What is a patient administration system?
A patient administration system (PAS) is an information service providing a foundation to all healthcare. It performs the basic but crucial function of recording non-clinical patient details, such as name, date of birth, and home address, as well as any additional contact details for next of kin in an emergency.
These systems started out as an automation of the administration involved in hospitals and other care settings, and the advent of healthcare technology has seen PAS go digital. Healthcare software now stores all of these details, as well as information about the activity a person has across a multitude of care settings.
In this article we will explore what a PAS is, what patient administration systems are doing in the NHS, and the benefits to utilising this solution within NHS Trusts.
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Written by Liam Sheasby
Why use a patient administration system?
A properly implemented Patient Administration System allows you to record all patient engagement across your Trust, including inpatient, outpatient, and emergency cases. It also helps to manage patient demographics, referrals, appointments, and waiting list data.
PAS replaces paperwork associated with a patient’s visit to hospital with electronic records that capture and use data in a more structured way. Key automated processes allow users to enter information in a single system and then view that information across many departments.
A Patient Administration System has become a crucial system for the day-to-day hospital management and administration. It performs the previously mentioned functions for details, appointments, and treatment schedules, but with software they can also coordinate with electronic patient records (EPR), bed management software and patient flow software for a clearer picture of patient needs, behaviour, and overall service demand.
PAS allows you to schedule resources from appointments through to equipment and resources, to improve your efficiency and deliver significant cost savings. Patient journeys are improved and key data, such as event history, is immediately available and accessible.
What is the PAS system in the NHS?
The specifics of an NHS Patient Administration System varies per NHS Trust. Each trust will outsource to a provider – like The Access Group – to fulfil their PAS needs, but ultimately they are a master file containing the core patient details that can be updated or amended when necessary.
There are seven key functions of a PAS system within the NHS:
1. Patient registry
Core details such as contact information and demographics.
2. Managing appointments
PAS can proactively engage with patient details ahead of attendance. This keeps a record in case of rescheduling, but also reduces time spent in an appointment going over the basics.
3. Managing waiting lists
This functions similarly to Point 2. Data is prepared in advance of an appointment or any treatment to assist with preparation.
4. Logging patient activity
Tracking patient appointments and referrals across different care services.
5. Billing
PAS tracks any and all billing, whether a patient is required to pay or simply the NHS charting its own costs. Receipts, deposits and invoices can all be associated with a patient account and departmental records.
6. Reporting
This is the communication of patient records and notes to other healthcare software following appointments, as well as raw anonymous data about hospital activity.
7. Hospital admission & discharge
Patient flow software also handles admission and discharge, but the PAS must be updated to properly account for who exactly is in the hospital at any given time – for their safety and that of other patients.
With a patient administration system, order is present. PAS provides clinicians the key personal information needed to undertake care. PAS also then links through to other systems, bringing in external information such as their medical history. This can be crucial if the person is experiencing ongoing conditions or suffers allergies.
Such is the rate of digitisation within the NHS at present – as per the Digital Capability Framework – that we’re seeing more and more interoperability towards the goal of joined-up care across the whole NHS network. PAS are now able to integrate with the NHS e-Referral Service, which will speed up the relay of information from referrals through a PAS to other partner software.
Not all Trusts use a PAS however. Smaller Trusts sometimes find that their EPR solution – such as our very own Rio electronic patient records – are suitable for the patient data they need, though many (including Rio) are interoperable with PAS.
Patient Administration Systems are often taken for granted. Whilst they’re not used at the point of patient care, they are relied on every minute of every day.
Patient administration system benefits
PAS helps you to reduce administrative costs, improve data accuracy and provide a more efficient, effective service for people receiving health and social care services. It provides an end-to-end solution which automates many time-consuming processes and ensures that vital data is only entered once. This saves time and money as you deliver high quality services that are efficient and effective.
Through the efficient management of inpatient data, appointment bookings, resource management and reporting, PAS facilitates greater integration of clinical and administrative functions which results in efficient workflows for staff. This plays a huge part in reducing the workload and fatigue that medical professionals are experiencing as global populations continue to increase and to live longer.
Technology plays a big part too. PAS software is generally easy to use and easy to integrate in day-to-day operations. It’s quicker and more sustainable than old fashioned paper notations, and a lot more secure and reliable as a record.
The simplicity of PAS software then helps improve care. Less fear from clinicians about using it, less to get wrong, and an easier time recording patient notes and accessing their history. This means more time in appointments to actually discuss the problem, the wider impact of poor health on the patient’s life, and includes them more in the plan for treatment.
Why do you need a patient administration system?
With PAS, you can:
- Align with the vision for one patient record and deliver joined-up care across the entire care spectrum.
- Integrate PAS with existing systems throughout the hospital and across other healthcare services, such as Electronic Patient Record System
- Allow for less duplication and errors, giving you the opportunity to deliver a better quality of care for the individual.
- Reduce your Referral-to-Treatment times and Waiting list times.
- Increase patient safety by minimising errors.
- Support staff mental health by reducing stress factors and the risk of burnout.
- Get the busiest acute and outpatient clinics working efficiently.
