Vivek Naidu, Vice President, Information Management, Kodak Alaris India gives an insight about Electronic Medical Record, and its benefits for healthcare providers
Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems are designed to keep track of a patient’s entire health and medical history in an electronic, computerised format. Although it may appear to be a daunting task, storing the vast volume of patient records in a digital format makes information more readily accessible and can help healthcare workers and patients navigate through healthcare systems more safely and efficiently.
Ultimately, EMR systems can improve quality of care and patient safety, control costs, save substantial time for healthcare providers and, of course, provide extensive storage capabilities in today’s data-driven era. Advantages include increased efficiency, with the ability to reduce duplication of documents; elimination of needless delays in searching for charts; intelligence capabilities such as medical and prescription drug interaction alerts and treatment reminders; and quality measures for tailoring and showcasing data in customised formats for specific specialities. EMR standards were notified by government in September 2013. These standards have not been made mandatory. The government is working with healthcare providers and other stakeholders for adoption of these standards.
Transitioning any healthcare organisation from a paper-based environment to a digital one can be a complicated proposition. However, if the transition is thoroughly planned and executed, the task can be manageable and results in substantial benefits to your practice or organisation. While selecting EMR/ EHR process, conversion of document, charts and other information document should be considered while addressing the transition.
Conversion of existing documents and information is critical, and requires evaluation and consideration of a scanning solution to integrate into your EMR system or to provide standalone document retention and access. Most scanning solutions have been validated with healthcare systems, but validation needs to be verified prior to use. Staff training on the conversion of back files and day-forward documents procedures is critical for success. After the paper transition is planned and executed, your organisation is ready to go live, with the EMR/EHR solution providing access to paper information electronically. During the transition phase, there is likely to be a slowdown, but once the system has been fully adopted, time and cost savings will be incremental. To ensure that the transition is smooth, you need to make sure everyone in your organisation is on-board, establish solid security protocols, conduct routine maintenance and backups for your system and develop a disaster recovery plan.
Challenges in converting existing medical records to a digital system
With today’s wide variety of paper patient records, including faxed prescriptions, physician orders, referrals, collections of signatures, medical charts and other accumulated patient information, it’s hard to imagine how to convert to a paperless office. To ensure successful migration of paper charts and information to your EMR system, it’s important to first determine what approach you want to use to convert your documents, files and charts. Options include:
- Set up a manual in-house process, whereby documents are scanned directly into a solution if it has the capability.
- Purchase a solution that provides more sophisticated information indexing and allows users to scan charts into the EMR solution.
- Outsource the project to a service provider that specialises in document conversion for physicians and healthcare systems. When converting existing data and considering scanning options, first and foremost organisations need to ensure the integrity of data and image quality. They also need to consider ease of use: Is it a simple push-button process, or is it more complicated? And, of course, speed: How many scans/ pages per minute are demanded?
Also, is a backup scanner needed? This is important when considering the high volume of paperwork being transitioned. Finally, you need to consider the level of service from the solution provider. Will the scanner provider replace or fix a unit if there are problems? How promptly will it be able to correct the issue? Will it provide guidance to help make the transition smooth? These are questions that should be considered while selecting a solutions provider.
Scanning is a relatively simple method for capturing electronic images of paper documents and storing them for online reference, either through a stand-alone the obvious threats to paper records. Additionally, digital documents can be encrypted along with other security measures to protect files from theft or misuse. When records have been scanned and are digital, organisations can track and audit files and users in the system, and storage becomes far more manageable.
Selecting the right document imaging solution is very important for the transition to EMR/ EHR
Once you’ve taken the leap to digital, you need to consider the most effective way to incorporate all of your existing patient documentation and information. Selecting the right scanning solution for your organisation is the first step to becoming a successful ‘paperless’ environment. What is clear is the need for a high-quality scanning solution that has proven integration and success with your chosen EMR/EHR/ECM solutions. Also, a documented conversion protocol must be established and followed as part of your organisational strategy in the transition to digital. Selecting the correct scanning solution for your transition to EMR is a critical first step that includes the conversion of paper files into electronic images that can be imported into your EMR software platform for access.
To make this transition seamless, you need to ensure your solution offers the appropriate scanning volume and high-quality images. Otherwise, this step may be a slow and arduous process. Many organisations mistakenly believe they can get away with ‘a nice little scanner’ they already have in the office, until they find that they’ve burnt it out after only a few weeks’ time. This phase is an important step in your organisation’s move into the digital era and must be considered as part of its comprehensive plan in transitioning to EMR. Shaving dollars on your document. Conversion step will result in wasted man-hours and frustration resulting in failure to convert your back files and day-forward documents.