When Hospital Paperwork Crowds Out Patient Care

When Hospital Paperwork Crowds Out Patient Care

Why does it take so long for patients to get care in hospitals and other medical facilitates? Why? Because nurses have to fill out all of the documents required before any care can be given to anyone. While waiting for documentation and approval, many patients health either gets worse or they may die before receiving any medical help.

The American Hospital Association (AHA) asked Pircewaterhousecooper (PWC) to survey hospitals and assess the significance of paperwork burden. The results were astounding, they found that paperwork added at least 30 mins to every hour of patient care and in some cases it added an hour to every hour of patient care. It may not look like much, but to a patient waiting for care it may seem like a life time.

Theresa Brown wrote an article in the New York Times (Dec.19, 2015) about paperwork taking priority over patient care, one of her comments were. “A nurse could spend ten minutes documenting a patient’s risk of falling or ten minutes trying to keep patients from falling”. Yes documentation is important, it gives information about a patient, their health problems, medications they are taking, any allergies they may have but, shouldn’t a patient’s life be at the top of a healthcare providers list?

Hospitals and doctors’ offices could see if medical files can be accessible to them at all times. It would make things much easier for them in the long run, and treatment can be given to a patient sooner .Some states are adopting the electronic medical records, where doctors and hospitals can view medical information from patients. This way they can give the care that is needed sooner instead of waiting for paperwork and approval. All a patient has to do by HIPAA law is give consent for their files to be shared. Theresa Brown