Modern technology is enabling Electronic Health Records (EHR) and Electronic Medical Records (EMR) to slowly replace the traditional paper and film versions.

The move to digital medical records is being fueled by President Obama’s economic stimulus, which allows for $19.2 billion for health information technology. Many hospitals will use these funds to implement EHRs.

But what does this mean for medical care and for patients? Quite simply, improved quality of care and physician accuracy, as doctors will no longer rely on incomplete charts, poor memories of patients or even illegible handwriting on deteriorated paper.

An article in the New York Times mentions the following benefits to digital medical records:

• Avoid duplication of tests
• Reduce medical errors
• Make surgery safer
• Encourage better self-care
• Improve care of chronic illnesses
• Identify the right drug and dose

Clearly there is a learning curve associated with new technology, and digital medical records are no different.  But the sooner the learning curve starts, the sooner it will be erased.

Healthcare organizations should ensure the document scanning service:

• Will work with any existing or planned imaging systems
• Offers the option of on-site specialists to ensure digital scanning projects run smoothly
• Provides custom, flexible solutions for any objective, timeframe or budget, rather than an out-of-the-box solution
• Has quality standards in place to ensure no documents are omitted and all data entered to identify patients is accurate

Learn how digital scanning services from microMEDIA helped a New York hospital make the transition to digital medical records.

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Digital Medical Records in Healthcare was posted at Imaging Services Blog. | http://www.imagingservices.com/blog

The payment incentives for using an Electronic Health Record (EHR) are a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), which financially rewards healthcare organizations that adopt more efficient practices. Healthcare organizations using an EHR with “meaningful use” – which is defined as improving overall healthcare through local processes, better quality measurement and increased communication with medical record scanning – will be eligible.

Financial incentives can be significant: According to the New England Journal of Medicine, physicians working with the North Shore Hospital System in New York would receive up to $40,000 by implementing an EHR.

However, the benefits of EHR implementation extend beyond government incentives. After all, the advantages of an EHR over traditional recording methods are the reasons ARRA is recognizing the approach.

Along with financial incentives from the government, an EHR has the following added benefits for health care professionals: 

• Payment for quality of care emphasizes documentation of quality
• As software licenses sold increase, the cost to implement EHR lowers
• EHR enables closer links between community physicians and hospitals by centralizing data
• EHR not only centralizes documentation, but also coding functions, billing, electronic prescribing and other tasks
• Along with saving time on data entry and filing, medical record scanning also offers flexibility in how the user conducts data entry
• EHR can connect to each other and common services, which allows information to be coordinated for the provision of care

Learn how medical record scanning was successfully implemented at one New York hospital.

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Electronic Health Record Initiative: Another Benefit of Medical Record Scanning was posted at Imaging Services Blog. | http://www.imagingservices.com/blog

According to a recent Kansas City Star article, two major factors are contributing to the growth of electronic health records:

• Medical imaging advancements are helping physicians and healthcare providers ease the transition to electronic files. For example, Electronic Health Records (EHR) – one quickly evolving healthcare technology – allow digital records to be shared across entire healthcare organizations.
• The Health Information and Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act is providing billions of dollars to help healthcare providers leverage the latest health information technology.

Still, for many healthcare providers, there’s a long road ahead to take patient records and files digital. The same article cites that less than half of the nation’s hospitals, and only one in five physicians, are currently equipped to fully use electronic records.

Healthcare providers looking for a medical digital imaging solution should follow these 5 tips to ensure the process is seamless and successful:

1. Look for a flexible solution. All healthcare organizations have different budgets, project timeframes and other systems that need to interface with the scanned documents. Therefore, medical digital imaging solutions shouldn’t take a “one-size-fits-all” approach.

2. Make sure digital imaging processes are HIPAA compliant. Confidentiality of medical, personnel and financial information must be a top priority. Look for an imaging service that will sign a confidentiality agreement, employs video monitoring of equipment and operates in a security monitored building.

3. Require vendor independence. One medical provider in the Kansas City Star article says his biggest hurdle to converting to electronic records was finding software compatible with his business operation. To avoid this issue, healthcare organization should ensure their imaging service can work with any existing software or system. On the converse, healthcare organizations should be wary of providers who sell hardware or software.

4. Ensure ease of use. Another medical provider in the Kansas City Star article cited ease of use as a main barrier to the adoption of digital files. A medical digital imaging service should not only ensure proper training of new systems or processes, but also offer the option of an on-site representative to ensure seamless transition.

5. Provide a complete audit trail. During the digital conversion processes, healthcare organizations need a complete audit trail for doctors and medical personnel to track the status of patient files. Medical personnel must be able to quickly determine whether files are waiting to be scanned, are in the process of being scanned or have successfully been electronically filed.

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Medical Digital Imaging Quickly Gaining Speed was posted at Imaging Services Blog. | http://www.imagingservices.com/blog

One New York hospital recently joined the ranks of healthcare organizations investing in medical records scanning. With the help of microMEDIA Imaging Systems, it has successfully converted its paper and film records and charts for its pediatric unit, OBGYN unit, World Trade Center unit for 9/11 victims and 5 off-site community clinics.

But the road to achieving an effective medical records scanning solution wasn’t easy. Before partnering with microMEDIA Imaging Systems, the hospital had been working with another vendor unable to meet the needs of a fast-paced healthcare environment. The hospital experienced 3 problems in particular:

Before:

1. Inaccurate coding of documents and lack of communication, leading to misfiled patient charts

2. No audit trail for doctors or other medical personnel to track the status of patient files

3. No plan for overabundant workflow days, when more than the typical 40 patient charts would go to the vendor to be scanned

To help it get back on the road to implementing an effective medical records scanning solution, the hospital turned to microMEDIA Imaging Systems.

After:

1. Implementation of a regular meeting schedule for scanning team members and hospital staff to facilitate communication

2. Comprehensive audit trail added to distinguish files waiting to be scanned, in the process of being scanned or already filed

3. Extra staff brought in on an as-needed basis to address over-abundant workloads

Read the full case study to discover how the hospital’s new document scanning solution has helped it enhance patient care, save physicians’ time and improve efficiencies.

NY Hospital Goes Digital With Medical Records Scanning was posted at Imaging Services Blog. | http://www.imagingservices.com/blog

Buffalo Business First reports that the Buffalo Area Physicians Information Exchange (BAPHIE) is using a $1 million grant from the Medical Society of the State of New York to implement a sophisticated EHR system. The BAPHIE comprises Buffalo Medical Group, Lifetime Health Group, Dent Neurological Associates and University at Buffalo Associates.

The EHR will allow these organizations to share clinical information such as:

• Patient diagnoses
• Prescriptions
• Test results
• Laboratory results

If your healthcare organization is part of the growing number of organizations ready to implement a digital health records system, keep in mind these critical points:

1. Maintain quality. Digital conversions of patient charts, images and document pages must be as legible as the original. No pages can be omitted and patient data must be completely accurate.

2. Obtain a customized solution. A comprehensive digital health records system should not be an “out-of-the-box” solution. Instead, it should be customized based on individual objectives, timeframe, budget and other systems that must be integrated with the new solution.

3. Ensure compliance. It is essential that all steps and parties involved in the digital health records system implementation be Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliant. Confidentiality of medical, personnel and financial records is crucial.

4. Rely on the experts. A reliable document conversion service should provide health care organizations the option of having technicians on site. This ensures accuracy and efficiency, and allows the service to accommodate requests in a timely manner. Technicians should be experienced in the installation of scanners, PCs, servers and mini-networks.

Discover more about medical digital imaging and learn how document imaging management and scanning services from microMEDIA can help your organization.

Best Practices for Implementing a Digital Health Records System was posted at Imaging Services Blog. | http://www.imagingservices.com/blog

How many healthcare organizations have gone completely paperless with medical imaging and reached the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society’s (HIMSS) highest level?

A. 25

B. 10

C. 2

If you answered “C”, you are correct. Currently, just 2 out of 5,167 total healthcare systems have taken healthcare document imaging to the utmost level and achieved the HIMSS Stage 7 Award:

• The NorthShore University HealthSystem in Evanston, Illinois, which comprises 858 beds in 3 hospitals
• Kaiser Permanente Health Foundation in Oakland, California, which comprises 7,654 beds in 12 facilities

To achieve the Stage 7 Award for healthcare document imaging, a hospital must be truly paperless. Medical records must be completely electronic, and clinical information must be readily shared via electronic transactions with all entities within the health information exchange network. Also at this stage, the healthcare organization must use data warehousing and mining techniques to capture and analyze care data for performance improvement and advancing clinical decision support protocols.

To date, 37 additional healthcare organizations have achieved the Stage 6 Award, the next highest level for healthcare document imaging.

Here is the breakdown for the other 6 stages:

Stage 5: closed loop medication administration

Stage 4: Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE), Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) (clinical protocols)

Stage 3: clinical documentation (flow sheets), CDSS (error checking), Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) available outside radiology

Stage 2: clinical data repository, controlled medical vocabulary, may have document imaging

Stage 1: all ancillaries (lab, radiation and pharmacy) installed

Stage 0: all ancillaries not installed

Healthcare Document Imaging Quiz: Who’s Gone Paperless? was posted at Imaging Services Blog. | http://www.imagingservices.com/blog