AUTHOR=Volkan Esra , Köse İlker , Cece Sinem , Elmas Özge 

TITLE=Analysis of the effect of digital hospital efforts on paper savings in inpatient procedures and on the duration of nursing care services

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Digital Health

VOLUME=Volume 6 - 2024

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/digital-health/articles/10.3389/fdgth.2024.1367149

DOI=10.3389/fdgth.2024.1367149

ISSN=2673-253X

ABSTRACT=Background: This study has two primary objectives. Firstly, it aims to measure the time savings achieved through the digitization of paper forms filled out by nurses in the inpatient care process. Secondly, it seeks to reveal the financial savings resulting  from reduced paper consumption due to the digitalization. The Health Information Management System Society(HIMSS)-Electronic Medical Record Adaption Model (EMRAM) , which makes stage-based (0-7) evaluations, serves as a tool to measure the rate of technology utilization in public hospitals in Turkey. The study is based on the HIMSS EMRAM criteria for 2018. Bahçelievler State Hospital, a public hospital in Turkey, was chosen as the research facility . In 2017, it was accredited as Stage 6 with HIMSS EMRAM. However, not all its wards have been digitalized. Initially, pilot selected wards were digitized. Therefore, digital and non-digital wards serve together.
Method: A table was created in Microsoft Excel listing the forms used by nurses in inpatient care and the time required to fill them out.The time spent for filling paper-based forms and digital-based forms was measured in randomly selected wards.
Result: The analysis showed that digital forms saved more time, paper and toner. For example, filling out the  patient history form took 45 minutes when using paper, compared to  12 minutes  in digital environment. Approximately 27% time savings are  achieved only for the patient history form. The total time savings delivered by digitalization for 1.153 inpatients during the year were found as 117 care days, and the savings on total paper consumption was 41.289 pages. For 1.153 inpatients throughout the year, the total time savings from digitalization was 117 care days and the total paper consumption savings was 41,289 pages. In addition, in 4 wards with a total bed capacity of 25, annual paper savings of $1,705.86 and toner savings of $2,83736 were achieved.
Discussion: This study reveals the benefits of digitalisation in hospitals for nurses. It saves the time that nurses allocate for filling out paper forms with digitalised forms. Thus, it is a good practice example in terms of using the time allocated for form filling for patient care.