Document Scanning Blog

The slow but sure transformation in how patient records are stored and gathered has been dramatically sped up, now that the economic stimulus package has promised $19 billion for electronic medical records (EMR).  EMR scanning is a big part of this transformation in healthcare.  Not only will medical chart scanning and EMR scanning /storage improve the infrastructure of communication among healthcare providers, it will also allow physicians to better care for their patients. Today, only 1.5 percent of private hospitals have a comprehensive EMR system in place, with an additional 7.6 percent having at least one unit using fully electronic records.   According to the Obama administration, fully digitizing all medical records into a massive national database will provide medical researchers a wealth of information about which treatments work and which don’t.  EMR scanning, and other forms of medical chart scanning will also allow physicians to send and receive digital medical charts, speed the diagnostic process, and eliminate the need for unnecessary procedures and tests. Some other examples of how electronic medical records and advanced technology has changed the medical industry can be seen at a number of institutions.  At the Oakland Medical Center, doctors and nurses use flat-screen computer tablets - no larger than a sheet of paper - to access a patient’s medical record.  ER staff at their Kaiser Permanente facility can use device to find out about a patient’s medical history, medications, and test results. They can also be used to show a patient their x-ray. At Pittsburgh Medical Center, because they all wear ultrasound ID tags, whenever a hospital staffer enters the room their name and job title pop up on a wall-mounted, flat screen monitor.  All the appropriate medical chart data is also available on the screen, showing nurses the medications to provide, and doctors recent updates on their patients’ condition. While some institutions are still far behind in converting to digital records, EMR scanning and medical record scanning and storage are much more widely accepted today than they were a year ago, and we finally have the funding to make this happen  - quickly.