YOA’s online form (click to visit) uses text blocks,
pull-down menus, radio buttons and other tools
to make completion easy for patients.

One of the worst parts about seeing a new doctor is the paperwork required at the initial appointment. It’s page after page of contact information, prescriptions, medical history, dates and details of past procedures and conditions.

At Youngstown Orthopaedic Associates, a specialty orthopedic practice in Canfield and Boardman, the standard eight- to 10-page information forms were painful not only for patients, but for office staff. After patients spend up to an hour completing the traditional documents, employees must decipher the handwriting, correct spelling errors, enter the data in a computer, print the forms, file them and review them line-by-line with patients.

That’s why YOA’s surgeons recently prescribed online forms.

Downloadable from the practice’s website, the forms save time, enhance accuracy and boost patient satisfaction.

“The feedback we received from the online patient registration forms was overwhelmingly positive,” said James DeCenso, YOA administrator. “And better yet it’s been a boost not only to our staff productivity, but to patient satisfaction, as patients are able to get seen quicker when they arrive for appointments.”

Cure for a backlog

One of the biggest drawbacks to traditional patient registration forms is that patients sometimes don’t return them before their initial appointments. When they have to complete the forms upon check-in, their wait for the doctor can grow by as much as an hour.

At YOA, high doses of this situation can cause not only a backlog on the doctors’ schedules but a workflow nightmare for staff.

YOA and Pecchia Communications developed the online forms last year. They’re simple and secure, so that patients can complete them online in the privacy of their homes. Once a form is completed, the patient receives an email confirmation for peace of mind, and the practice receives a legible form for printing and inserting in the patient’s chart ahead of the appointment.

The forms are a hit with patients. Some 94 percent of those responding to a survey said they were able to complete the online documents in less than 10 minutes. Verbatim responses included, “It let me complete the form at home where I have the information,” and “It was easy and convenient, and the doctor had my information when I arrived.”

Within a few months of the forms’ launch, about a third of YOA’s new patients are using them. The practice hopes to boost that to 50 percent this year.

Healing power of the internet

Jim Houck, senior consultant at Pecchia Communications, calls the online forms a win-win for YOA and its patients.

“It’s also an excellent example of what medical practices and others can accomplish with their websites,” Houck said. “By now most organizations understand the value of posting information online about what they do. But not as many have reached that next level, like YOA, of using the internet to dramatically improve the ways they interact with their key audiences, like patients.

“As technology tools continue to improve, we expect more organizations to use their websites as online platforms to capitalize on high-value communication opportunities and set themselves apart from their competitors.”

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