Nontraditional Marriage: How to Write Electronic Reports by Hand

No one disputes the benefits of going electronic. Collecting patient data that way generally makes it faster and easier to acquire, compile, study and ultimately utilize to improve future care. But doing that doesn’t come without challenges, particularly in rural areas.

West Virginia mandated electronic patient care reporting in 2009, and even gave departments software to do it. Leaders in Jackson County (population 30,000) accordingly went out and purchased $3,000 laptops for their rigs, followed by aircards to combat spotty wireless coverage. They ultimately spent around $30,000 to move away from paper…and founds things slowed down.

The software was adequate but not user-friendly. Signature-gathering with styluses on screens was awkward. Coverage difficulties persisted. And medics were simply quicker and more comfortable working by hand.

“On the EMS side, the big problem is that everybody was taught to write everything,” says county EMS Director Steve McClure. “Now you have to type everything. And that’s not bad for a new or younger medic, but more experienced medics just aren’t used to that.”

It all necessitated another solution, but county leaders found one they feel blends the best of worlds both written and typed: emsCharts’ SyncPen automatically converts handwritten patient care reports into electronic forms with all data the agency, state and NEMSIS require.

The system is based on an intelligent pen that has an integrated digital camera and advanced image microprocessing and wireless connection capabilities. As a provider writes with it, the SyncPen captures and stores digital snapshots of the work in progress. Once at an Internet-accessible computer, the provider simply taps a box on the form to trigger automatic upload and conversion of the completed report. Data elements are pulled into an ePCR, with a digital copy of the handwritten form attached. The original form is left with the patient at the hospital.

“It takes the standard reporting from 15–20 minutes down to 5,” says McClure. “Multiply that by several thousand runs a year, and you have a substantial savings of time. Plus, it’s a lot more accurate.”

The SyncPen requires special microdot forms from emsCharts, but the company works with clients to design them in a way that captures all necessary fields in a format convenient to crews.

There are more than two dozen U.S. agencies now using the SyncPen, which won a Top Innovation award from EMS World in 2010. Jackson County is the second in West Virginia. Local foundations provided the funds to get started, and leaders in Monroe County, on the other side of the state, lent their expertise to facilitate implementation.

“What one of the folks at Monroe County said was, ‘There’s no perfect system, but this is the closest I’ve seen,’” says McClure. “It basically marries old-school and new-school technology. I think it’s a worthwhile thing to look at for efficiency, accuracy and cost. Once you’re mandated to do electronic reporting, this is about the most cost-effective way I’ve seen to do it. I just wish it’d been available when we went to electronic reporting initially.”