In 2009 the Federal government passed the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act also known as HITECH. This law mandates that health care records must be kept electronically. This created a tremendous burden on the health care industry, with hospitals and physicians having many past years of paper records. To be compliant with this law health care providers must convert all paper documents into electronic files. Companies that provide medical document scanning services were formed to fill this need.
Hospitals and all other facilities serving patients have literally tons of paper medical records. To convert all these paper records to electronic files is no easy task. It requires careful planning and a special set of technical skills. For the files to be retrievable there must be naming protocols and an organized filing system. The electronic files must be retrievable for future patient care.
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.
Health care providers absolutely need a qualified, trusted and secure document scanning service. There are years worth of paper files with paper clips, post its and staples that have to be removed before the documents are scanned. There can also be X rays that need to be converted into electronic images, which requires a special type of scanner.
In addition to these challenges, health care providers must be able to prove that the chain of custody of the records during the scanning process has been completely HIPAA compliant. HIPAA is the acronym for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. You would not know it from the name or the acronym, but HIPAA is all about keeping patient health care information private.
After the hard copies have been converted to electronic files, the question of how to dispose of the paper documents still remains. Some physicians choose to store the paper documents, but that does present an ongoing expense. If the records are to be disposed of, this too must be in accordance with HIPAA. Secure shredding is another service offered by these companies.
Services to scan documents are necessary. The physician or hospital should not attempt to hire temporary workers and purchase their own equipment. Services have the skill set for thorough and secure execution of this mandate. Doctors and hospitals do not possess this required skills or equipment.
Hospitals and all other facilities serving patients have literally tons of paper medical records. To convert all these paper records to electronic files is no easy task. It requires careful planning and a special set of technical skills. For the files to be retrievable there must be naming protocols and an organized filing system. The electronic files must be retrievable for future patient care.
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.
Health care providers absolutely need a qualified, trusted and secure document scanning service. There are years worth of paper files with paper clips, post its and staples that have to be removed before the documents are scanned. There can also be X rays that need to be converted into electronic images, which requires a special type of scanner.
In addition to these challenges, health care providers must be able to prove that the chain of custody of the records during the scanning process has been completely HIPAA compliant. HIPAA is the acronym for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. You would not know it from the name or the acronym, but HIPAA is all about keeping patient health care information private.
After the hard copies have been converted to electronic files, the question of how to dispose of the paper documents still remains. Some physicians choose to store the paper documents, but that does present an ongoing expense. If the records are to be disposed of, this too must be in accordance with HIPAA. Secure shredding is another service offered by these companies.
Services to scan documents are necessary. The physician or hospital should not attempt to hire temporary workers and purchase their own equipment. Services have the skill set for thorough and secure execution of this mandate. Doctors and hospitals do not possess this required skills or equipment.
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 PCI Certified cloud document management he recommends you check out www.docufree.com.
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