In recent years, public and health services have undergone a significant digital transformation, and many administrative processes (including filing taxes, making appointments, and downloading documents) are now performed electronically. Consequently, the use of the electronic signature in public and health services is becoming more prevalent, streamlining numerous processes and offering significant advantages to these sectors. In this article, we will discuss how the electronic signature can be used in public and health services, as well as the advantages it offers.
Uses of the electronic signature
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the health sector, leading to a significant acceleration of digital transformation processes in order to reduce costs and, above all, to improve processes involving suppliers, health workers, and patients.
Within the health sector, many institutions and companies such as hospitals, assistance companies, and insurance companies require signing various documents. The electronic signature in public and health services can be used in the following ways:
- Signing of informed consent. When a patient is required to undergo testing to receive a diagnosis, they are also required to provide their informed consent. Using the electronic signature can be a quick and easy means of signing informed consent forms.
- Signing of hospital admission form. When a patient requires hospitalization, they must fill out and sign the admission form. This procedure can be streamlined using the electronic signature.
- Signing of medical test results. Medical specialists are often required to sign off on the results of tests and subsequent reports. The electronic signature facilitates and accelerates this process, while also reducing the use of paper.
- Signing of the acceptance of data protection regulation policies, including GDPR. Patients are often required to provide their consent for the processing of their personal data. Consequently, the use of electronic signatures can be used for signing such consent forms.
- Signing of professional liability policies. Medical professionals often use professional liability insurance to cover damages that may occur in the event of a patient’s claim for medical malpractice. The signing of these policies and their annexes can be carried out with an electronic signature.
- Signing of legal communications. In public and health services, communications of legal validity are often transmitted to healthcare workers, patients, or suppliers. The electronic signature can be used to sign these documents since it also has full legal validity.
- Signing of contracts with suppliers. Hospitals and health centers receive medical products and supplies, while contracts with suppliers can be signed with an electronic signature.
- Signing of employment contracts. Numerous institutions such as hospitals have been required to hire additional personnel as a result of the pandemic, and the signing of employment contracts with the electronic signature makes it possible to streamline the hiring processes, reducing unnecessary delays.
Advantages of using the electronic signature in public and health services
Using the electronic signature in public and health services offers some important advantages, including the following:
- The advanced electronic signature encrypts the information and unequivocally identifies the signers. Furthermore, the evidence document contains the electronic evidence of the document signing process, including the IPs of the devices of the signers, as well as their email addresses and mobile phone numbers.
- Time savings. In healthcare establishments, there are many time-sensitive processes, and using the electronic signature helps to ensure that any document signing process is completed quickly.
- Improved satisfaction among patients, healthcare personnel, and providers. Using the electronic signature in public and healthcare services helps to improve satisfaction among users due to the speed and ease of use of this technology.
- Environmental protection. Since using the electronic signature does not require travel nor the use of paper and ink, it can help to improve the corporate social responsibility of companies and establishments.
- Cost savings. Using the electronic signature also results in significant cost savings in the management of signature processes.
As we have seen, using the electronic signature in public and health services improves and streamlines the signing processes and has many applications. Try the electronic signature now and experience all the advantages it can offer.