Fertility clinics work within a highly sensitive sector which requires patient consent and comprehension. MD Consents is acutely familiar with these requirements, particularly when the company launched its fertilityconsent.com service.
MD Consents launched its first server, fertilityconsent.com, in 2017. It has over 20 fertility clinics in the UK and Ireland.
In our latest case study, we look at the business objectives SigningHub helped MD
Consents meet, including:
- Strengthening an already robust informed consent process
- Increasing transparency
- Improving patient education
- Communicating legal implications of treatments
The solution had to provide a comprehensive digital audit trail, legal evidence of each signer’s identity and long-term signature validation (LTV).
Selection process:
SigningHub's 'per-signature' pricing model was highly cost-effective. Its flexibility and support offered MD Consents the ability to provide a comprehensive solution offering clinics LTV consent signing service that is effective for them and their patients.
Solution:
Privacy and anonymity are compulsory to comply with the Human Fertility and Embryology Association (HFEA) regulations. All patients must sign through a bespoke clinic dashboard - avoiding the need to send forms via an unsecured email.
Dashboards are unique to individual clinics, and this process ensures the system never stores names or email addresses. Patients sign digitally on a tablet in the presence of healthcare professionals, with documents being timestamped and verified in real time.
The fertility process involves several forms and requires patients to read and understand a significant amount of information, ensuring they make informed decisions. The cloud-based solution enables patients to digest the information with easy-to-understand videos at home in their own time.
As a solution, SigningHub provides 'page declarations'. These are points throughout a form where signers must mark to declare they have read and understood specific sections. This feature offers long-term evidence of understanding to the clinic in case a patient disputes a form.
SigningHub also provides LTV through PDF/A documents, embedded timestamps and Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) technology to ensure proof of signing. This process provides patients and clinics with a minimum of up to 50 years of signature validation (with the ability to extend beyond this timeframe).
Results:
From the clinic's perspective, Fertility Consent powered by SigningHub improves efficiency by reducing the consenting process from up to two hours to just 20 minutes. The time saved frees up nurses' time, increasing the time to spend with patients.
An incorrect form can cost clinics thousands of pounds to correct. SigningHub ensures forms are completed correctly and provides long-term evidence and an audit trail to reduce risks significantly.
With significant time savings, cost benefits and improved risk management all delivered, MD Consents now has, as CTO Tony Marven said, “…a solution that clinics and patients can depend on. Signatures that provide non-repudiation and long-term validation are critical for us, and SigningHub provides these.
For more information about long-term signature validation, please contact our team.
