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Article
Medical Record Retention: A Two-Sided Coin
The implementation of electronic health record systems has dramatically altered some of the core processes involved with managing medical records. Very few hospitals have achieved stage seven of the EMR adoption model, which calls for a paperless environment. For the majority of healthcare facilities still operating in a hybrid medical record environment of paper and…
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Article
The Cost of Doing Nothing
Change isn’t easy. For many of us this is true in both a personal and professional setting. However, sometimes the cost of doing nothing is higher than we think. Example: Maintaining your existing file room Consider the following unexpected costs of continuing to maintain your facility’s onsite file room. Total cost of floor space. Multiply…
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Article
Accountable Care Organizations and The Hybrid Medical Record
If you missed it, Healthcare IT News published a great article on critical success factors for accountable care organizations (ACOs). Critical success factor number five, “develop the data model, IT infrastructure, and tools to support reporting and analytics” identifies some of the necessary components of sharing patient information. Our team believes that a significant element is…
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Article
Building a Business Case for Records Consolidation – II
Part one of this article outlined the initial steps in building a business case for records consolidation. Recognizing a problem and recommending a solution may seem like very basic steps. However, the key is being able to articulate those in a meaningful way to other decision makers. The next steps illustrate how to take those…
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Article
Building a Business Case for Records Consolidation – I
Over time, patient records become fragmented due to changes in technology, leadership, processes, and government regulations. Records are stored in multiple locations, sometimes with multiple vendors, and exist in multiple formats such as microfilm, paper, and electronic files. This presents many challenges for healthcare facilities. Developing a solution can be difficult, and articulating it to…
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Article
Leave a Legacy in the HIM Department, Not Paper – Part II
Unconsolidated patient records create some of the biggest challenges for health information management (HIM) professionals because they force HIM departments to hold multiple operational processes to access patient records. Part I of this article reviewed past decisions made by the HIM department that create current and future challenges. By marrying existing legacy records into a…
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Article
Leave a Legacy in the HIM Department, Not Paper – Part I
Unconsolidated patient records create some of the biggest challenges for health information management (HIM) professionals. These records are stored in multiple places and exist in multiple formats (both physical and electronic), and force HIM departments to hold multiple operational processes to access patient records. As a result, adverse effects ripple through the healthcare facility, put…
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Webinar
HIM Process Improvement: Records Consolidation
Decisions made by past leadership effect your health information management department every day. Similarly, choices made by your HIM department today will have downstream effects. In order for your HIM department to have the best possible long-term and immediate results, align the past and the present by consolidating patient records. Unconsolidated records result from changes…
