4. Complete Intake Paperwork

Before a patient can receive care, they must complete intake paperwork, which usually includes consents for treatment, financial agreements, and insurance consents. These critical documents need to be signed in advance to ensure that the patient is not burdened with financial responsibilities and can focus on their treatment. Completing this paperwork can be time-consuming and overwhelming for the patient. Allowing patients to complete these forms before arriving at the facility greatly improves their experience.

Signature pads are extremely useful in settings where the Patient Portal is not being utilized, such as in high patient-to-staff ratio environments like OBOT/MAT programs. They streamline the process of completing intake paperwork, making it more efficient and manageable for both patients and staff.

Note: This process only describes the admissions process for clients not using a CRM or integrated RCM platform. 

Patients attending an inpatient facility typically sign the minimum required documentation (e.g., consent to treat) upon arrival and then retire to their room to rest. They usually return the next day to complete the rest of their intake paperwork when they are more alert. In an outpatient facility, there is usually a dedicated appointment for completing the entire intake process.

Best Practice Workflow Video

Workflow 1: In-Person [Not Using Patient Portal]

Let’s review Kipu EMR’s best practice workflow for completing intake paperwork when the patient arrives at the facility and is not using the Patient Portal.

1. Accessing Consent Forms: Click on the Admission tab or the tab containing your facility’s consent forms. Click here for more information on consent forms.

2. Populating Forms: Select Populates with Forms to add the configured forms to the patient’s chart. This ensures that all required forms are added. Click here for more information on Populate with Forms.
   

3. Centralized Charting: If your facility uses the populate with forms and centralized charting functionality, please start by using the Populate with Forms functionality. Once a document has been added to a tab, Populate with Forms becomes unavailable. Click here to learn more about centralized documentation.
   

4. Completing Baseline Documents: Add, sign, and/or complete the following baseline documents according to your facility protocols and state requirements. 
   • Consent for Treatment form
   • Consent for KIP AI (Kipu AI)
   • Any additional facility consents including privacy statements, program rules, confidentiality statements, etc.
   • Lab consent if needed
   • Financial Agreement form
   • Release of Information for all patient contacts. Click here to learn more about Release of Confidential Information for all patient contacts.
     • Best Practice: Add all patient contacts to the facesheet during admission before using consent forms with rules for populating all patient contacts. If a release is needed after the initial population of releases, the user should still add the individual as a contact on the facesheet and add a one-off release form to the chart.
5. Obtaining Patient/Guardian/Guarantor Signatures: If the patient isn’t using the Patient Portal, obtain all necessary patient, guardian, and/or guarantor signatures in person for the applicable admission documentation.
   • Tip: Use the screen lock feature to easily collect signatures while protecting personal health information (PHI). 
6. Staff Signatures on Intake Documents: The staff user can then go into the patient’s chart or Dashboard > Current Census tab to sign the intake documents. For more information about how to sign forms from the Dashboard, click here.
7. Click the New Appointment icon to assign the patient to a group session.

Workflow 2: In-Person or Telehealth [Using Patient Portal]

Let’s review the best practice workflow for completing intake paperwork when the patient arrives at the facility or via Telehealth visit and has already submitted intake documents via the Patient Portal.

1. Patient Portal Documents: If the patient hasn't already completed their admission forms, the staff user can resend the forms, generating an additional email notification.
2. Additional Documentation: Additional documentation can be sent through to the portal for signatures from the patient, guarantor, and/or guardian signatures (if applicable).
3. Signing Baseline Documents: Sign the following baseline documents according to your facility protocols and state requirements:
   • Consent for Treatment
   • Consent for KIP AI (Kipu AI)
   • Any additional facility consents including privacy statements, program rules, confidentiality statements, etc.
   • Lab consent if needed
   • Financial Agreement form
   • Release of Information for all patient contacts. Click here to learn more about Release of Confidential Information for all patient contacts.
     • Best Practice: Add all patient contacts to the facesheet during admission before using consent forms with rules for populating all patient contacts. If a release is needed after the initial population of releases, the user should still add the individual as a contact on the facesheet and add a one-off release form to the chart.
4. Receiving Notifications: After a patient signs a document, the staff user will receive an alert notifying them that a portal document has been completed. Click here for instructions on setting up notifications.
   
5. Signing Intake Documents: The staff user can then go into the patient’s chart or Dashboard tab to sign the intake documents. For more information about how to sign forms from the Dashboard, click here.
   
6. Click the New Appointment icon to assign the patient to a group session.

1.