Although paper medical records have been around for a long time, electronic medical records are slowly beginning to replace paper claims, according to openclinical.org. Even though it may be a slow process, upgrading your medical office from paper records to electronic records may be a great way to upgrade your system of storing patient documents.
Things You’ll Need
- Electronic medical records software
- Scanner
- Shredder
Instructions
1.New System
1 Purchase an electronic medical record system that will fit the needs of the medical office. You can find different systems that are available by researching, and by having an in-house consultation with demos.
2 Install the new system, making sure that it works properly. You may need to call the representative of the company from whom you purchased the system to assist you with installation, and to answer your questions.
3 Once installed, you will have to personalize the settings, determining who can view the records and what can be added and deleted to records.
2.Patient Charts
4 Pull out the patient charts that need to be scanned into the new system. Start with the beginning of the alphabet so that you know what has been scanned and what has not. This makes it easier to keep things in order.
5 Enter the patient’s name into the electronic medical records system. This will create a “chart” in the system. Once this chart is created, enter the patient’s information into it. This will include date of birth, insurance information, and address.
6 Scan patient’s paper chart into the electronic medical records system. This requires placing each document into the scanner and scanning the pages, one by one. Once the document is scanned, it will appear on the screen.
7 Store the document in the electronic medical record. This is done by assigning the paperwork to a particular tab in each patient’s electronic record. These tabs can be found at the top of the electronic medical record. Examples of these tabs include “insurance cards,” “progress reports” and “lab results.” Click the proper electronic tab located on the electronic medical record for your patient. This paperwork will now be found under this electronic tab in your patient’s electronic record.
3.Disposing of Paper Charts
8 Shred the paper charts once scanned. To do this, place each document into the shredder, page by page.
9 Use a company who specializes in medical records shredding in order to save time and maintain patient privacy.
10 Store paper charts if shredding them is not desired.
