Digitizing Patient Medical Records – Some Important Considerations

Digitizing Patient Medical Records Some Important Considerations Switching from paper-based documents electronic mode can be a difficult task but outsourcing to data conversion services helps to quicken the process of digitization with utmost accuracy and high quality.

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Medical document scanning is increasing drastically with medical practices and clinics confronting the reality that scanning of all critical patient documents is challenging but vital.Converting and storing patient health records require proper management to ensure quality and consistency, along with strict compliance to HIPAA, and this may require reliable medical data entry service. Medical records contain important details such as patient information, lab reports, prescription, insurance details, patient medical history, past appointments and so on. When it comes to co-ordinating care, keeping track of medical records can be difficult if the health information is in multiple places or in different formats. This challenge gets even harder when several doctors are involved in the care team. So, organizing medical records is very important in medical practices, hospital systems, and other healthcare organizations. It helps physicians to access medical records easily and thereby improve the quality of care, patient engagement and ensure better health outcomes.

So, let us consider how medical records can be effectively organized and managed.Each patient will have several records such as scan reports, lab reports, blood tests, X-rays, MRIs, prescriptions, discharge summaries, medical history, hospitalization, home care instructions, and so on. The laws regarding how long medical records are to be kept vary by state. Laws also differ regarding whether the records are held by private practice medical doctors or by hospitals, and also regarding whether the patient is an adult or minor. Medical records are kept anywhere from 5 to 10 years after a patient’s latest treatment, discharge, or death.

To keep all medical records safe, these can be digitized and organized. However, digitizing and archiving medical records involve some potential challenges that can be best addressed with the support of a reliable provider of medical data conversion services. However, practices/hospital systems planning to invest in an in-house scanning system could find the following tips useful.

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The first step is to make sure that each part of your digitization process such as preparation, scanning, and quality assurance is finalized.

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Use four index fields for each medical record i.e. last name, first name, DOB and Unique Health Number. This information should be made available for match and merge from data derived from EMR or billing software.

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Keep a count of all medical files in your batch,and also count the number of pages in each file.

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Take out all the staples from all the pages and ensure that each page has a clear and straight edge. If required, cut out the jagged edge and tape down any post it notes to fresh paper. This will help in clear scanning of all records easily.

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Make sure that you face pages down and use a jogger for aligning pages. Check all the pages again to prevent double feeding errors.

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Set your scanner to 300 dpi to ensure accuracy. Also, check the legibility of the scanned documents. If you are not using Match and Merge, then manually enter the details.

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Scan each file individually and name them according to your conventions and also keep a backup of all important documents.

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To ensure quality it is important to proofread thescanned documents. A quality control person should ensure the quality of documents and also review samples for problems and quality issues.

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Count the number of digital files that you have saved and ensure that figure matches the total number of files in your batch. Check each electronic file to make sure that the number of pages match.

A proper medical record scanning processes can prevent potential problems and ensure the quick retrieval and safe storage of critical data. In addition, scanning and digitization of medical records is vital for e-prescribing as well that is being implemented in countries across the world.

Armenia, for example, has launched an e- Health system which is a single information platform with stakeholders including the country’s medical institutions, citizens and the state healthcare providers. The main aim of this system is to provide modern information and communication technologies and thereby provide high quality, accessible and costeffective medical service to the public. The system implies digitization of the medical records

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VardanGevorgyan, Head of the Committee of introducing an electronic health system, this innovative system serves as a common platform whereelectronic medical records will be available to doctors. This system was launched in the year 2017 with the first stage of digitization ofrecords of patients treated under the state-ordered quota already completed. The“Armed” website launched contains all information of 480 medical institutions that provide medical care in the frame of the state order and the registered doctor. All that users need to register to this new system is an ID and a password. It includes all medical institutions of the republic in 2018 with relevant license. According to Gevorgyan, the new system will allow physicians and other medical practitioners to send prescriptions to a participatingpharmacy of the patient’s choice electronically instead of using handwritten notes. On full operation of the system, all pharmacies operating in Armenia will be involved in the system.

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Digitizing patient records leads to better data accuracy at all points. It provides patients greater data accessibility and helps to improve patient engagement. Switching from paper-based documents to electronic mode can be a difficult task but outsourcing to data conversion services helps to quicken the process of digitization with utmost accuracy and high quality.

www.managedoutsource.com

8006702809