New Tablet PC Application for e-Health: Electronic Patient Consent Forms signed on Tablet PCs

Before any medical procedure a patient must be informed in detail about the nature of the proposed procedure, the goals, the respective benefits and risks as well as the possible alternatives to the procedure. Since the early 80s so-called "patient consent forms" have been used for this purpose. Patient consent forms supply the physician with competent and timely information to give the patient about the proposed procedure before an operation. Typically the physician adds some individual notes about the intended procedure on the form. Subsequently, physician and patient sign the declaration of consent for the planned operation. Using properly executed and signed patient consent forms also documents the patient education process and the legality of the obtained consent.

proCompliance Verlag is the market leader in German-speaking countries for patient consent forms. The company's current portfolio of available documents contains more than 1000 forms. These forms are revised and updated regularly by medical and legal experts, since treatment methodologies and the legal issues related to medicine change frequently. Patient consent forms are produced in a wide array of languages because German-speaking hospitals serve many patients who speak languages other than German. The forms are also sold in non-German speaking countries like France and the United States via subsidiaries. Since the logistics of maintaining an extensive portfolio of patient consent forms have become more complex for hospitals and physicians to handle, leading proCompliance to offer these forms electronically under the brand name PICS, an abbreviation for "Patient Information & Compliance Software".

Since CeBIT 2005, PICS has become available for mobile usage as well: Tablet PC users may access these forms, annotate handwritten comments and sign the documents with their handwritten signatures.

The legal aspects of signature capturing on Tablet PCs using SignDoc have already been examined legally by Professor Dr. Thomas Hoeren of the Institute for Information-, Telecommunication- and Media Law (http://www.uni-muenster.de/Jura.itm/hoeren/en/) at the University of Muenster in Westphalia/Germany and Judge at the Higher Regional Court in Duesseldorf (http://www.olg-duesseldorf.nrw.de). The essence of his extensive expert opinion sees SignDoc as an "equivalent surrogate to the conventional signing on a paper document", "which fulfills the formal aspects of the written form in an equivalent way". In other words: Electronic Documents signed with SignDoc offer at least a similar level of security as signed paper documents. Additional modules for patient education - such as animations or videos - may be added as well.

The feedback on the presentations at CeBIT and at ITeG has been overwhelming. The CIOs of numerous hospitals were highly interested in using these digital forms on Tablet PC as soon as possible and discussions about pilots have begun. The first hospital to pilot this application is likely to be the co-operation partner Ingolstadt Hospital. The PICS system will be a perfect match to the hospital's already existing solution for patient records and will help to further streamline their IT processes.

Patient Consent Forms on Tablet PCs on show

Patient consent forms on Tablet PCs signed with the handwritten signature will also be exhibited at "ehealthcare" (October 25-26, Notwil near Luzern/Switzerland) and at "Medica" (November 16-19, Duesseldorf/Germany) at the booths of proCompliance.

Recommended Links for Additional Information

• Ingolstadt Hospital: Handwritten Signature secures electronic documents

• Website of eHealthCare Switzerand show & congress (in German)
• Website of Medica show & congress
• Website of ITeG show & congress (in German)

• Press Release about Tablet PC Developers Contest
• Press Release about Tablet PC Challenge (in German)
• Information about Tablet PCs in General
• Tablet PC Application Catalog: Recommendation of SOFTPROs products
• Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN): Tablet PC Application Tablet PC Development Center
• Tablet and Mobile PC Development Conference in February 2005

• Fujitsu Siemens Computers: Product description of Slate (Stylistic) and Convertible (Lifebook T)
• HP: Product description of Connectible (Compaq 1100)
• Motion Computing: Product description of Slate (M 1400)
• Toshiba: Product description of Convertible (Portégé 200)

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About SOFTPRO

The SOFTPRO GmbH is a world leader in developing and marketing products and solutions for digital capture, management and verification of handwritten signatures.

The fastest growing line of business are solutions for E-Signing - in particular biometric signatures. SOFTPRO is offering E-Signing software - from the SDK (SignWare) via desktop clients (SignDoc) to a complete platform for Web-based signing (SignDoc Web). The products support a wide range of devices for signature capturing - from basic pen pads up to Tablet PCs. This can lower your costs, accelerate business processes, eliminate errors and protect documents against manipulation. E-Signing with SOFTPRO is environmentally friendly and thus supports Green IT initiatives and Corporate Social responsibility programs.

The second major division of SOFTPRO is the detection of fraud through automated comparison of signatures. This comparison is primarily used for checks. SOFTPRO’s Automatic Signature Verification is also used to secure the postal ballot (e.g. in the United States and the United Kingdom). Additional fraud analysis tools may be added to the verification process. The results of these complex tests are analyzed, weighted and presented as a holistic risk assessment.

SOFTPRO solutions are currently used in 31 countries on five continents. Ten of the world's 25 largest banks are SOFTPRO customers, as well as insurance, retail and telecommunications companies, public administration, the energy and the health sector.

The parent company of the SOFTPRO group is the SOFTPRO GmbH founded 1983 in Boeblingen near Stuttgart. Four subsidiaries are based in the United States, in the United Kingdom, in India and in Singapore. Additional representations operate in Brazil and Lebanon. The group currently employs around sixty people. SOFTPRO's software is developed "made in Germany".

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