Going paperless?

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22cent

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Does anyone have a good system for a small department to get a startup on tablet PCR reporting? We have been through afew options but the startup costs are prohibitive.
 
The service I am doing my placement in is paperless and it has caused more problems then if fixed.
 
Thanks, I've been hearing that alot. The motivation is coming more from our physician advisor and the hospital since they went onlline and basically they see our paper reports as a liability. I would just like to move in that direction if not very slowly till we can purchase a real tablet based system.
 
My small service uses a system from Intermedix. It seems to work ok with us, but I'm unsure of the startup costs.
 
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Yeah, I used that one a bit at the last agency I worked for. I really liked it but after looking at the price tag it is like the mercedes and we are budgeted for a honda. Thanks for the reply though.
 
22cent said:
Does anyone have a good system for a small department to get a startup on tablet PCR reporting? We have been through afew options but the startup costs are prohibitive.
Click to expand...

How small is "small"? We have about 45 employees and do about 2500 runs per year. We use AmbuPro on our two 911 trucks. Works great for us!
 
We operate a 2 man ALS crew one out of four stations and run about 600-700 calls a year. Real small. The problem is that we are looking at a merge with another rural department soon and they are moving forward with paperless. Its one of those fire versus ems challenges, not to mention the combined department thing.
 
Look at Emergency Reporting. It does fire reports, EMS reports and everything in between. I'm now using it at every department I'm with and it's really pretty decent.

The setup is fast, it's easy to use, the tech support (if you need it) is great and it's cheap!

http://emergencyreporting.com/
 
We use HighPlains, once fully understood... it has been great. We have the ability for user defined/custom narratives, templates, etc. Its pretty much push button with the option to override set data. The pt search is one of the best tools for repeat customers. That has bailed us out many times during critical calls, search and confirm pt.... and all the last Hx, meds, allerg pops up. Just confirm and roll.... Keeps our 10 -20 minutes in/out hospital times good.
 
22cent said:
Does anyone have a good system for a small department to get a startup on tablet PCR reporting? We have been through afew options but the startup costs are prohibitive.
Click to expand...

Talk to MedicRob. He's just finished designing a new EMS charting system.
 
the two big ones around here are EMS charts and Zolls paperless charting.

I have used EMS charts quite extensively.... the biggest issue is the learning curve for THE PROVIDERS who go from writing a paper chart to charting using EMS charts to properly document a call.

try putting in for a grant, but remember the biggest saving grace in paperless charts is billing, since information can be transmitted much faster, and you don't have to try to decipher providers poor handwriting. have electronic signatures also helps since carbon copy paper sucks, esp when you are having the patient sign on the back of the form.
 
We use EMSCharts and i love it!!!!!!!!!!!!! Its so easy, we have panasonic toughbooks on the trucks and PC's in the station so you can do your Report while your returning or a little bit later.

when i started we already Had EMSCharts but to back to the old way i would be lost im so used to it and have never done a chart the old way. so Drparasite has a point about the learning curve
 
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My EMS system uses ESO, which works fairly well with touch based systems, but has some stupid problems, and my IFT company uses EMSCharts, which works well also, but I wish we had pen enabled computers so we could get sigs on the computers rather than doing it on paper.
 
We're using Siren ePCR. Even though I've gotten used to it, and never used paper forms outside of school, I still don't like it. The program is clunky, doesn't really flow naturally with the course of the call and seems to crash every time we print. I'm not sure how much of the blame falls on the monitor, our toughbooks or siren, but keeping them paired through bluetooth to transmit over vitals and strips is also a pain. The pairing will often drop half way through the shift necessitating resetting both and starting from scratch. All in all, I don't see much to recommend it unless all the others are even worse.
 
Zoll Rescuenet is a heck of a program, hugely customizable, can capture a nearly unlimited amount of data points, links in nicely with their CAD software, monitors ect. It's the best chart I've used, paper or electronic

It's also ungodly expensive :blink:.

I've heard of several smaller services that have been happy with EMSCharts.
 
Ive used narrativepro before.....im a fan myself!!!! Just wish we had it where i work now:(
 
Thank you all for the great feedback!

Thank you everyone!
I have been running the demo for NarrativePro and it seems to fit in nicely with what we need right now. The real task now seems to be just getting everyone to agree on something. We need a therapy session to discuss each others feelings before we can have any solidarity on a given issue. What else is new right? Got to love democracy.
 
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