Document Scanning Blog

It’s hard to believe that electronic medical records (EMRs) have been around long enough that there would already be a demand for this – but some medical professionals are already looking to upgrade their current EMR to a new one. The two major challenges to doing this are converting your data to the new system, and converting the culture of your organization, but both of these challenges can be resolved if you have chosen the right EMR/EHR solution. Converting the existing data may require help from an outside vendor, or a document scanning service that specializes in EMR scanning. They will be more familiar with how the data was stored in the old EMR and be able to extract it into the new system. Unless you are a computer whiz, you may want to leave this work to the experts. As for the culture of your organization, moving to a new EMR set-up may be a little disconcerting at first, but if you have chosen a more intuitive data-entry system they will eventually thank you. Most EMR scanning services will offer some form of training for the uninitiated. A document scanning company will be certain that every page in the scanned charts is as legible as the original, and not data is emitted from the final records. Ultimately, your best bet for moving form one EMR service to another is to use a certified scanning company that has a lot of experience with EMR scanning and document management for the medical profession.

Medical offices and hospitals around the country are working feverishly to get their paper medical charts scanned and converted into electronic medical records (EMRs). Once this whole process is completed, it will be much easier for both doctors and patients to access vital medical information online or to alert hospitals of a patient’s prescription drugs in the event of an emergency. Now that we’re this close to a complete overhaul of paper records, the question is – what do we do with all those old paper charts? Most people believe there are only two real choices; archiving and shredding. But there is another way to use old charts that may make more sense. Incorporating the old paper chart into the new EMR work flow is a smart move if you have the time and resources to do it. It may take awhile, but a document scanning company can help speed the process along. The point of scanning old records is that they can become incorporated into existing EMRs. If the EMR is where your employees are going to find current information on a patient, it only makes sense that they would look in the same place for archived data. Doing this will allow you to get rid of the old paper charts once and for all, and use the space where they are stored for something else. Choosing an outside company to do this document scanning for you may cost a little more, but it will be done quickly and professionally, in an indexed format that allows you to quickly search and print out old records. They can even be added to a web server and become partially integrated into a patient’s electronic health records.

Making the transition to paperless medical record scanning is an exciting yet tedious task, but it is one that you will never regret. The only thing that you might regret is a lack of planning before starting the process. Here are some tips that will ensure your EMR scanning transition goes off without a hitch. 1. Decide on a Time frame: No matter how long you think the project will take, it will usually take longer. This is because most medical practices have employees do the scanning in small increments, over a matter of months or years. If speed is important to you, why not outsource the job to a document scanning company that specializes in EMRs? 2. Take a Closer Look at your Volume: One you have a good idea of how many records need to be scanned, you will readily determine the length of time it will take to complete the job. If you plan to use an outsourced solution, then you should ask them how much they can realistically scan per day. Most professional services will give you an accurate time frame based on your volume. 3. Determine Access Levels: Before you turn your paper documents into EMRs, figure out which employees will have access to which records. The easiest way to implement Access Levels on EMRs is to use an online solution for document storage, with password protected access. 4. Don’t Forget HIPAA Laws: This is a good time to re-read the HIPAA privacy laws, which require the tracking of all activity on digital health records. Complying with these laws may require a special software program. 5. Importing Scanned Images into an EMR System: Remember, going paperless doesn’t stop at the document scanning process. You will still need a solution for importing scanned documents into EMRs. An outsourced provider should be able to handle this, but make sure you ask them up front.