When it comes to speeding up document signing processes, nothing beats digitalization. In the healthcare industry, virtually all participants are stepping up on digitalization as the result of a global transformation.
Combined with a Digital Signing Service (DSS) for signing electronic documents with digital signatures, it paves the way for reliable and secure signing management. DSS provides flexibility for both doctors and patients while ensuring that regulatory compliance in healthcare is met.
With the number of breaches and cyberthreats the healthcare industry may be facing due to the pandemic and the amount of critical client information they are storing, how does technology help healthcare improve the processes involved in securing, signing, sending, storing, and retrieving sensitive documents?
Digitalization in healthcare industry improves the accuracy of administrative documents where manual signing falls short. With a digital signing service, the data of your patients are secured, protected, and preserved.
Seamless medical processing
Every patient in a hospital requires a well-documented health history. Signing documents and filling out checklists and updates are frequently performed in a hospital setup. From a simple complete check-up, doctors are expected to sign various documents. When signing documents that have sensitive information, DSS becomes valuable in securing the contents and validity of those documents. DSS provides long term validity (LTV) that keeps the document valid for archiving medical records and reuse of returning patients. It is also easier for patients to electronically sign their documents remotely using any smart device.
Legality of documents
Hospitals collect the patient’s signature for various purposes like agreement, medical procedure protocols, contracts, receipts, etc. This step is crucial to prevent a patient from filing charges against a hospital for performing a process that the patient did not approve of. A contract is a bond that proves that the patient has agreed and complied with all the procedures therein. Integrating DSS on such documents will finalize a legally enforceable document. Regulatory compliance in healthcare allows patients to legally sign documents quickly so doctors can track documents in seconds. DSS is recognized by HIPAA, E-SIGN, and other industry-leading regulations. In compliance with these acts, the healthcare industry may accept all forms of valid e-signatures.
Document integrity
Perhaps the most important aspect of DSS is its ability to ensure the integrity of the document and its contents from alterations. Digital signatures provide authenticity and prove that the signed document wasn’t tampered or altered in any way. It creates a unique fingerprint and uses the power of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) to create a digital code for authentication and higher assurance.
Using a "hashing" approach, PKI allows the recipient to verify whether the document has been changed. By hashing the document, no one can modify nor generate a signature without the recipient’s knowledge. Hashing the document is especially important in medical data because it ensures data integrity and verifies that the document is “locked-in”; that is, no one can tamper with the document and its contents at any time after signing or it would otherwise be considered invalid.
In a Nutshell
DSS is a cloud-based solution that speeds up the signing process by allowing multiple agreements available for signing in various platforms and devices. DSS provides higher security in the healthcare industry and ensures the regulatory compliance in healthcare is met. Thanks to its trusted timestamping service, key management feature, and revocation check, among others, you can get the signing tool you need in just a few clicks in this one-size-fits-all solution.
