Due
to many state regulations, some healthcare documents are kept in an electronic
format. However, the current process involves keeping them in paper format and
storing them for many years, sometimes longer than necessary, which results in
unnecessary filing fees and costs. My project will
require me to research the potential cost savings to a healthcare organization
to migrate to the new electronic record keeping from the old filing method. I
must examine existing documents and records to determine the types of
documents. I will conduct research on the legislature and regulators’
requirement of record keeping to determine which can be filed electronically,
for how long, and which can be destroyed. Finally, I will perform a cost
analysis based on my determination.
Not only does keeping records and documents in a paper format and filing
them manually incur unnecessary filing fees and costs, but it is also more time
consuming to look through and find records manually.
Storing documents electronically allows for a more efficient method of
searching for records. It is also cheaper to keep documents in this manner
because normally they do not stay in the system for a long period of time and
thus do not incur extra filing fees. Switching to electronic record keeping
would impact the hospital by increasing productivity and decreasing costs. Fewer mistakes are also made through electronic record
keeping.
I will conduct mostly internet research to complete this
project, but I will make use of interviews with employees at the hospital who
work in this field, specifically workers in the department responsible for keeping medical records. One
obstacle that I have already encountered is that I do not know what problems I
should expect when I am conducting research. Thus, I have no contingency plans
in place at the moment in case something goes wrong. However, I hope to offset
this unknown by doing more research in this field ahead of time so I can avoid
any problems before they come up.
The goal I have set in place is to use my analysis of the record keeping system to help the medical center completely transfer all paper records to the computer system.
Hi Shabab!
ReplyDeleteThis topic sounds both interesting and useful. It seems like it is going to be a lot of tedious work, though, to look through all of the existing paper work and records. Transferring several years of records accurately and efficiently is a big task; will you be looking at the methods that would be utilized in such a transfer? Since there is a lot of documentation, do you think that the cost may outweigh the benefit at all?
Either way, you topic seems very interesting.
Good luck!
Hey Farhan!
DeleteThose are good questions. For your first question, yes, I will be looking at the methods that will be used to transfer records. However, in response to your second question, because I don't know yet what the possible costs could be, I can't say yet if the cost may outweigh the benefit. But I think in the long term, electronic record keeping is more cost efficient.
Thanks!
Hey Shabab!
ReplyDeleteI love your topic! I had a previous internship that surrounded this same idea. When I was researching at the time, my most substantial challenge was determining what was exactly preventing healthcare providers from transitioning from paper to electronic medical records. What do you think, based on what you have researched so far, is the biggest obstacle in transitioning? And because it is taking so long, when do you think healthcare providers will completely make use of EMR?
Thanks!
Vanessa
Hello Vanessa!
DeleteThe biggest obstacle at the moment is that there are so many paper records to transfer over to the computer system, but not enough workers. Transferring the records will be part of my job during this research project. As for when they will completely make use of EMR, I think that will happen when hospitals have the money to move the records. At the hospital I am at, many workers already use electronic record keeping but they leave the old paper records alone.
Thanks for your question!
Shabab, I'm curious to know your thoughts on the merits of having a hard copy vs an electronic file that could possibly be manipulated. What safeguards and measures will be taken to insure that one's medical records aren't "wiped-clean" or digitally altered for nefarious reasons?
ReplyDeleteHello Mrs. Armstrong!
DeleteA few examples of safeguards that can be put in place to ensure the confidentiality of electronic medical records are password protection, entry-point tracking, and revoking access for unsuccessful logins. To prevent information from being deleted, backups of all records must be taken.
Thank you for your question!