Patient Intake Process Essay Example

Understanding the patient intake process and how it works may very well lead to strategies that will improve patient intake efficiency. Basically, the patient intake process is gathering and retrieving information for new and established patients. This process can vary from office to office, but can be time consuming. Updating established patients usually has the patient to look over their information and update. The new patient will have pages of paper work to fill out. This will include their demographic information, medical history, and insurance information. After these established patients update and new patients finish their paper work, someone from this office will need to transfer this information to an electronic medical record. The smaller the practice, the more time consuming. When professional nurses are performing their nursing responsibilities and the clerical responsibilities of the facility, everything in the office will suffer, because this nurse will be doing the job of many. (Valerius, Bayes, Newby, & Seggern, 2008).
Many believe that the electronic medical record is the key to, not only to the patient intake process, but also a facilitys ability to give efficient, safe, and quality care. The Christus Santa Rosa Patient Intake Center (PIC) is staffed by nurses 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. These nurses are specially trained in admissions criteria. This admitting service, manned by professional nurses, offers high-level clinical expertise. With these nurses on duty around the clock, they are able to quickly take care of inpatient and outpatient admissions and transfers. These nurses handle all admissions to any of the facilities in the Christus Santa Rosa health system. This is all these nurses do day in and day out. This makes their jobs easier in that they are not expected to assist a doctor, or do anything that has nothing to do with the patient intake process. The PIC has proven that the patient intake process is more efficient if this is