The transition from paper to electronic medical records is mandated by law. HITECH is the acronym for the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, which was signed into Federal law in 2009. It has been the bane of existence for many health care providers. The change from paper to electronic records has turned out to be a lot more complicated than legislators anticipated. Medical document scanning services are needed to accomplish this mountainous task.
Doctors, hospitals and clinics literally have rooms of paper records that need to be scanned and converted into electronic records. Careful planning and structure are needed for the process. Otherwise health care providers can end up with electronic garbage rather than electronic medical records.
The process involves organizing the paper documents systematically before scanning them. As documents are scanned the must be named and saved in keeping with protocols established that will make the electronic files easy to access and retrieve. If electronic files are not retrievable, they are virtually useless.
The companies that provide these services must be qualified and trusted to securely perform the job. Someone has to take the time to remove staples and paper clips and organize the paper documents before they can be scanned. The patient records may include X rays, which also need to be converted to electronic.
To be HIPAA compliant, health care providers and scanning companies need to be prepared to provide proof of the chain of custody for all the records they handle. HIPAA stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. Neither the name nor the acronym give a clue as to the meaning and objectives of HIPAA. The Act was intended to safeguard the privacy of protected health information, also known as PHI.
After the documents have been scanned, there is still a mountain of paper to handle. Some facilities opt for storing the paper documents, which will be an ongoing expense. The other option is to securely shred the paper. Secure shredding is another service these companies provide. There is a long list of tasks associated with converting the paper documents to electronic files. There is nothing simple about this process.
The companies that provide scanning services are indispensable. Hospitals and other facilities are smart to outsource the work. The scanning companies will have employees trained to do the job correctly and in keeping with HIPAA and HITECH regulations.
Doctors, hospitals and clinics literally have rooms of paper records that need to be scanned and converted into electronic records. Careful planning and structure are needed for the process. Otherwise health care providers can end up with electronic garbage rather than electronic medical records.
The process involves organizing the paper documents systematically before scanning them. As documents are scanned the must be named and saved in keeping with protocols established that will make the electronic files easy to access and retrieve. If electronic files are not retrievable, they are virtually useless.
The companies that provide these services must be qualified and trusted to securely perform the job. Someone has to take the time to remove staples and paper clips and organize the paper documents before they can be scanned. The patient records may include X rays, which also need to be converted to electronic.
To be HIPAA compliant, health care providers and scanning companies need to be prepared to provide proof of the chain of custody for all the records they handle. HIPAA stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. Neither the name nor the acronym give a clue as to the meaning and objectives of HIPAA. The Act was intended to safeguard the privacy of protected health information, also known as PHI.
After the documents have been scanned, there is still a mountain of paper to handle. Some facilities opt for storing the paper documents, which will be an ongoing expense. The other option is to securely shred the paper. Secure shredding is another service these companies provide. There is a long list of tasks associated with converting the paper documents to electronic files. There is nothing simple about this process.
The companies that provide scanning services are indispensable. Hospitals and other facilities are smart to outsource the work. The scanning companies will have employees trained to do the job correctly and in keeping with HIPAA and HITECH regulations.
About the Author:
Loris F. Anders is an office management specialist focused on optimizing workflow processes in document management. If you would like to learn more about EMR document scanning solutions he recommends you check out www.docufree.com.
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