Guidelines to Go Paperless in Your Medical Practice

Guidelines to Go Paperless in Your Medical Practice

This article discusses some guidelines that will help your medical practice to go paperless, thereby increasing data security and efficiency.

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Managing paper documents is challenging for all business sectors including healthcare. It can cause security risks; create difficulty in finding historic data, hinder easy accessibility when you need it quickly and above all consume a lot of storage space. It is best to digitize your paper assets and this can be done by partnering with a professional document scanning company that can scan and convert paper documents into digital format. In the U.S, the healthcare sector is also on the path to becoming paperless. A paperless healthcare system offers numerous benefits including increased data security, reduced risk of breaching patient confidentiality and better management of resources. Any medical practice should also consider going paperless to improve workflow and enhance the work environment. The following 7-step guide could assist you in your endeavor to become paper free and reap the benefits ensured.  Learn what paperless means in healthcare–There are four main reasons for making the health and social care sector paper-free: 

Helps give patients more control over their health and well-being

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Helps empower caregivers

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Minimizes the administrative burden of care professionals

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Supports the development of new medicines and treatments.

 To achieve these goals paper-based documents should be digitized. For a smooth digital transition, you have to ensure that your IT systems comprehensively cover all necessary patient data and information. 

Recognize your paper assets – One of the reasons why many organizations across the healthcare sector are transitioning to a paperless environment is that paper is an easy asset to misplace. In fact, to go paperless, you need to identify where your documents and files are located. This will help you 

Create an effective strategy for transference to digital formats

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Make sure that all information about your patients and medical practice is moved to a better-protected place

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Reduce data and confidentiality breaches as a result of not having paper left lying around

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Minimize the time spent searching for paper documents at a later date.

It is essential to establish exactly where all your records are located. Make sure everything you need to move to a paperless system are kept together in a centralized location.  Determine your digital platform - To meet the goal of becoming paper-free, medical practices should start adopting comprehensive data management and communication processes that are entirely digital.  Know how and where documents must be stored -Now, you need to find out the following things 

What documentation can successfully be moved to digital?

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What must be kept as a paper file?

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What paper documents can be destroyed?

Have a clear idea of where your files are going to be stored. Almost all documents can now be stored digitally as part of the drive for paperless; however, not all files can be solely digital. For some of your most essential documentation, paper is still required.  Destruction of unnecessary paper - Effective transfer of documents to the new digital systems should start with the destruction of outdated or unnecessary paper.

If a particular paper document is not needed, then don’t dedicate time storing it on your IT systems. It is essential to go through your paper documentation during the initial transition period and identify anything that is not necessary and destroy it appropriately. 

Moving the documents- After destroying unnecessary documents, only two types of files are left, those that can be transferred to digital and documents that must be retained as paper. The files that can be put onto your computer systems

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should be uploaded and stored. This is really a painstaking process however, to achieve a paperless medical practice, it should be done. 

Scan the files; investing in a medical document scanning service helps scan and convert your documents into the required format.

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Upload the files as captured images

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Enter the data into new records

It should be ensured that all documents are uploaded correctly and to the appropriate location within your digital systems. After transferring all the records and documents over to the new systems, the paper documents that have been uploaded can be destroyed.  Keep up the practice - Your paperless goals must include a commitment and a dedication to remain paperless. However, one issue you are likely to face is thirdparties sending paper documents. If this happens, put in place strategies to avoid interruption to your paperless practice by: 

Requesting them to send only digital files when possible

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Ensuring any paper document that does come through is uploaded to your IT systems quickly

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Securely shredding paper, so as to avoid a build-up or backlog

Another issue that you may encounter is clients and patients requesting files to be sent as paper documents. In this situation, ensure that you are not maintaining copies and that the retained versions of the documents are digital only. Tie up with a company that provides reliable document scanning services to make your digital transition efficient and hassle-free.

www.managedoutsource.com

(800) 670 2809