3 Time-Saving Tricks in ESO EHR

Creating digital patient care reports – or electronic patient care records (ePCRs) – in the prehospital setting is an important part of documenting treatments, collecting the right data needed to effectively treat the patient, and ensuring appropriate billing information. Complete ePCRs can make every step along the health care continuum more efficient, more accurate, and more conducive positive patient outcomes.

In a setting where seconds can make a difference in life and death, however, healthcare professionals are rightly concerned about ways that save time without sacrificing accuracy or performance. When choosing an ePCR software tool, there are many important variables and features that should be included, and those that make it easier to save and share patient data are among the most important.

ESO offers a high-powered ePCR tool called ESO Electronic Health Record (EHR), designed specifically for processing data that EMS and firefighters encounter during calls. Set up with an intuitive flow and interface, it allows EMS professionals to move from incident to signature quickly, all while capturing the right information.

If you’re using ESO EHR, or simply considering it as an option for your agency, you definitely want to explore three of its best time-saving tricks included in its functionality. They include:

1. Patient Look-Up

If you find yourself caring for a patient you’ve recently seen, there’s no need to start from scratch on their record. For patients you’ve treated within the last 90 days, you can use the patient lookup feature within ESO EHR to automatically import key patient data, including medications, allergies, DOB, address, and other demographic information.

It’s an easy way to quickly read through any current medications or allergies the patient may have without having to spend the time re-documenting those items each time you encounter the patient.

2. Quicktreat

For calls that you need an especially quick response, look no further than the Quicktreats feature. Quicktreats simplifies the interface and process of entering patient care data to allow you to quickly record:

• Basic vitals (blood pressure, SpO2, pulse, temperature, respiration, and glucose)
• General treatments (IV therapy, blood draws, cardioversion, etc.)
• Common medications administered (Albuterol, Narcan, Nitro Spray, Aspirin, etc.)
• CPR treatments (mechanical CPR, manual defib, AED defib, intubation attempts, etc.)

Quicktreats also allows you to send an alert to the receiving hospital in advance. Enter in a few patient demographics datapoints, select your destination along with the type of alert (which includes STEMI, stroke, trauma, or sepsis), and your anticipated arrival window.

The data is sent to the hospital emergency department via ESO’s Patient Tracker (a free viewer for hospitals) and gives hospital staff time to prepare for the upcoming case. Once you’ve transported the patient to the appropriate facility, the Quicktreats data entered can be expanded upon to create the complete patient care record.

3. Built-In Signature Capture

Often medics capture data on an iPad or device with a touchscreen. This can make collecting signatures a challenge, especially for elderly patients who aren’t used to using touchscreen technology.

ESO’s patient signature forms are built-in to the software and have smart logic that only allows patients to sign directly within the signature box. Patients cannot accidentally hit a button that takes them into the other content in the patient care record, or somehow delete information.

The process for collecting signatures is easy to use and allows you to take just a quick moment to obtain signatures, leaving more time and focus for more urgent needs.

When it comes to making the most of your time and energy on a call, it’s the little features and time-savers that add up to a big difference. Make sure that your ePCR provider is forward-thinking in how they leverage technology, and sees the patient care report from a medic’s perspective. Not only does it help your time-to-hospital stats, but it can make a life-and-death difference for your most urgent cases.

Learn about more features that can improve your ePCRs in the ESO EHR tour.