Document Scanning Blog

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.

Technorati Tags: Document Scanning, document scanning new york, emr scanning, medical chart scanning, medical record scanning

One of the main reasons so many offices are still “pushing paper” instead of using an electronic document management system is because they think going “paperless” will be too difficult. What many don’t realize is that all they need is a decent document scanner and some OCR scanning software.

Larger organizations will often outsource their document scanning and digital storage needs as a way to get started, since these companies will eliminate the need to spend weeks in the office at the scanner. However, once the initial work is done, many offices choose to do the scanning themselves.

A relatively inexpensive scanner will help you keep up with the influx of paper documents into your office, including letters, faxes, invoices and news articles. Using OCR scanning software in conjunction with the scanned images allows you to convert the PDFs into an editable, search able text format.

Some companies choose to use the software that comes bundled with the scanner, which works well for controlling image quality, but does nothing to make the images search able. You will need a powerful OCR scanning software package with an intuitive user-interface. The best software will recognize different languages and fonts, read the text from screen-shots, and even extract text from a scanned document containing tables and pictures with ease.

After your documents are all converted into digital formats, you will want to decide on an easy way to store and archive them on a secure server, or store them on an external hard drive. An easy way to index your search able scanned images is by using Google Desktop or the built-in search index tool on Windows Vista.

Once you get the hang of it, you will wonder how you ever managed your documents any other way.

Technorati Tags: Document Scanning, document scanning new york, emr scanning, medical chart scanning, medical record scanning, OCR scanning

Given the amount of money that has been earmarked for paperless medical information systems, it looks like we are closer than ever to having electronic medical records (EMRs). According to experts in the health care industry, EMRs will make administering health care and medications much safer, more cost effective and less cumbersome. Public opinion is gradually catching up with the facts, but skeptics still say they prefer the chaos of a paper-based system.

Here is a summary of some reasons why electronic medical records are an essential next step for the health care industry.

1. With EMRs, people won’t need to make a trip to their primary care physician every time they need to reorder a prescription. They will simply be able to email their doctor. This is not only great news for patients; it will allow doctors the ability to serve more patients and use their time more efficiently.
2. Online personal health records allow patients to track their own medical information much more readily than getting information supplied by their doctors. Pretty soon, patients will be able to access their own health records online and download test results, immunizations and other information.
3. Speaking of test results, EMRs will eventually eliminate the need to drag x-ray films from one doctors’ office to another. Pretty soon, it will be possible to view test results online and incorporate them directly into a patient’s electronic record.
4. With so many people in this country taking a handful of different prescription drugs every day, it is amazing there are not more problems with drug interactions, dosages and side effects. When patients are able to centralize all their medical records – and prescriptions – into one online record, drug interactions and side effects will be flagged automatically.
5. When most people think of online medical records, they expect to view them on a PC or laptop, but it won’t be long before they can be viewed on a cell phone.

Electronic medical records are designed to comply with all the HIPAA privacy laws and be securely encrypted. This is actually a lot more security than what is currently in place for the storage of paper records, which can easily be photocopied or stolen from a doctors’ office.

Technorati Tags: Document Scanning, document scanning new york, electronic medical records, emr scanning, EMRs, medical chart scanning, medical record scanning, online medical records

As your company takes on the challenge of going “paperless”, hiring a document scanning company is usually the best way to go, but there are several steps in the process that must occur before you begin working with an outside vendor.

1. Assemble your team: Changing the way documents, billing statements, patient records and interoffice correspondence are managed within an office environment can be a daunting task, and it is not one that can be done effectively without the input of your organization’s major stakeholders. Before embarking on this process, be sure you have the right team in place to make it happen, and that you know who will be participating in each phase of the project.
2. Analyze your usage: Once your team is in place, you will want to take a closer look at your document usage, including the types of documents your company uses the most, and how they are typically used.
3. Get organized: Plan out the way you would like to see your documents organized, whether it is in digital libraries, team-based portals, limited access sites, etc. Once you determine this, you will have a better idea of how and where each type of document should be stored and who should have access to which documents. If you choose a library, you can further organize specific documents into folders and subfolders.
4. Go with the flow: How is content currently moving through your company. Does it need to be converted from one format to another as it moves around? How can you make the flow of content easier for your organization? This may take some input from the entire team.
5. Be Consistent: Plan out how you will identify “content types” in your new document management system. Some companies use metadata, others use specific templates. The most important thing is to maintain a level of consistency throughout the organization.
6. Maintain Security: For each document, you will want to maintain different levels of control. This is especially true with legal documents, where many firms opt to require employees to go through a check-in/check-out process to prevent unauthorized distribution.

These are just some of the many ways companies prepare for a complete overhaul of their document management. In most cases, these decisions are made before any document scanning or electronic document storage begins, because the planning process helps determine the level and scope of services.

Technorati Tags: Document Scanning, document scanning new york, emr scanning, medical chart scanning, medical record scanning

These days, we don’t push paper anymore, but we do push digital files, documents, spread sheets and quotes through a series of internal and external networks. In highly confidential work environments, such as doctors’ offices and law firms, there is always a concern about maintaining control over who can access each document.

As documents move through an office environment, they can be converted into PDFs, reformatted, recalculated and edited. They can also be emailed, printed, mailed and released to the public. But because each document is essentially a “corporate record” it is important to retain each one properly throughout every stage of its existence.

Whether you choose to use a document scanning company or handle your document management process in-house, it is wise to come up with a company-wide protocol for the movement of digital files through corporate networks. Most companies will also want to use off-site online document storage for instant retrieval of important records from any PC.

For those who choose the do-it-yourself method, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server has features that will help you implement a fully functional document management system. All aspects of the program work well with familiar applications from Microsoft Office, such as Word, Outlook and Excel.

Larger organizations, and those who require more security features, should consider outsourcing their document management system to an outside vendor. Not only will this free up your employees’ time, it will also ensure that the project is managed properly, all documents are archived, and system updates are maintained on a regular basis.

Technorati Tags: document management, Document Scanning, document scanning new york, Document Storage, emr scanning, medical chart scanning, medical record scanning

If your business is looking into spearheading a new document management system, it is important to plan ahead and make decisions as a team. A good plan will allow you to better manage the document life cycle, including the formats in which they are created, and methods used for publishing, storage, consumption and ultimately, disposal or retention.

An effective document management system should be a group effort, as it will ultimately reflect the needs of the entire organization, as well as its culture and goals. In some larger corporations, the structure is tighter, but a plan can also be loose and flexible, depending on which is the best fit for your enterprise.

First and foremost, the goals of your new document management system should be the ability to find and share information in a usable and logical way. This way, content creation is standardized across the business, which promotes easy access to important knowledge and helps an organization be legally compliant.

The planning process helps guide a company through the document’s life Starting a new document management system? You will need a plan cycle and track it through each state of its existence, from authoring through auditing, storage, and ultimately archiving or destroying.

When you are ready to plan out a solution that works for your business, ask yourself the following questions.

* What templates will you use for each document?
* What metadata, or sorting text, will you use to identify each document?
* What types of documents will your organization create?
* Do you plan on using a specific template for each document?
* Where should each type of document be stored for easy retrieval?

With a little planning, staring a document management system is a great way to improve communications, productivity and legal compliance.

Technorati Tags: document management system, Document Scanning, document scanning new york, emr scanning, medical chart scanning, medical record scanning

Anyone who has ever spent time in a medical office will tell you; paper-based medical records often contain lots of errors. This is because of several factors, including doctors’ penmanship, inaccurate transcriptions, hasty filing, and human error, all of which can be a huge liability for any medical practice.

Converting patient records into e-charts is a great way to minimize these errors, while making medical records more accessible and secure. Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are more popular than ever, and allow doctors to run their practices more efficiently while keeping patient information accurate, accessible and private. With so many medical institutions making the switch to electronic record keeping, e-charts are helping doctors remain competitive in today’s changing health care market.

Patients are now demanding electronic health records as a way to better manage their own health, while insurers are also looking to EHRs for ways to improve their service to customers. If all history of a patient is stored by electronic health records, it would also make it easier for ER doctors, hospitals and specialists to access important patient medical information, a list of prescribed medications, and any existing conditions before determining the best course of treatment.

When a medical record is saved in an EHR system, it provides an easy way for a physician to review a patient’s medical history, as well as learning about any drug allergies, past surgeries, lab results, or immunizations.

With the help of professional medical record scanning professionals, it is also much easier to keep patient information confidential, since it is only available through a secure database. But while medical record scanning has been around for a while, it is only now becoming widely accepted in the health care community. This is because it is far more cost-effective, it reduces inaccuracies, and it allows doctors to better serve their patients’ overall health needs.

Technorati Tags: Document Scanning, document scanning new york, emr scanning, medical chart scanning, medical record scanning

Keeping paper documents stored safely as digital media assets is becoming the norm for most offices today. However, whether a business chooses to go about this using a consumer-oriented PC scanner and software package or outsource the job to a professional document scanning company can make a huge difference in the level of satisfaction and success.

Electronic data is always vulnerable to risks associated with servers, such as viruses, natural disasters, electrical failures and corrupted files. External magnetic fields can create system crashes that may ultimately destroy digital files, rendering them unrecoverable. These were the drawbacks of digital document storage up until recently. But today’s electronic document storage companies offer more sophisticated storage methods than ever before.

Not only are most documents stored on dedicated servers, in temperature-controlled, high-security facilities, the digital documents are backed up onto CDs, external hard drives or separate servers in most cases. Because the documents are web based, and not physically stored on a computer in the office, professionally scanned documents are also available from any computer, 24/7. Web-based document storage offers a highly secure way to view business documents, edit them, and return them to the original file, without leaving home.

In order to successfully manage a fully digital office, redundancy must be done systematically, on a daily basis. Policies and procedures relating to the creation of data backups must be clear, and backups should be tested periodically to be sure they are recoverable when needed.

Taking these steps can help a business to successfully manage any risks associated with electronic document storage, while reaping the rewards of speed, flexibility and reduced overhead.

Technorati Tags: Document Scanning, document scanning new york, Electronic Document Storage, emr scanning, medical chart scanning, medical record scanning

Electronic document storage is quickly becoming the most important element of the digital office. It usually involves the conversion and upload of all paper and digital files into a web-based, secure site or FTP server for later editing and retrieval. It can also include the physical storage of archived paper documents at an off-site storage facility.

Today’s microprocessors allow millions of documents to be stored in a space that is about the size of your thumb, but digital document storage is nothing new. For decades, people have been able to store documents safely on magnetic tapes and disks, but CDs became the preferred method of storage for most businesses. However, even that is beginning to change. Web based document storage provides the added protection of an off-site, highly secured server, regular backups of data, and instant access to stored files from any computer with Internet access.

Compared to paper document storage, electronic document storage typically offers a search function that allows the document to be retrieved instantly from wherever it is stored. Here, a single document can be stored in multiple locations and subcategories with the click of a mouse. It is more environmentally sound, offers more efficiencies in worker productivity, and gives a business more flexibility.

Paper storage only allows documents to be sorted using predetermined criteria, and must be sorted manually, making it easy for documents to be misclassified or returned to the wrong folder. This method slows a business down, and can make document retrieval a difficult process. It also takes a great deal of space to store paper files at an office location. Other considerations include the expense of floor space, filing cabinets, office supplies, paper, toner and all the people who need to sort, file and retrieve the documents on a daily basis.

Conversely, compact media and online document storage use very little space, can be managed at any computer, and doesn’t involved the physical storage, retrieval, copying, and filing of an paper. Digital document storage improves virtually every process, making for a faster, more efficient and cost-effective business environment.

Technorati Tags: Document Scanning, document scanning new york, emr scanning, medical chart scanning, medical record scanning

Known as the process by which an image file is converted into an editable and searchable document, OCR scanning has really taken off in recent years. This is because with so many businesses switching to online document management (instead of cumbersome paper files), the need to find and edit existing documents is as important as ever.

OCR, or Optical Character Recognition, OCR scanning is used for managing live documents which can be found using keyword-based or parametric searches, edited, and then retained in multiple versions on a server. This process of content manipulation can be used by law firms, archives managers, educators, museums and medical facilities, among others. It can also be translated easily into multiple languages, including HTML.

OCR scanning became more widely known about ten years ago, but there are still very few standards that define OCR applications. While some software programs claim to cut down on error rates, few are capable of delivering high quality OCR-scanned documents at a reasonable price.

For the thousands of businesses looking to transfer large amounts of original files into digital data, speed and accuracy are a major concern. This is mainly because the original documents need to be out of reach for the period of time it takes to have them professionally scanned and uploaded into digital files. One solution is to scan documents in segments throughout the year by a professional document scanning company who promises quick turnaround.

Volume and turnaround time are the most important factors in determining the need for a professional document scanning company. In the consumer as well as the professional arena, most scanners can handle OCR imaging. If you choose to go this route, consider buying one where the software is part of the machine itself, as this seems to increase speed without sacrificing accuracy.

Ultimately, turnaround time and volume will determine whether a job should be handled in-house or outsourced to a document scanning company.

Technorati Tags: Document Scanning, document scanning new york, emr scanning, medical chart scanning, medical record scanning