New research from Epson finds that amidst the backdrop of ever-increasing wait times and reduced access to healthcare, frontline healthcare workers say they are losing hours of time each week due to poor technology.
The study, which surveyed 200 patient- facing healthcare workers in the UK, found that three quarters agreed that their already stretched teams are wasting time with poor technology, and a further 76% agreed that more should be done to tackle the issue.
A core technology highlighted throughout the research was printers, with healthcare workers losing an average of 47 minutes a week to the slow or non-functioning printers. Two in 10 (18%) workers are losing one to two hours a week, while 6% are losing a shocking three to four hours a week due to printer issues.
The research found that slow or non- functioning printers have led to delays or difficulties updating patient records (34%), making appointments (29%), discharging patients (19%) and even delays or difficulties in providing medication or treatment (15%) to patients in need.
In fact, a quarter of those surveyed (23%) agreed that non-functioning or slow printers led to patients having less time with healthcare staff, with a further third (32%) stating that poor printers lead to more complaints from patients.
While the research shows the impact poor technology can have on the efficiency of healthcare services, 80% of respondents agreed that despite the time being wasted by non-functioning or slow printers, little action is being taken. Meanwhile, a third (36%) also believe that money is wasted in their respective departments.
