Importance of EMR in Healthcare

EMR- Electronic Medical Records- are the digital equivalent of paper records or “charts” made by your healthcare provider. Your EMR will contain such information as symptoms or physical complaints, a complete medical history, past, and current treatment and medications, medical tests, X-rays, MRI and other radiological scans, current and future checks of general health, expected results and other notes important to a patient’s health and well-being.

That collection might be handwritten, transcribed from a voice recording, or originating as a digital record. But no matter the origination, the record is now completely digital.

Because the information is now an EMR, patient data and provider notes can be viewed by multiple physicians or medical technicians in different locations, it is searchable for particular words or phrases, the patient’s history can be easily traced over a period of years without thumbing through a file of the paper. This makes test results and treatment options more easily understood since healthcare providers have access to ALL records at one source. Specialists can consult with each other while viewing the same records and test results.

But who collects and compiles these records? Even more importantly if the records are on paper, who scans or translates them into a digital format?

Digitization and document storage is a natural fit for a professional Business Process Outsourcing - BPO Company.

Document Digitization is a process of converting physical data into digital format by either a software or a manual process. If you’re moving into the digital realm for the first time, the amount of paper documentation that already exists can be staggering. And the task of going digital may seem overwhelming. Digitization of data may be of various types:

• Digitization of printed paper documents
• Digitization of handwritten notes
• Digitization of transcriptions
• Digitization of patient intake forms
• Digitization of X-rays and MRIs

And what do you gain for all this digitization?

• Easy Accessibility: Document digitization enables an organization to access the data in the digital form from anywhere, which breaks the barriers of location, time and simultaneous access. Easy accessibility of data improves the data flow, resulting in enhanced productivity.
• Cost Reduction: Digitization of documents enables a provider to get rid of physical documents that consume resources such as office space, security personnel, and a decay-free environment. Once the data is digitized, you can optimize these resources for cost reduction.
• Data Security: As the documents are digitized, access to digital data is easy to define. Digital access not only reduces the time required to provide access but also makes it possible to define the accessibility level. This enhances data security and protects you from data leaks. With the right kind of cybersecurity, it’s easy to safely maintain data.
• Increased Productivity: Data can be accessed by multiple departments within the practice or provider at the same time, if the data is not digitized, it takes more time and more effort to access it.
• Data Storage and Recovery: Digitized data is easy to store at multiple locations, which assures the data safety. Data storage in multiple locations gives extra protection against data corruption or loss. Physical documents are more likely to be damaged, whereas digitized data is more secure and easy to replicate. Natural calamities are often unpredictable so storing it at multiple, secure locations adds reliability to your documents.
• Environmentally Friendly: With digitized data, there’s no need to print it for distribution, also handling digitized data is easy. An email is all you need to share the data so it avoids unnecessary printing. This will ultimately result in saving natural resources, making your enterprise ‘greener’.
• Competitive Advantage: When you access the digitized data, it becomes easy for you to find various records instantly. You can run an analytical diagnosis that can yield important insights.

Documentation Digitization is a key service of a quality BPO. Make sure your partner uses the best methods and people to handle your documents.

Combining Electronic Medical Records with a move to a Healthcare BPO Service provider is a natural fit. Healthcare providers won’t have to hire new staff, or train existing staff to make the change to digital. A BPO can provide trained, experienced professionals to handle all of the migration to digital quickly, efficiently and securely.

Contact Rely Services today for a no-cost evaluation of your opportunities with EMR and BPO!