McKesson Patient Folder 16.0-Mobile Deficiency Completion

[Brandi Boren]

I had talked a little about the new version of HPF in an earlier blog or what will be MPF in the upgrade.  There are several new features, but I wanted to talk a little more in detail on one part of the upgrade and that is the mobile deficiency completion part. 

Most of us know how long and tiresome it is to check deficiencies, send out letters, and make phone calls to the physicians to get them to do their charts.  It’s like pulling teeth to get some of them to sign a chart and don’t even get me started on trying to get them to date and time a document.  I know these physicians are busy and of course the patients should always come first, but the electronic way I think is much better than doing it the old fashioned paper way and having to find time to actually come to medical records and sign the chart. 

We are at a time where everything is electronic.  There are very few people who don’t have some type of mobile device such as a cell phone, laptop, ipad, etc.  In the update physicians will have the ability to use those devices with the McKesson application for a convenient way to complete deficiencies.  They will get notifications that let them know they have deficiencies right from their mobile.  They will also be able to complete, edit, and decline those deficiencies.  They can also view patient records. 

According to McKesson this new application will result in faster completion times which in turn will make the DNFB and DNFC smaller, physicians happy, better finances for the facility, and better health for our patients. 

I am sure most of us are wondering how secure this is when anyone can pick up your mobile device and look at patient information.  All access to the application will be controlled by the log-on defined in McKesson Patient Folder, no patient data will be stored on the device, all data is encrypted, and there is an application timeout, locking on application switching, and encrypted communication. 

So it sounds all great, but there are a few catches.  It must be a Apple device with IOS version 5.0 or newer, network connectivity to the McKesson Patient Folder mobile server for the facility, including cellular or Wi-Fi access, and a valid physician McKesson Patient Folder log-on. 

Of course there are those few physicians that don’t like the electronic way at all and will probably never and we will always have to send letters and make phone calls.  So as we get closer and closer to a complete electronic world in healthcare will we ever really be paperless? 

Brandi Boren has worked for Jennie Stuart Medical Center in Medical Records for seven years and has four years experience with McKesson including Horizon Patient Folder, Paragon Medical Records, and Webstation for Physicians.