The healthcare industry has made significant strides in adopting digital solutions, yet many providers continue to be held back by outdated eSignature platforms. These legacy systems, with their limited customization, inconsistent support, and authentication challenges, often struggle to keep pace with the demanding regulatory environment of healthcare. As a result, they create bottlenecks that slow down patient intake, delay consent processing, and make it difficult to maintain compliance with regulations like HIPAA. Many healthcare providers are now exploring DocuSign alternatives like Certinal eSign, seeking more flexible, secure, and cost-effective solutions.
1. Limited Flexibility, Rigid Templates
In healthcare, documentation is not one-size-fits-all. From patient intake forms to consent agreements, every document must be precise and adaptable. Yet many older eSignature solutions struggle to meet these needs:
- Rigid Templates: A lack of customizable templates makes it difficult to adjust forms to specific patient requirements, resulting in inefficiencies. For example, changes in regulations or patient data requirements often necessitate quick updates to forms. Legacy eSign solutions can struggle with this, leading to up to 30% longer processing times compared to more modern, adaptable tools.
- Adjusting Signature Fields: Outdated eSign tools often make it cumbersome to align signature fields or adjust document layouts, creating a poor user experience. These delays aren’t just frustrating—they can mean longer wait times for patients and delayed access to treatment, which can be critical in high-pressure situations like emergencies or flu season surges.
Why Certinal: Digital signature solution like Certinal offers dynamic templates that make it easy to tailor forms to meet specific needs, ensuring your documents stay compliant without time-consuming rework. With intuitive design and easy field adjustments, your staff can focus on patient care instead of wrestling with clunky software.
2. Hidden Costs and Pricing Pitfalls
Cost control is crucial in healthcare, but many eSignature providers make it difficult to predict expenses:
- Expensive Add-Ons: Legacy solutions often charge extra for features that should be standard, like bulk downloads or mass-sending documents. In a sector where 34% of medical costs are related to administrative tasks, such hidden charges can quickly add up
- Wasting Money on Unused Services: Many healthcare providers are locked into contracts that force them to pay for unused document quotas or extra licenses, leading to wasteful spending. This lack of pricing flexibility means you’re often paying for features you don’t use, making it hard to optimize your budget.
Why Certinal: There are many eSign pricing techniques available, but Certinal eSign pricing ensures you only pay for what you use—unlike rigid, user-based models. This flexibility allows you to manage costs more effectively and allocate resources where they matter most, such as enhancing patient care
3. Poor Customer Support
Healthcare providers operate in a world where time is of the essence. When your eSignature vendor fails to provide timely support, it can cause serious issues:
- Slow Support Responses: If you’ve ever faced up to 4 days of waiting for customer support, you know how costly these delays can be. A lack of responsive support can mean delays in resolving authentication issues or validating signatures, which could put patient privacy and legal compliance at risk. In industries where compliance is non-negotiable, such delays are unacceptable
- Automated and Inaccessible Support: Many older eSign providers rely heavily on automated systems, leaving users without the ability to speak to a real person when they need help. This can be especially frustrating when dealing with complex regulatory issues like HIPAA compliance or when trying to troubleshoot technical problems that require hands-on guidance.
Why Certinal: Certinal eSign stands out with its 24/7 live customer support, ensuring that healthcare providers always have access to human help when it matters most. Our team is ready to assist with everything from technical issues to navigating complex compliance questions, allowing you to keep your focus on providing patient care.
4. Security Shortfalls and Authentication Risks
Security is paramount in healthcare, especially when it comes to handling Protected Health Information (PHI). Yet many legacy eSignature solutions lack the robust features needed to protect sensitive data:
- Inadequate Authentication Methods: Outdated platforms often offer limited options for multi-factor authentication (MFA) or biometric verification, leaving them vulnerable to breaches. In fact, the healthcare industry faces the highest average cost of data breaches, with incidents costing $9.23 million per breach. These breaches often stem from weak access controls and insufficient encryption, common problems with older digital solutions.
- Data Storage Concerns: Many legacy eSign platforms store data on third-party public clouds without adequate encryption, which can be a major compliance risk. In the healthcare industry, this can lead to regulatory violations under HIPAA or trust issues with patients who are increasingly concerned about how their data is handled.
Why Certinal: Certinal eSign is designed with end-to-end encryption, advanced authentication methods, and the option for on-premise data storage. Our HIPAA-compliant security features ensure that your data is protected at every step, keeping your organization safe from breaches and compliance risks.
5. Poor User Experience (UX) and Navigation
A clunky user interface is more than just an annoyance—it can disrupt workflows and slow down critical processes:
- Confusing Email Notifications: If patients or staff find post-signature notifications confusing, it can delay follow-up actions and lead to incomplete document submissions. In healthcare, where timely documentation is essential for both billing and patient care, these delays can cause significant bottlenecks.
- Difficult Navigation: Older eSignature tools often have non-intuitive navigation, making it challenging for staff to find documents quickly or manage large volumes of patient records. This can lead to up to 15% more time spent on administrative tasks, diverting attention away from direct patient care
Why Certinal: Certinal eSign offers an intuitive, user-friendly interface that allows healthcare staff to access, sign, and manage documents seamlessly. With clear workflows and straightforward navigation, your team can focus more on patient care and less on dealing with cumbersome technology.
Don’t Let Outdated eSign Tools Hold You Back
In healthcare, every delay, inefficiency, and security risk can directly impact patient care. By continuing to rely on an outdated eSignature solution, you could be facing hidden costs, compliance risks, and a poor user experience that slows down your entire operation. Certinal eSign provides a modern alternative with flexibility, enhanced security, and cost-effective pricing, ensuring your organization can keep pace with the demands of modern healthcare.
Ready to see the difference? Book a demo with Certinal eSign (www.certinal.com/request-a-demo) today and discover how we can transform your document workflows, improve compliance, and enhance efficiency—so you can focus on what really matters: delivering exceptional patient care.