The COVID-19 pandemic has not only created unparalleled stress on our healthcare delivery system, but highlighted the importance of workflow and data connectivity as front-line healthcare workers respond to the surge of patients in our hospital Emergency Departments.
Healthcare providers are rapidly relying on technology like telehealth, workflow automation solutions, direct messaging and HL7 integration to help manage the delivery, documentation and secure exchange of clinical data to manage through this unprecedented event.
Konica Minolta offers solutions and services using intelligent technology that address workflow and connectivity challenges that have plagued healthcare providers for years, and are now being amplified by the effects of the pandemic. Our workflow solution, Dispatcher Phoenix, can be used to automate any number of traditionally manual document workflow processes, lessening the administrative burden on our front-line workers. This can include automatically and accurately capturing, processing, validating, and classifying information, as well as extracting key data elements from unstructured sources like test results, scanned referrals, face sheets or other patient-centric documents for use in registration or other processes. Additionally, it can store patient information in secure content repositories, or connect directly to an Electronic Health Record system (EHR) using the HL7 (Health Level 7) messaging standard for rapid indexing of scanned patient records. Without EHR scan integration, providers routinely are required to scan documents to a folder on the network, leading to an additional indexing step that often requires multiple steps. And in an era where immediate data access is critical, this legacy indexing process can delay patient record completion and thereby clinical decision making. Improving and expediting this process optimizes workflow, and more importantly the patient and staff experience.
In addition, Konica Minolta’s Dispatcher Suite provides healthcare organizations with a comprehensive, feature-rich integrated solution for print, fax and scan management. Comprised of Dispatcher Paragon for print management and Dispatcher Phoenix for advanced scanning, Dispatcher Suite allows hospitals, clinics and extended care providers to effectively optimize their print and scan operations, increasing efficiency and allowing providers to spend more time with their patients. And coming soon, Dispatcher Paragon will also include HIPAA-compliant cloud fax, providing the technical, physical, and procedural security measures needed to ensure confidentiality and integrity of protected health information (PHI) exchanged among healthcare providers.
Dispatcher Paragon’s secure print release system enables hospital staff to easily retrieve their printed documents from any network-connected bizhub MFP, increasing flexibility by allowing documents to be directed wherever staff may be, and substantially reducing the possibility of printed PHI left exposed and unattended on a printer output tray. HIPAA compliance and the specter of damaging and costly data breaches remains a significant topic for healthcare providers. According to the IBM 2019 data breach report, healthcare data breaches come with a hefty price tag—to the tune of $6.45 million on average. Healthcare organizations continue to have the highest costs associated with data breaches, more than 60% higher than the cross-industry average. And the current COVID-19 crisis has only exacerbated the problem. In addition, Dispatcher Paragon provides cost accounting, print reporting, and print rules to reduce waste, lower consumables, and identify cost-saving initiatives. Paragon has also been approved for use by Epic, the preeminent EHR in the US, and is listed on the Epic App Orchard, as announced by Konica Minolta last week.
And with secure single sign-on, staff can easily access their scan workflows as well, taking advantage of Dispatcher Phoenix’s visually enhanced, intuitive interface for folder browsing and document indexing, and scanning their paper documents and records into Dispatcher Phoenix workflows for further advanced processing, routing, and storage.
As COVID-19 continues to put a tremendous burden on our healthcare services, Konica Minolta’s innovative solutions help enhance workflows and expedite the secure delivery of critical information to clinicians, minimizing administrative distractions and allowing staff to keep their focus on saving lives.
