SOLUTIONS BY INDUSTRY 

Healthcare - Group Practices

At ScerIS, we realize that no two healthcare organizations are the same. Thus, there is no “one size fits all” solution to meet every organization’s requirements. This is why ScerIS offers a variety of solutions tailored to meet your needs. With health systems gaining a new level of complexity, medical records now need to be retrieved at a faster rate and distributed to a wider base. Every patient visit generates a stack of forms, documents, care plans, tests and notes. Due to the sheer volume of documents, tracking one down can be a daunting task. As complexities increase and costs skyrocket, health care organizations are experiencing the need to automate more than ever. Optimizing your medical record management can increase control and value, ensure patient confidentiality, and improve patient care, accuracy, and efficiency.

For organizations that currently use no form of automation, the first step is often to put in place an imaging system to start eliminating the paper. ScerIS makes it easy by providing you with the ability to extract key data elements from pre-designed forms to automate indexing and insertion into the electronic medical record (EMR). The records are laid out to look like the existing paper charts, helping to ensure a minimal learning curve.

At a time when healthcare organizations find themselves straddling the paper and electronic worlds, electronic document management enables you to interface multiple disparate systems, and simplifies the process of accessing files through the use of browser-based retrieval capabilities. Organizations that have implemented document imaging of medical records identify benefits in the following areas:

• Improved Access- All components of the health record are digitized and made available to multiple users at the same time.
• Retrieval/Delivery Times- Allowing access to records online eliminates the time it takes to retrieve and deliver charts, and makes the record available to any number of sites and users simultaneously.
• Workflow- With the implementation of an automated solution, the manual assembly, filing and retrieving of documents is no longer necessary, and in turn, the overall workflow efficiency is increased.
• Improved Coding/Accounts Receivable Processing Time- Imaging promotes faster coding and chart completion, and significantly reduces the number of insurance rejections. This inevitably creates better accounts receivable management.
• Increased Revenue, Decreased Expenses- The burden of handling and filing paper is considerably lessened, which allows employees to manage more value added responsibilities. The need to store paper in filing cabinets, rooms and off-site storage facilities is eliminated.
• Reduced Audit Risk- Audit trails can be set for monitoring all activities within ScerIS. All searches, search result lists, views of information, and print, fax, or email instances can be recorded for the purpose of HIPAA audits. Storing all records in one secure location also ensures that your organization will have all the required supporting documentation for proof in the event of an insurance audit.
• Quality Assurance- After scanning and indexing, quality control is performed on 100 percent of images to review the quality of scanned images. In addition to this initial quality control, ongoing quality monitoring can be performed on a random basis. This allows quality assurance staff to focus on the quality of work completed, rather than the quantity.
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity- Electronic data archives are stored in an unchangeable format, allowing the ScerIS Enterprise Report Management application to serve as a backup to your critical information. Unlike the storage of paper reports, electronic reports provide the means for business continuity by being easy to backup; while simultaneously being easy to secure and trace. In the event of an unplanned interruption in access to a host application or a loss of data, ScerIS ERM has been used to restore vital information.

Examples of Common Opportunities:

ScerIS Imaging of Active Patient Records

All patient data, including forms, documents, care plans and test results can be scanned using ScerIS in order to create an electronic record. The imaging of documents for use in an electronic medical record, as opposed to the manual alternative, not only improves accuracy, efficiency and employee productivity, but reduces the need for chart pulls and filing.

ScerIS Imaging of Inactive Patient Records

In addition to imaging active patient charts, ScerIS provides your organization with the ability to image and store inactive charts. This helps to provide a completely archived system, with both current and past patient records and allows for easy recall of data to increase the speed at which a user can respond to inquiries.

ScerIS Imaging with Smart Forms

ScerIS makes the transition from paper to digital simple with the use of Smart Forms. This method allows you to predetermine specific data elements that should be pulled from all documents and automates the process of indexing and insertion into the EMR. Staff members retrieving the scanned records are presented with a tabbed view, which looks just like the paper record. This approach helps staff become more familiar with electronically accessing patient records and because the record is laid out just like the paper chart, keeps the learning curve to a minimum.

Integration of ScerIS E-Forms

For those organizations looking to completely eliminate the paper, ScerIS uses your existing forms to create an E-Forms environment, which allows staff to complete forms online, electronically sign them, route them to other staff if necessary and automatically place them in the electronic medical record. This eliminates the need to print and scan documents. However, information from outside sources can still be scanned and combined with the E-Forms to complete the electronic medical record.

Data from E-Forms can be reused; streamlining the time it takes for clinical staff to complete documentation. An E-Forms based EHR allows organizations to perform more efficient auditing of records, ensures regulatory compliance, facilitates state mandated reporting, increases staff productivity, and provides an environment that cultivates the highest quality patient care possible.

» Contact us to learn more about Medical Records Solutions.