At the 20th Annual Spine, Orthopedic + Pain Management-Driven ASC Conference, attendees were able to gain insight into the influence of human transcription errors on surgical scheduling.
The presentation was led by Timothy Davis, MD, Founder of Source Healthcare, and Christopher Teja, MD, Chief Medical Officer of eDoc Communications. During the presentation, Dr. Davis and Dr. Teja discussed the various ways that transcription errors can cause delays in surgical scheduling and the strategies to avoid them. The discussion was highly informative and beneficial to attendees, providing them with valuable information on how to ensure efficient and effective surgical scheduling.
Key Takeaways:
1: There is a high rate of breakdowns in communication between clinics and facilities, resulting in finger-pointing, even when everyone is under the same roof.
The presenter has seen a lot of breakdowns in communication between clinics and facilities, a problem that he tried to solve by creating a clinic and surgery center that was divided by one wall. However, he soon found out that the digital wall was the true problem. This lack of communication can lead to inefficiencies and mistakes.
2: There is a high rate of critical data errors in medical forms, which can lead to delays in payment and denied claims.
The presenters conducted a study that showed that the rate of error when entering data from surgical requisition forms into an electronic health record was 54%, but this was reduced to 3% by implementing a tool they created. They also found that length of employment and time pressure had an impact on accuracy when entering data. Critical data errors in medical forms can lead to delays in payment and denied claims, resulting in revenue losses.
3: A software was created to link clinic and surgery center databases to reduce the error rate from 53% to 3%.
The presenters created a software to link clinic and surgery center databases to reduce the error rate from 53% to 3%. The study showed that handwritten forms had a higher average critical error rate than typed forms. The software was able to reduce rescheduled cases by 29%, canceled cases by 16%, and increase total case volume by 12%, resulting in more revenue, less cost on FTEs, less wasted time, and less wasted resources.
4: Digital data must be kept digital and a standardized form should be used to solve the issue of an increasingly complex surgical requisition and scheduling form.
The surgical requisition and scheduling form has become increasingly complex over time, with more information now required than in the past. The complexity has not been met with an adaptation of technology or personnel to keep up with it, leading to inefficient processes and revenue losses from denials. A standardized form should be used to ensure consistency and compatibility, and digital data should be kept digital.