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S O F T W A R E
Patient experience
Maybe the best way to realize the benefits of pre-admission software is to first experience it as a patient, something both Ms. Pochman and Dr. Lennon were able to do.
"I enjoyed using it. I could use it in my own time. I didn't have to listen to boring questions from the nurses," says Ms. Pochman, half-joking. "I was able to go online during my free time to answer the questions that nurses ask the day before surgery."
Twice as a patient at his surgery center, Dr. Lennon saw how user-friendly, intuitive, pre-admission software can make the pre-op phone call obsolete and streamline the time-consuming task of taking a patient's history by phone. "It's a well thought-out system," he says. "The drop-down menus, the simple questions and the pathways based on your answers make it very straightforward for a layperson."
Costs? "Probably less than paying 1 full-time nurse," says Ms. Pochman. One vendor estimates its charges to be a $1,000 implementation fee and monthly per-use fees that range from $300 to $800, based on patient usage.
"This is the future of health care," says Ms. Pochman. "More and more people are computer-savvy. They value their personal time more. This gives patients the power of choosing when they do their healthcare questionnaire." OSM
E-mail doconnor@outpatientsurgery.net.
