are switching providers for their second shot to find a closer location or more convenient time. Again, document scanning solutions are there to capture those paper forms and handle the provider change without a hitch. Many providers have standardized on paper application forms to make it easy for anyone to schedule an appointment online, fill out a form on paper, and then bring it with them when they get their vaccine.
At the point of care, the scanning solutions are enabled in a variety of ways. For the check-in process, small compact document scanning solutions are a perfect fit. For workflows where the forms are processed centrally on-site, larger document scanning solutions are shared by a team of people.
Document scanning solutions at the point of check-in—whether it’s at a stadium, in a hospital emergency room (ER), in a doctor’s office, or that MASH unit in the parking lot—can create efficiencies that can dramatically improve a patient’s experience. For instance, document scanning solutions can help:
- Streamline patient check-ins. Our document scanning solutions can handle any kind or size of personal or medical documentation, which reduces the initial intake time. For instance, small, thick documents like insurance cards, licenses or passports, can be processed with registration forms, authorization documents or other required paperwork and be scanned efficiently.
- Provide self-service document scanning. One of our newest models, the fi-800R, has a unique front document feeder that allows patients to scan their cards and forms. The reverse feeding functionality returns the document to the user without the requirement for the administrator to handle them. This is great for front-counter placements and medical kiosks.
- Ensure fast, accurate processing. Our document scanning solutions have excellent paper handling and image quality, which helps ensure great scans, regardless of the size, shape or type of document. Our fi and SP series models come with PaperStream IP, which offers easy-to-use image enhancement features that provide enhanced OCR recognition and document classification accuracy.
- Enable secure compliant data capture. Many of the COVID vaccines are administered in large public areas. With scanning solutions at the point of contact, people can be assured that their personal information stays confidential. Document scanning solutions are an important element of a secure and compliant solution that can meet regulations including HIPAA and other privacy mandates.
- Accelerate claim reimbursement from the insurance company or government entity. Capturing all of the required documents quickly and accurately streamlines the claims process and reduces downstream administrative issues. This ensures that each operation continues to run smoothly including the ability to pay their front-line healthcare workers who’ve been so critical to the success of the nationwide vaccination effort.
Staff efficiency increases as well
Our document scanning solutions also help improve and enhance workflows for the people working in healthcare facilities. Here are a few examples:
- Adaptable to any kind of workplace. In environments with limited space, like ER rooms, the staff can add scanners to their mobile workstations on wheels carts to bring the registration process directly to the patient. These scanners are ideal for small spaces, allowing attendants to scan important documents efficiently without leaving the patient’s side.
- Immediate information sharing. The scanned data can be quickly associated with an electronic medical record (EMR). That information can then be shared immediately with all pertinent staff as the record initiates downstream processes, from the next step in medical services to the final billing after the patient leaves the medical facility.
- Decreased wait times and increased capacity to handle more patients. Document scanning solutions drive registration and check-in workflows which streamlines and accelerates administrative processes. Simply put, it allows healthcare professionals to do what they do best by providing world-class healthcare to their patients.
Choose the right unit for your environment
Here are our most popular document scanning solutions for point-of-care environments:
- The fi-800R is a perfect choice when compact, yet highly efficient scanners are required for small spaces. The fi-800R automatically adapts settings for scanning and image quality, regardless of the paper size, direction and type of documents. Its independent front feeder and separate ADF U-turn feed system can accommodate a variety of scanning workflows. For instance, it can scan batches of various-sized documents in the ADF or thicker documents through the front document feeder. The fi-800R can scan up to 40 ppm and up to 4,500 sheets a day.
- The fi-7160 is a faster, higher volume scanner that’s powerful despite its compact size. With speed, reliability and accuracy, it can scan 60 ppm, and is matched with a duty cycle of up to 9,000 sheets a day. This scanner comes with the PaperStream IP and PaperStream Capture for advanced scanning processing functions. This is the top-selling scanner in the healthcare industry and is trusted by hospitals and clinics all over the world.
- The fi-7700 is a highly versatile scanner, as it includes both an ADF feeder that can scan extremely fast and also a large flatbed for larger or difficult documents. With user-friendly design and focus on quality, this scanner is suitable for papers of different materials and, with PaperStream IP, the documents are automatically converted into exceptionally clear image data. This is an ideal solution for back-office workflows and centralized scanning requirements including records management and explanation of benefits (EOB) processing.