Article written by Stephanie Onofri
If you thought dealing with medical records is a frightening ordeal, imagine how terrifying it would be to sit back while electronic versions of these records are automatically streamlined through existing processes that promote better ROIs, improving patient response-time, and optimizing staff productivity in more growth-oriented operations, and leaving you nothing to do except *ahem* your job. No, I mean your actual job; one that doesn’t involve redundant manual tasks such as data entry or indexing.
While many Medical Industry leaders are slowly transitioning into this terrifying new frontier, others are still relying on their paper processes to get the job done. And not without good reason! In fact, let’s take a look at some of the reasons why you’d want to hold tight to those manila folders and clipboards.
#1- You’re sentimental
Admit it. You still open books and waft at their old dusty pages, don’t you? What would the health facility be like without paper? Doctors would no longer be able to flip sheets over their clipboards, and nurses and staff would have to say “bye bye” to paper cuts forever! Let me put it to you this way: imagine a world with no more SpongeBob band-aids – Enough said.
#2 – You’re a pyromaniac
You love the smell of a fire hazard. Paper patient records, in all its forms and varieties, appeal to you for this reason. Medical records should be flammable, not automated. When they are automated and put through a workflow, they are tailored seamlessly to existing processes allowing staff to focus on more direct patient care and promoting the re-allocation of departmental funds to more growth-oriented tasks, and this sort of “laissez faire” way of doing things is exactly what your grandparents warned you against. If you can’t take the heat, get out of the filing cabinet.
#3- You want the good life, but you don’t want an easy ride
What’s more impressive: conveniently transmitting medical records from the comfort of your desk virtually to designated health personnel for processing and approvals, or the indomitable spirit it takes to sort through paper files for hours on end and correcting the mistakes that often accompany manual data updates? C’mon. We all know what Jillian would say – WORK HARDER!!! PUSH PAPER UNTIL YOU PUKE OR DIE!
#4- There’s a reason they’re called “patients”
If patients were no longer required to be “patient” while we search for their files, what would be the point? We’d have to start calling them “impatients” or “individual that is worth the investment in the software solution that optimizes his/her care” (try saying that three times!). And let’s face it, who wants to rob those needy of medical care of their stab at that elusive virtue?
But on a serious note, if pop culture is any indication of the direction in which Healthcare Facilities are headed, then we can be certain that more complications will equal more reality-show viewership, but not necessarily happier patients. While many hospitals and clinics have already begun the transition to Electronic Medical Records (EMR), there are still some that are reluctant to make the switch. Many fear that the software solutions that optimize existing processes will not be cost-effective; others have huge amounts of back-files that would need to be scanned and converted before further integrations can take place.
But don’t panic! There are actual scanning and conversion experts out there whose sole ambition in life is to pick up your back files, carry them to their highly protected, SOC2 TYPE II-endowed, audit-controlled conversion facility equipped with all manner of force-field-shields, flame-retardant chemicals, and SpongeBob band-aids you’ll ever need, and do all your scanning and conversion for you. But it doesn’t end there! Once all your back-files are taken care of, these experts provide daily services to ensure that your medical facility will never have to look a filing cabinet in the drawers again.
I know. Mind= BLOWN
Connect with a business process expert below to learn about all the reasons why EMR is a bad idea. We’ll hold your hand as you make the terrifying leap into the integrations that are putting Medical Industry leaders ahead of the paper curb!
