Fundamentals
HealthCare remains a paper-intensive and minimally automated and digitized industry. CBS Market watch reportedthat an estimated 90% of all patient information remains on paper. The current(2009) Federal budget has allocated $19 billion dollars to creating digitized medical records in order to reduce medical costs.
Inherent problems associated with paper-based patient records include:
- A sizeable amount of money associated with healthcare is spent for administrative costs. The New England Journal of Medicine estimates that of every dollar spent on healthcare 31 cents is for administrative costs. Physicians and staff spend a tremendous amount of time maintaining paper-based patient records.
- Paper-based files are often lost or misfiled. It is not uncommon for a patient file to be in the trunk of a doctor’s car. It is also feasible that a patient file may not be properly re-filed. As a result, physicians see patients an estimated 40% of the time without a completed chart.
- The HealthCare industry is heavily regulated by guidelines such the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Under this act patients have the right to inspect their records for six years. Also patients have the right to know who has had access to their records and for what purpose. Maintaining tight security of paper-based files is very difficult.
- There is no backup copy of the files. Water damage, fire or intentional destruction of files means that the files can be permanently lost.
- Only one person has access to a file at one time
- Storage space can be considerable
- Costs of photocopying and couriers are high
All of these issues are addressed through electronic imaging systems and most are completely eliminated. The benefits of imaging are basically the inverse of the above.
- Reduced administrative cost
- No lost files – All data backed up
- Tight security for HIPAA
- Multiple individuals can access files simultaneously
- Space savings
Essentials of an imaging system are:
- Input – Scanner / Multi-function Copier / PC’s
- Storage – Network Array / PC
- Output – PC Monitor / Printer / Fax
- Advanced features could include document routing workflow, integration with other systems, remote access, etc.
Charts and other documents must be prepared for scanning by removing staples, unfolding pages, etc. Dividers are inserted to separate documents. Scanning is typically done two-sided, with blank backside removed automatically. Image inspection and page count verification confirm that the scanning has been accurate. Rework is done as needed. Documents are identified with any number of elements such as Name, Account Number, Date of Birth, Date, Type of Document, etc. The work is then uploaded into storage and available for retrieval by authorized users who can search by any data element previously entered.
Retrieved documents can be viewed locally, printed, e-mailed and stored on the user’s PC. Each capability is subject to security and authorization rules.