Revolutionizing Healthcare: Ten Must-Have e-Signature Capabilities

In today's fast-paced healthcare environment, efficiency is key. As we step into 2025, the adoption of electronic signatures (e-signatures) has become a game-changer for healthcare providers, streamlining workflows and enhancing patient care. But not all e-signature solutions are created equal. To truly revolutionize your healthcare processes, you need a solution that offers these 10 critical capabilities:

1. 100% healthcare focused/HIPAA compliant

2. Upload, sign and modify PDFs

3. Self-service form builder

4. Incorporate secure patient texting

5. Integrates with your EMR

6. Brand as your own

7. Capture and upload images

8. Mobile friendly

9. Design Customizable workflow

10. Audit trails and document tracking

100% Healthcare Focused

Your e-signature solution must comply with HIPAA, HITECH, and other relevant state and federal regulations. This protects sensitive patient information and maintains the integrity of your digital processes. Selecting a vendor who is 100% healthcare focused guarantees that they will have the knowledge and expertise to track and meet these requirements. It also ensures that your vendor understands the specific uses and document types needed by healthcare.

Key compliance aspects include:

• Data encryption during transmission and storage

• Robust access controls

• Detailed audit trails

• Willingness to sign Business Associate Agreements (BAAs)

• Advanced security, including Multi-Factor Authentication  

Upload, Sign and Modify PDFs

Many healthcare payers, federal entities, specialty pharmacy patient assistance programs and more require providers to complete and submit their exact form.  Your e-signature solution should allow you to upload these documents to create a template that:

• Enables pre-populating of data fields (e.g. organization name and address) to create templates for frequently used forms

• Enables staff to also upload and easily configure a document on the fly  

• Supports the addition of data entry fields, check boxes, and signatures by the recipient

• Enforces required fields, including complex rules (at least one required, check as many as apply, etc.)

• Supports a workflow to enable multiple, sequenced individuals to contribute to the completion of the form

Self-serve Form Builder

Organizations also have many custom forms that they create to serve specific needs.  To avoid fragmenting the workflow and maintaining multiple point solutions select an e-signature solution that:

• Does not require your vendor to make changes to forms adding costs and delays to your operations

• Allows your own non-technical staff to easily create and modify documents

• Allows your staff to clone and modify similar documents with minor variations

• Supports conditional logic to streamline the recipient experience

• Supports multiple form types and formatting capabilities to meet all your needs, including pain scales and other healthcare-specific uses

Incorporate Secure Patient Texting

Staff often deliver instructions and explain the purpose of the form as it is presented to the patient.  To digitize this, use HIPAA-secure patient texting with end to end encryption to provide this context.  Enable staff securely text with recipients to:  

• send a document directly to one patient for signature and engage in a secure one on one conversation

• use HIPAA-secure automation and chatbots to automate and personalize outreach to patients that provides the option to easily escalate to a staff person, as needed

• Capture additional data (e.g. insurance cards) in the same workflow

Integrate with Your EHR System

Seamless integration with your Electronic Health Record (EHR) system is crucial to minimize staff effort and speed data capture. This capability ensures a smooth workflow and eliminates the need for manual data entry. Vendors who focus on healthcare are more likely to have existing workflow integration expertise. Look for a vendor that can:

• Automatically upload a signed document, images and forms as a PDF into specific location/folders of the EHR

• Automatically capture and upload discrete data captured from the recipient to populate specific fields in the EHR

Brand as Your Own

A typical area has 3-4 or more hospices or home health organizations to choose from, making brand recognition and reputation increasingly important.  Post acute care organizations need to deliver a convenient customer experience to the patient and caregiver and drive brand loyalty.    

Look for an e-signature solution that:

• Supports use of (solely) your logo and brand colors

• Enables you to place access to your e-signature solution on your website

• Allows you to select an avatar that represents your organization  

Capture and Upload Images

Healthcare organizations have multiple types of data that they need to collect in addition to e-signatures.  Select a solution designed to meet the full spectrum of data capture needed. In addition to capturing e-signatures, discrete data capture, look for:

• The ability to capture, securely transmit, and upload images of drivers licenses, insurance cards and even images of patient wounds, rashes and incisions

Mobile Friendly Interface  

According to McKinsey, “In the years to come, it will be critical for the healthcare industry to prioritize digital consumer engagement—both to keep pace with other industries and to meet evolving consumer expectations. According to data from the 2019, 2022, and 2023 McKinsey Consumer Health Insights Surveys, healthcare consumers of all ages have become accustomed to using digital products and services and are eager to see them incorporated into their healthcare”

A user-friendly interface for patients to easily sign consent forms and other documents is essential for improving the overall patient experience.  As consumer adoption of smartphones grows, especially among seniors, offering a convenient mobile option is critical.  

This convenience extends to healthcare professionals as well.  In the post-acute market, staff are typically on the move.  Medical directors may be part time and are rarely in the office so offering the ability to sign orders on their phone between other clinical duties speeds care. A mobile-responsive e-signature solution allows doctors, nurses, and staff to sign documents from any device, anywhere, anytime.

Look for an e-signature solution that:

• Is app-less to reduce barriers to completion

• Supports inclusion of logos in text messages

• Provides mechanisms to reinforce trust of the message, such as the ability to redirect calls made by the patient to the texting number to a source who can verify that the message can be trusted

• Securely sends and receives one or more e-signatures and documents to capture additional data

Design Customizable Workflows

Every healthcare organization has unique processes. Look for a solution that offers  easy to set up customizable workflows to match your specific needs and improve operational efficiency. Look for a solution that:

• Does not require vendor time and costs to create or modify the workflow

• Supports sending both secure texts and/or emails

• Can automate nudges if the recipient does not respond or does not complete their response

• Allows you to include custom instructions to the recipient

• Gives you both a push/outreach option and the option to place forms on your website

• Validates patient identity  

Audit Trails and Document Tracking

To maintain accountability and meet regulatory requirements, your e-signature solution should provide detailed audit trails and real-time document tracking.

Finally, to continually improve your processes, you need insights. Choose an e-signature solution that offers analytics and reporting features to help you identify bottlenecks, data quality issues (phone numbers or email addresses) and optimize your workflows.  

By ensuring your e-signature solution incorporates these ten critical capabilities, you'll be well-positioned to enhance efficiency, improve patient care, and stay ahead in the ever-evolving healthcare landscape. As we move further into 2025, the importance of digital transformation in healthcare cannot be overstated. Embracing a comprehensive e-signature solution is more than just a technological upgrade—it's a strategic move towards better, faster, and more patient-centered care. Are you ready to revolutionize your healthcare workflows with e-signatures? Use this vendor checklist to identify the solution that best works for you.  

The future of efficient, digital healthcare is here. Don't get left behind.