Since childhood, your parents must have kept your medical records in paper format. It helps to understand your overall fitness and diagnose the cause of serious conditions as you grow in age.
Nowadays, people don’t rely on keeping medical documents in offline files or folders. Instead, digitization has led many to store health records electronically.
But before you store the documents online, it’s always best to scan the paperwork digitally to preserve the official authentication.
A healthcare document scanner plays a significant role in securing and accessing fitness-related papers.
It is convenient to safely transfer your past health information to the concerned physician during physical or telehealth checkups.
There are other features and benefits of digitizing your health through medical document scanning which we are going to explore in this article.
What Is Digitizing Medical Records?
A patient’s medical record consists of his or her:
- Personal identity and address
- Medical history
- Recommended medications
- Family history
- Treatments
- Lab results
- Consent forms
- Medical directives
- Progress notes
All this information provides a physician with the fitness level of the patient and based on that further enquiries about symptoms and recommendations are offered.
To reduce paper wastage and storage burden, all medical documents can be safely scanned and stored digitally.
Moreover, there are now medical software and cloud-based services to create an online folder for the patient.
Scanning medical documents is preferred by healthcare workers because it retains the doctor’s signature, handwriting, and official stamps. It is also useful during any legal complexity related to an accident.
DO YOU KNOW?
Many medical practices aim to save records and other personal health information (PHI) of patients for 10 years to comply with legal and government requirements.
Benefits of Document Scanning in Medical Practices
The modern way of medical record-keeping focuses on efficiency and accessibility to provide accurate treatment to the patient.
Let’s explore various other benefits of document scanning in medical practices that help patients suffering from minor illnesses or serious long-term conditions like Cancer.
- It removes the hassle of unkempt paper conditions that might lead to medical errors. Thus, it helps the doctor to examine and provide accurate diagnosis.
- There is improved communication because online health documents can be accessed from anywhere at any time.
- This helps the client connect to the doctor quickly and get the necessary treatment timely.
- During an emergency or an accident, these authentic documents help verify the details of the victim and proceed with further examination without any delay.
- For a serious disease, physicians can share the medical record of the patient with the medical fraternity and create a treatment plan through quick consultation.
- All health information is securely kept abiding by the HIPAA guidelines that make it necessary to get the patient’s consent before divulging any report to a third party.
- It reduces paperwork and eliminates administrative costs for stress-free medical procedures.
- Maintaining health information is easier without bulky physical folders that take up too much space.
- Entering new data and any updates about the patient’s condition can be done without wasting time on handwritten notes.
- The billing and coding process also becomes easier for the hospitals as they can check and verify all information instantly.
Take a look at the graph below that shows that the U.S. electronic health record (EHR) market size has been consistently growing since 2020. By adapting to the latest technology, it is predicted to be in high demand by 2030.
How To Digitize A Medical Document?
Migrating the data of patients to a digital system becomes easier with a scanning machine that has modern technology.
- A healthcare provider should opt for a scanner that can handle bulk records and convert them into safe online files.
- Create categories and subcategories of the documents according to the age, disease, and treatments.
- Prepare all the paperwork and search for any missing ones, keep them in a sequence, before scanning.
- Maintain a separate file of lab results, x-rays, tests, and allergies for quick verification by the medical expert.
- Remove any paper clips or staples from the paper and smooth out any creases that might disrupt the functions of the scanner.
- Check before scanning and re-scan any document if the details are not visible.
- Choose the conversion data format that can be scanned and printed easily.
Conclusion
The digital world is ever-expanding and its reach in the healthcare sector has been most useful. It makes medical record-keeping convenient and safe to store through the scanning process.
All health information of a patient can be accessed by the physician to provide the best treatment without any delay.
Whatever the age of the client, healthcare workers can examine the reports, and medications, for an accurate diagnosis.
This is just the beginning of a successful collaboration between technology and medicine which will further pave the way for many more benefits across all health channels.
