Pacific Cataract and Laser Institute Sees Big Benefits with Digital Pen and Paper Technology

WESTBOROUGH, Mass., May 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Anoto, the world leader in digital pen and paper technology, and NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, LLC., today announced that Pacific Cataract and Laser Institute is capturing new patient registration information with their joint solution, resulting in more efficient operations and the added benefit of immediate access to patient health history.

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Pacific Cataract and Laser Institute is a referral center that specializes in cataract surgery and laser vision correction. As a referral center, most of the people they treat are first-time patients. With cataracts being an age-related condition, a large proportion of patients treated are over the age of 65. Previously, when patients came into the office they were asked to fill out their information using traditional pen and paper forms. As the organization transitioned to EHR (electronic health records), administrators needed to get this information into the system. Scanning or typing in the information by hand resulted in a much too time-intensive process. Administrators also needed to make sure that patient health history records were incorporated along with signed consent forms.

Pacific Cataract and Laser Institute needed to find a data capture solution that would speed up the processing and sharing of patient data, while preserving the ease and simplicity of information collection using pen and paper. They turned to digital pen and paper technology, since it required minimal training for staff and virtually no change in the current process being used by patients to fill out registration forms. The solution interprets the handwriting with high accuracy and provides the added benefit of verifying health history information quickly.

"I've been in information technology for more than 18 years and the idea of using a pen to digitize patient data made me a bit skeptical," said Robert Jasa, director of healthcare informatics at Pacific Cataract and Laser Institute. "But this solution truly provides the efficiency of electronic data capture using pen and paper while at the same time requires only a small amount of user training—which is a big benefit for us as we continue roll this out to each of our 17 locations."

The Pacific Cataract and Laser Institute solution is comprised of:

• NextPen® solution based on Anoto Digital Pen and Paper technology
• Health history forms which automatically load key fields directly into the database
• Medical image forms that translate provider drawings into the patient's chart
• Medical consent forms that are 'scanned' into the system just by docking NextPen®

The paper forms are imprinted with the Anoto dot pattern transforming them into a temporary, yet very intuitive, data entry device. The information is stored in the digital pen, until it is uploaded to the patient's record in the NextGen® Ambulatory EHR via USB docking station or Bluetooth transmission. Data is reviewed and approved by the user before being loaded into the EHR.

"Digital pen technology is ideal for patient registration and consent forms since patients can just fill out the forms the way they always have," said Pietro Parravicini, senior vice president area manager Americas for Anoto. "There are no extra steps required by the staff to make sure the information is digitized and the result is information that is captured quickly and easily, leaving staff more time to focus on patient care."

About Anoto Group

Anoto Group is the company behind and world leader in the unique technology for digital pen and paper, which enables fast and reliable conversion of handwritten text into digital format. Anoto operates through a global partner network that focuses on user-friendly forms solutions for efficient capture, transmission and storage of data within different business segments, e.g. healthcare, bank and finance, transport and logistics and education. The Anoto Group has around 80 employees, offices in Lund (head office), Boston and Tokyo. The Anoto share is listed on NASDAQ OMX Nordic small cap list under the ticker ANOT. For more information visit www.anoto.com. 

About NextGenHealthcare

NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, LLC., a wholly owned subsidiary of Quality Systems, Inc., provides integrated clinical, financial and connectivity solutions for ambulatory, inpatient and dental provider organizations. For more information, please visit www.nextgen.com and www.qsii.com. Follow NextGen Healthcare on Twitter at www.twitter.com/nextgen or Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/NextGenHealthcare.

NextPen is a registered trademark of Quality Systems, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. NextGen is either a registered trademark or trademark of NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, LLC. in the United States and/or other countries.

For more information contact:

Karen Pantinas
Davies Murphy Group
[email protected]
781-418-2413  

SOURCE Anoto