Benefits of ePCFs
The e Podiatry Consent Forms™ Advantage
e Podiatry Consent Forms™ assists podiatrists and physicians in solo or small group practice by standardizing and automating the informed consent process and other important disclosures. A comprehensive content library is available for extreme customization.
Moreover, EHR implementations and the attendant efforts to receive reimbursement under PP-ACA and the HITECH Act are often seen as an opportunity to achieve a “paperless” enterprise on the way to improving organizational efficiency while meeting meaningful use requirements.
In fact, removing all paper from an enterprise may have an adverse impact on both patient safety and outcomes. To that end, some meaningful use requirements need to have their foundation in the digital world while still maintaining a foothold in the cellulose world.
Enter e Podiatry Consent Forms [ePCFs]
Benefits and Features [Cellulose and Electronic Hybrid]
e-Podiatry Consent Forms™ also benefits hospitals, health networks, solo doctors, as well as small and large podiatry and orthopedic practices in standardizing and automating the informed consent process and other important disclosures.
Standard benefits and features include:
- Comprehensive content library to build your own consent forms.
- Integration with IT applications including eMRs and other document management systems.
- Optional electronic signature-capture for paperless processes; not supplied by ePCFs.
- Automatic self-creation of consent forms to document process encounter.
- “Distributed” program access for affiliated physicians with surgical privileges at the facility.
- May be “fixed’ in a .pdf style format for paper use, or remain flexible and customizable.
Cost Reductions
The e Podiatry Consent Forms™ application reduces costs and augments ROI by:
- Eliminating costly OR delays due to lost or misplaced informed consent documents.
- Ending the need to scan hard copies of informed consent documents.
- Addressing the risk of non-compliance with the Joint Commission, CMS, DNV or HFAP requirements related to informed consent.
- Improving patient-provider communications, thus reducing the risk of malpractice claims.
A Standaard of Care
ePCFs is becoming the standard of care for informed consent process for podiatrists, general and orthopedic foot and ankle surgeons.
e Podiatry Consent Forms 
TELEHEALTH Informed Consent.
New pending rules require the telehealth practitioner to obtain and document the patient’s oral or written consent to telehealth services. The telehealth consent must include the following:
A description of the telehealth modality used by the telehealth practitioner.
An acknowledgement that the telehealth practitioner may determine that telehealth is not clinically appropriate and request that a patient come for an in-person encounter.
A description of telehealth privacy risks, and the telehealth practitioner’s data breach policy, including the requirement to timely inform the patient of a data breach and inform the patient of the steps being taken to remediate the problem.
A statement informing the patient that the patient may exclude anyone from any site during the telehealth service.
A statement informing patients that they can decline telehealth service at any time without affecting their right to future care or treatment and that the patients can terminate the telehealth encounter at any time.
An authorization to record the telehealth encounter and maintain and store the recording in accordance with medical retention requirements under state and federal law, if the practitioner records the telehealth encounter.
OUR Insight:
Telehealth informed consent rules, while well-intended, have been met with skepticism by some in the industry. This is due, in part, to the fact that it should be self-evident to the patient that the telehealth practitioner is not located in the same room as the patient. Some states have declined to impose telehealth informed consent requirements, or eliminated previously-existing requirements on the grounds they are unnecessary.
EDITORS
Editor
January 26, 2018 at 2:27 pm