BETTER MEDICAL RECORD MANAGEMENT TO PROVIDE A BETTER PATIENT EXPERIENCE
Patient experience has become increasingly important for hospitals, health systems, and community health centers. As defined by The Beryl Institute, the patient experience is “The sum of all interactions, shaped by an organization’s culture, that influence patient perceptions across the continuum of care.”
The impact of a positive patient experience can translate to better patient engagement, a strong reputation for your facility, improved risk mitigation, and even increased revenues. In recognition of the growing importance of the patient experience, some clinics have a designated staff role, such as Director of Patient Experience, to oversee this aspect of care.
While some sides of the patient experience are more obvious – such as patient interactions with direct care staff – there are a plethora of “behind the scenes” opportunities to support the patient experience as well. One such area is health information management operations. For many hospitals, this area can be optimized to provide a streamlined care experience.
When it comes to creating a positive patient experience, time can make all the difference. Critical test results, diagnosis of an illness, or a request to transfer records to a specialist all benefit the patient best when information can be quickly communicated and made available to their care team. However, at many hospitals and clinics, nurses and CNAs are responsible for managing both direct care and administrative efforts like scanning and filing records into the patient’s chart. This administrative burden takes away from time that could be spent directly assisting patients and slows the overall process of filing test results, lab work and diagnosis reports.
For example, hospitals and health systems are currently working to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine as efficiently as possible. This comes at a time when many offices are operating with reduced staff due to the pandemic. For a smaller clinic without a dedicated HIM department, this becomes all the more challenging. Nurses may be tasked to administer the vaccine, complete the accompanying paperwork, file it in a timely manner, and monitor the fax machine for other incoming requests. In some cases, strain on staff can lead to a backlog of faxes or paper records to be filed into the EHR.
A vendor partner can allow direct care staff to stay focused on patients instead of dividing their attention between patient care and administrative HIM tasks. With a third-party solution like ScanSTAT’s Inbound Document Management service, providers benefit from having a dedicated team of health information management experts whose sole focus is to manage and file all incoming faxes and scans. Typical turnaround time for this service is same day or next day once the fax or scan has been received. Inbound document management takes place offsite, meaning hospitals and clinics don’t have to dedicate valuable office space for these tasks.
Additionally, a vendor partner for fax and scan filing can provide greater flexibility. If a clinic is suddenly flooded with new faxes or paperwork to be filed – like COVID-19 vaccination paperwork – a vendor such as ScanSTAT can easily shift people resources to efficiently handle the influx without worry of a backlog. An HIM partner can ensure health information is never a holdup for patients seeking treatment, making certain that providers have the most up-to-date information at their fingertips.
At the end of the day, an improved medical record management strategy stands to benefit both providers and the patient experience. If your hospital is looking for new methods to improve the patient experience, contact ScanSTAT to discover how Inbound Document Management can benefit your organization.
About ScanSTAT Technologies
ScanSTAT makes it easier for hospitals, health care systems, and medical practices to manage health information. Whether you are considering making a complete transition or supplementing your in-house Release of Information and Health Information Management operations, we can help. We place as much importance on privacy, security, and customer service as you do. We can assume the HIPAA liability involved in transferring information and removing the burden of reporting from your staff or supporting it as needed.
Contact us at scanstat.com/demo to learn how you can leverage ScanSTAT experts to support your ROI and HIM needs.