E-Signatures – A Whole New level of Protection - Nina Cartwright

Patient consent is widely acknowledged as one of the ‘grey areas’ of dentistry.  As consent is a process rather than a definitive moment, a patient saying ‘yes’ once is not enough to support the entire course of treatment.

Patients should instead be given the opportunity to confirm their consent to continue at each and every stage of treatment. This needs to be documented so that patient consent can be demonstrated effectively in case of inspection or review. Details recorded should demonstrate how proposed treatment plans were explained to the patient and what information was provided. They should also show that the patient had the opportunity to ask questions about the treatment, and that they were offered all the information they requested.

While it may seem obvious, it is also worth noting at this point that every single treatment offered to a patient must be consented to before it begins, and not just the high-end procedures.

Regardless of the treatment, it is imperative that all records are as accurate as possible, and that they are updated each time a patient visits. Such reliable documentation can prove invaluable in case of a formal patient complaint, protecting you and your team from potentially expensive litigation.

The new Standards for the Dental team reflect the importance of acquiring a high quality of informed consent from each and every patient. The new outcomes are centred around patient communication and enhancing the experience provided, and they highlight the standard of care all patients have the right to receive.

The changes to the Standards came into implementation not long after the number of patient complaints rose an enormous amount. As you may have seen in the media recently, 2278 complaints were received in 2012 by the GDC, questioning dental professional’s Fitness to Practise, which represented a massive 44% increase from 2011[i]. And of course, worse case scenario in such cases can lead to removal from the GDC register and the end of a dental career, so it has never been so important to protect yourself from possible litigation.

Modern technologies offer several solutions to help ensure your records are clear and reliable and the concept of the ‘eSignatures’ has recently entered the dental market. The best systems available in the industry allow patients to provide consent electronically and in ‘real-time’, ensuring they understand what they are signing for. The patient can read through the details of any proposed treatment plans you have discussed, and then sign the bottom of the same page, with the added convenience of establishing an electronic signature for future use.

The eSignatures offer many more benefits both for you and for your patients, and the most obvious of these is the cost-efficiency for the practice. Of particular importance in the currently fragile economic climate, your financial situation should be enhanced wherever and whenever possible (of course without comprising on the quality of service provided.) By eliminating the need for paperwork and mail couriers for all of your patients, you have immediately saved the money it would cost to buy the paper or forms and print the records, while also having a much more positive affect on the environment. In addition, you don’t need to waste all that space storing hard copy paperwork – electronic documents take a lot less space!

The practice workflow can also be enhanced with the introduction of eSignatures, as patients can provide signed consent quicker and simpler than before. The best of the tablet-like eSignature pads available in the industry are easily portable and so can be used anywhere in the practice for maximum convenience. This also saves staff time and hassle, enabling the practice team to go back to concentrating on their patients and improving the service provided.

The last and possibly most important benefit of eSignatures is the protection and security they offer. For a start, electronic files are less likely to be misplaced or lost, and they can be protected by electronic passwords for more security for your patients. This protection also extends to you and your fellow clinicians, as quality records can be used to demonstrate that cases were handled correctly in the case of a complaint.

With several different technologies now available for eSignatures, a little research can highlight the most effective products. The eSignatures module from Carestream Dental for example, uses biometric technology to record the pressure points of a patient’s signature, time taken and angle of the pen, greatly reducing the possibility of illegal duplication. Approved by all the BSA and NHS Protect, this eSignatures module promises to offer the highest possible level of legal protection for both you and your patients.

So whether you are looking for an effective way to protect you and your team, or for a way of ensuring the safety of your patients’ data, eSignatures provide a solution.
 
 

For more information, please contact the experts at Carestream Dental on 0800 169 9692 or visit www.carestreamdental.co.uk