Having medical records handy is always important, but it’s crucial in a pandemic. Click here to learn how to index medical records and keep things in order.
Quality medical care depends on timely, accurate, and accessible medical records.
Incomplete or inaccurate information can have grave consequences for patients. During a crisis, the last thing a medical provider needs is to wrestle with errors or a shoddy recordkeeping system.
Knowing how to index medical records is critical during the catastrophe we currently face. In the COVID-19 pandemic, indexing medical records is more important for public health than ever.
The Persistence of Paper Medical Records
Over the past ten years, the great promise of electronic medical records (EMR) systems has been extremely challenging. Many private EMR companies sprung up, and their products were often incompatible with each other.
As a result, providers could not easily share patient information. This frustration created the continued use of paper records.
While the vast majority of hospitals and clinics have adopted some type of EMR system, many still use paper records. Most commonly, a health care facility will use a combination of paper and electronic recordkeeping.
The Challenge of Indexing Paper Records
At some point, the paper record must be electronically recorded or indexed. Usually, the responsibility falls on a staff member, but sometimes a healthcare provider like a doctor or nurse must perform this duty.
As one might expect, there is much room for human error here. While indexing software exists, it too can make mistakes.
The task is tedious and time-consuming even when we are not in the middle of a global pandemic. With the amount of work providers are currently facing, accurate indexing grows more challenging each day.
Easy, Accurate Record Indexing
The solution is a separate system designed exclusively for indexing. Instead of inputting information line-by-line, healthcare staff can simply fax or scan the document to centralized indexing software.
The right software is smart enough to recognize each zone of information based on its text. No matter where the data resides, the software understands the nature of the content.
Free of stress-laden human error, indexing suddenly becomes 99% accurate.
No mistakes. No mixups. No records lost to cyber-purgatory.
Outsourcing the task saves vital time. Instead of busywork, staff can focus on saving lives. During this unprecedented period, every minute counts.
How to Index Medical Records When Ground Zero is Everywhere
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced medical teams to work remotely. In many outbreak zones throughout the United States, especially urban areas like New York, bed shortages have forced hospitals to use other types of facilities to house patients.
Hospitals have adopted tents, convention centers, docked ships, and hotels as makeshift holding facilities for sick patients. As a result, hospital staff must scatter about these off-site venues. What implications does this have for recordkeeping?
In the midst of such chaos, it is impossible to have staff take precious time to return to a base hospital to index records. The ability to index quickly and easily from anywhere becomes essential.
What makes indexing software so useful is its ability to receive the information from anywhere. A fax machine or scanner and internet access is all a remote hospital set-up needs to index all of its records.
EMR Compatability
Most hospitals will simultaneously be using an EMR system in addition to paper records. The hybrid system allows for versatility, and paper records will likely stay around for many years to come.
It is essential to understand that an indexing system is not an EMR database. Indexing software is specialized for indexing only, not for storing patient medical records. It does, however, work directly with EMR systems, so compatibility is a must.
In times of crisis, all types of software involved with medical records must work seamlessly with each other. There is no time for technical hang-ups.
The Indexing Solution for Our Time
Solitary understands the constant need for quality medical recordkeeping. Their system uses artificial intelligence to index every paper record, and experienced humans oversee the process.
Solitary provides healthcare networks with a quick, accurate medical record for indexing solutions. The software integrates with any EMR or electronic document management system, and the turnaround time for the record index to enter the EMR is as little as one hour.
The result? 99% accuracy. Artificial intelligence-driven technology understands the content of the record.
For a hospital or health clinic, this level of accuracy results in better patient outcomes, and less operational stress and friction for its staff and providers.
Learn More About Indexing Medical Records
Knowing how to index medical records is vital for your clinic’s success.
Not only is it important for you as a business, but it is important for patient care at the same time.
To learn more about the most timely issues that affect your business, browse more of our articles today.
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