Six ways Docusign is helping Monash University train the next generation of doctors

In a hospital or medical setting, prompt feedback can make a huge difference in the quality of care a clinician is able to give a patient – and to helping medical students learn from mistakes and become better doctors as they begin their careers. 

Monash Central Clinical School (Monash CCS) knows this well. It has around 350 clinical students completing six-week-long rotations throughout remote health services across Victoria. 

These rotations are key to the students’ education – and to their grades. 

But with each student requiring documented feedback from multiple doctors on a regular basis, managing the process was a logistical nightmare for supervising doctors. It was also frustrating for students, who sometimes did not receive much-needed assessments until months after they had moved onto their next rotation.

At the heart of the issue was a paperwork nightmare. School administrators had to collect and input assessments into the system, leading to significant delays of weeks or even months before documentation would be released to the students themselves.

When COVID-19 hit, Monash CCS knew it had to find a better way, right away. Monash CCS worked with Docusign engineers to integrate student assessment forms into the Docusign eSignature platform.

“As COVID-19 hit us, it became clear that doing anything that involved a lot of physical paper wasn’t going to work,” said Daniel Fineberg, consultant physician in the Department of General Medicine at Alfred Health.

“Within our departments we’ve come to the conclusion that keeping everything electronic is the way to go. We’ve had to be focused and adaptable to ensure our patients get the right care through COVID-19.”

A cure for red tape

Here’s how Monash CCS’s partnership with Docusign helped treat the problem: 

1. Faster feedback: Students now receive assessments on their rotations on the same day, enabling them to identify areas for focus and have more opportunity to improve. 

2. Less paperwork, more time with patients: Supervisors could save precious clinical time, while ensuring medical students get the assessments they need to progress.

3. Less red tape, more accuracy and compliance: It now takes less time to make sure information is correct, and that changes are reflected consistently across the system. Docusign offers a simple audit trail for all feedback, enabling Monash CCS to meet compliance obligations.

4. Zero touch model: Docusign enables a zero-touch, paperless process to minimise the amount of contact required – critical during a pandemic.

5. A secure platform: Docusign offered a centralised, secure platform to streamline the student feedback process and keep sensitive information stored safely. 

6. Rapid turnaround: In just ten days of using Docusign, Monash CCS  digitised the key forms and began rolling out new processes to administrators, the clinicians, and to the students themselves.

So, what does this mean for your organisation? If you need to streamline paperwork and share critical information fast, contact our sales team to find out more about how we can help.