A single print queue can transform the prescription process
Delivering out-of-hours prescriptions is a challenge that needs to be tackled and print solutions can play a vital role.
The shift towards more flexible staffing models has created healthcare settings with revolving doors of doctors, nurses and other practitioners that work across multiple sites.
But we’re seeing this change generate frustration when poor access to printing solutions is impeding the ability to prescribe treatments across healthcare facilities at any moment – a vital element of patient care.
This particularly applies to palliative treatment, where pain relief and other medicines need to be prescribed outside of typical working hours, while ensuring systems remain uncompromised and only accessed by authorised individuals.
Prescription backlog: a bleak prognosis?
We found this particularly true for a hospice where visiting GPs and clinicians were struggling to print prescriptions at night and over weekends when new user profiles had to be created on existing printing systems.
And when profiles weren’t the issue, the printers were sometimes not fully compatible with recently purchased prescribing software, which prevented the paperwork from making it to the out-tray at all. The result was doctors handwriting prescriptions, forcing them to nominate a pharmacy that may have been closed at the time of writing.
We worked closely with the hospice’s management on a bespoke prescription printing solution to solve the problem and with our help, they implemented a single printer queue and a new file transfer infrastructure.
It meant prescriptions could be assigned, filled out and sent to the nearest printer for easy actioning – all while maintaining the highest security standards. And, because all of our print and scan devices are rigorously tested by major clinical software providers, we were also able to eradicate the compatibility issue.
Our work gave clinicians the ability to prescribe outside of regular working hours without having to set up new profiles. This, together with the time saving element, meant that patients no longer had to rely on handwritten prescriptions and the opening hours of just one pharmacy in the area, making it easier for families to get the medicines they needed quickly.
Soothing administrative pain in healthcare
A single printer queue, combined with secure release software, represents a resilient and streamlined system that stands to benefit healthcare organisations significantly - working to boost efficiency for clinicians and ensure patients can get treatment faster, out of hours.
The combination of proactive testing and bespoke installation in a hospice environment highlights that a single print queue alongside a secure print release software, can transform patient care across primary and secondary healthcare organisations, at even the most demanding levels.
Find out how Brother’s healthcare solutions can make a difference to everyday patient care, here.