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Implementing an #EMR? What about our existing patient records?

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Four Winds HospitalFour Winds Hospitals are located on two serene campuses in New York State. Four Winds Katonah, a 175 bed psychiatric hospital 50 minutes north of midtown Manhattan and Four Winds Saratoga, an 88 bed psychiatric hospital located in Saratoga Springs, 30 minutes north of Albany. Four Winds has become leading specialized providers of inpatient psychiatric treatment for children, adolescents and adults in the northeast.

For Four Winds, the EMR (electronic medical record) aims to provide additional value to patients of Four Winds by increasing safety and security, improving quality, accelerating excellence in operations, as well as generally improving access with immediate availability of vital patient information.

With this quantum leap in technology, a solution was needed to ensure continuity with existing paper patient records. Four Winds Saratoga decided to work with Image Data for imaging services to make this transition from hard copy to digital happen.

According to Michelle Blanchard, RHIA, who is Director, Health Information at Four Winds, “Four Winds Saratoga contracted with Image Data converting historical patient records to images which were then transferred to our electronic medical record. This included over 600 patient files and approx. 105,000 scanned images.”

Image Data’s responsive approach to this project and proven experience with similar healthcare customers yielded expedient progress and instant access to important patient records that provide continuity of access to older patient information even as new, state of the art systems are put in place.

Blanchard adds, “The Image Data team did an amazing job maintaining organization of the records while transporting, preparing and scanning the records. The quality of the images far surpassed our expectations as did the speed at which the team finished the project. The overall experience was unsullied and we would highly recommend Image Data services to other organizations seeking imaging services.”

It is the philosophy of Four Winds that “quality treatment, delivered at the appropriate level of care, is not only clinically effective, but cost effective.” In truth, all healthcare IT solutions need to meet that same dual objective of clinical and cost effectiveness. By migrating existing patient records into an enduring electronic format, coupled with easy access for clinicians,  hospitals like Four Winds can increase clinician satisfaction; remove barriers to adoption of a new EMR; increase safety by ensuring no patient history information is missed; and significantly improve operational excellence with standardized and coordinated processes.

Many hospitals are facing this exact same challenge. They’ve made a commitment to implement an EMR/EHR and it can often be a complex, multi-million dollar investment with a protracted implementation. All the while, the disconcerting issue remains of what to do with paper patient records or even electronic records that exist in older formats from “home grown” or obsolete patient record systems. From a best practices perspective, it is critical for HCIT and clinical informatics leaders to partner with a firm that specializes in healthcare patient record migrations. Image Data’s strengths in engagement and project management, production planning and process control, and attention to data security can make the difference for a headache-free patient archive migration project associated with an EMR/EHR implementation.

Talk to Image Data today. We’re experts at evaluating your hospital’s unique challenges and providing a solution tailored to your requirements. Join our many clients in healthcare who work with Image Data to implement solutions that positively impact patient care.

 

 

Saratoga Hospital Teams with Image Data for EMR Conversion & Migration

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“Four Winds Saratoga contracted with Image Data converting historical patient records to images which were then transferred to our electronic medical record. This included over 600 patient files and approx. 105,000 scanned images. The Image Data team did an amazing job maintaining organization of the records while transporting, preparing and scanning the records. The quality of the images far surpassed our expectations as did the speed at which the team finished the project. The overall experience was unsullied and we would highly recommend Image Data services to other organizations seeking imaging services.”

–Michelle Blanchard, RHIA
Director, Health Information

Four Winds Hospital

Bridging the Gap Between EHR / EMR Implementations and Paper Patient Records

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Scanning Documents for Hospitals & Healthcare Institutions
Tackling Paper Documents in Healthcare Institutions in the age of the EHR

A short time after I moved to my present town outside Albany, back around 2005, I decided to find a primary care physician that was local. After consulting my insurance’s directory of providers, I booked an appointment with a doctor about ten minutes away. When I first visited, I was shocked and frankly a little alarmed to discover that not one computer was present–in 2005. There wasn’t even a relic of a beige tower with curved-screen CRT by its side.

Instead, there was, in a prominent location, a typewriter (IBM Selectric — with “the ball”) on a classic, steel-gray, wheeled typewriter cart. Behind the main counter, I could see a doorway that revealed a wall of files with a chaotic rainbow of color coded tabs that seemed to run to the other end of the building. “That is a lot of paper,” I thought. When I received my handwritten, triplicate co-pay receipt, I then thought, “I bet there is a lot of cursive writing in that file room!” In fact, everything there was still being done manually, via fax, via mail, via typewriter and triplicates. Only eight years ago.

True, some years have passed and there have been some dramatic changes since then. The issue remains however that in healthcare organizations as small as this suburban doctor’s office to multi-site hospital systems in major metropolitan areas, the migration to electronic patient records has been slow. The US government’s $35 billion “meaningful use” programs to incentivize healthcare organizations to adopt electronic health records (EHR or EMR for electronic medical records) has accelerated the adoption rate. Still, there remains a Grand Canyon-wide chasm between (A) new patient records that are created today on systems like Cerner, Epic, McKesson, Siemens, Meditech or other EHR vendors and (B) the existing volumes of paper, offline records for some of the very same patients who are coming in today and having a new, separate EHR file created.

For patients, myself included, trying to retrieve paper patient records that were beyond a certain age can now require a records request with a third party records management vendor that keeps patient records stored somewhere in a file box, on a shelf, in a remote warehouse. That request process usually took several days making a negative impact on the overall “quality of administrative care” for the patient. (In my case, it turned into a rabbit hole. Despite the efforts of a prominent records management company, my records at a former PCP were found in the third facility they checked — three tries!)

In some cases, IT vendors are bridging the old and the new in innovative ways. For example, in the Capital region, document imaging vendor Image Data works with small to large healthcare organizations to smooth the transition to digital and to make it as seamless as possible. Working with administrators and IT leaders like CMIOs and other medical informatics and healthcare IT leaders, they evaluate tailored processes to scan and index paper patient records for online access.

The end result is that the shelves and shelves of patient records maintained at a 3rd party location, can be replaced by a secure browser window where thousands upon thousands of records of multiple formats can be searched and retrieved from the cloud, to be displayed on-screen in the universally familiar format. Additionally, many documents with typed or printed text can be indexed so that searching can be done within the document. If a hard copy is ever needed for an immediate request, it’s only as far away as a click on a print icon.

Image Data CEO and co-founder, Tom Bourke talks about what this means for healthcare leaders that are eager to innovate, “Over and above the strategic necessity of these types of document imaging projects that we’re seeing parallel the implementation of EHR systems, there is a peace of mind the hospital secures that is priceless.”

Bourke emphasizes, “The confidence and peace of mind they can offer patients that they are being responsible stewards of contiguous patient care histories, even in the midst of implementations of vast EHR solutions, truly honors what’s at the core of the mission of today’s technology-adept hospitals and healthcare systems. And, considering the comparatively small cost to implement a document management project compared to the multi-million-dollar EHR implementations we’re seeing today, it’s an easy decision.”

Depending on a site’s configuration, doctors and clinicians can also take patient archive searches on the go, browsing for records via app or browser on their smartphone, iPad(R) or other tablet.

Some hospitals, working with document imaging and management vendors like Image Data want to make a tighter connection between their scanned paper records and their EHR. With more sophisticated IT development, there are instances where records from a year ago, or a decade ago can be retrieved directly within the EHR.

For clinicians and healthcare administrators, fewer clicks to the right record can mean a faster answer to a patient question, a better diagnosis, fewer unnecessary tests, and lower operational costs. The ROI of a migration from reliance on paper records management vendors to a virtual, turnkey, online document management solution is discovered in every moment there is a need to review a history and the costly time meter starts ticking before a record is delivered, before a clinical decision is made or while healing is held-up by a paperwork request.

Healthcare technology is a progressive, forward looking space. But, the most sagest CMIOs and HCIT leaders have discovered that preserving the capability to look backwards, principally when it comes to a patient’s history, must be a key element in the march forward toward better care.

A Welcoming Environment: Document Imaging & Management in Senior Housing

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senior housing records and documentsFor quite some time, a close relative worked as the admissions and marketing director for a prominent rehabilitation hospital for seniors in the Capital area. The hospital was one of many parts of the continuum of resources that help ensure health, community, care, and housing for the elderly in the region. During her time there, she learned the intricacies of client admissions and financial obligations; varying scenarios of healthcare and “assisted living” requirements; and so much more. She gives a lot of credit to the sons and daughters of parents who are thrust into the often distressing process of moving a loved one to a new home with the support and care they need — often unexpectedly.

Part of that challenge arises from typically very-involved admissions processes. Documents are required from the family and a range of third parties, related to health and financial data. Adding to the complexity is the involvement of paperwork and processes related to government programs including Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security Disability.

The end result was that each patient or resident had a rapidly filling folder with an amalgam of paperwork coupled with sometimes entrenched workflows. For example, a clinician filled out the goldenrod questionnaire and the social worker filled out the “pink sheet” as they came to be known over the years, and so on, and so forth. Once a client is admitted, as potentially-auditable records of care subject, the files for each patient grow and grow with inputs from across departments.

Making sense of this array of sometimes dis-contiguous records can be daunting for a senior housing facility to manage on their own. For independent living, assisted living, dementia care, Alzheimer’s facilities, rehabilitation hospitals, nursing homes, and newer, continuum of care facilities, each has unique document management challenges. Unfortunately, for many, most if not all of a client’s record is still managed with paper documents.

Tom Bourke, Image Data CEO and co-founder, talks about how he helps senior housing facilities, “We have discovered that paper-based document management can affect productivity and cost-efficiencies at senior housing sites by 5-8%. Think about it, over the course of a year, is an administration spending upwards of a month’s equivalent of time creating, storing, retrieving, copying, and updating paper records, or compensating for a poorly coordinated combination of paper and electronic? And, are costs compounded by third party vendors for off-site paper records management?”

Bourke offers a different view: “There is a solution that can drastically improve the efficiency, accuracy and effectiveness of how files for both clients and operations/administration are handled. Today’s document management solutions transform access to existing records and make it easier than ever to integrate them with related records that are constantly-created  — both paper and electronic — from various parts of an organization in real time. Browser-based access means there is no need for special software. Browser-based access means administrators can access records on the go via smartphone, iPad, or tablet.”

As the pressure mounts to be more cost-effective, it pays to have a solution in place that ensures no delays in billing or care arise from a lost or misdirected document. And, at audit time, having an online resource for all essential documents that is searchable and indexed helps you provide answers more quickly and easily.

And for members of clients’ families, the more organized approach makes a positive impression — whether it is in a prompt response to an email from a client’s daughter with a PDF of a needed document, or in an easier, better organized  admissions process (when compared to a competing site) . They can feel confident they’re entrusting a loved one to an organization that is committed to operating efficiently so that the focus remains on care.

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Image Data's team approach to client relationships yields high marks in customer satisfaction for initial needs assessment, implementation and ongoing service. Image … [Read More]

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