Stop the paper chase! Document management for today's hospitals

Healthcare Financial Management, June, 2004

Patient Registration Work Flow

Document management systems can also have benefits for front-office work flow. For example, at Advocate Health Care in Oak Brook, Ill., the integrated imaging system starts at patient registration. An access employee will create an electronic patient folder and electronically enter a patient's demographic and insurance information--information that is customarily gathered from a patient face sheet. Documents such as insurance cards, driver's licenses, and healthcare consent forms are scanned, and those scanned files are placed in the patient's electronic folder. From then on, every time a patient visits Advocate, that visit (such as any additions to the medical record, test results, claims) is captured and added to his or her electronic folder.

The document management system continues to the back office, where EOB forms from payers are scanned via the imaging system, along with any other documents generated, such as letters from patients and emergency department medical records.

According to Terry McCarthy, director of patient accounts for Advocate Health Care, "We've seen tremendous benefits for the front and back office. Although we always have to ask patients about their insurance, because people change insurance so much, if the patient's insurance hasn't changed, they proceed more quickly to patient care. It's streamlined the amount of time front-desk employees have to spend with patients."

Advocate Health Care provides initial strategy, planning, and funding systemwide, but each hospital within the network is responsible for the rollout in its facility, including any additional funding needed to tailor or enhance the functionality to, its needs.

Expanding Capabilities for Medical Records

Many hospitals have a hard time finding enough good coding professionals to fully staff their medical records departments. They often have to look to third-party vendors or offer coding professionals incentives such as work-at-home schedules. Having medical records scanned and available in a web-based format allows healthcare providers to take advantage of those options.

Having medical records scanned can also minimize the creation of duplicate patient records as well as eliminate duplicate physical charts for patients, which has a direct positive impact on patient safely. It can also eliminate ordering duplicate tests and procedures that, if performed twice within a certain number of days, may not be paid by some payers. Patient safety is also enhanced by ready access to previous data, particularly in emergency situations. A document imaging system can allow for such vital information as Do Not Resuscitate forms to he accessible immediately by medical staff. Also, if charts are scanned immediately after a patient visit, they are available quickly in follow-up situations.

Document management systems with specific work flow tools can also offer significant efficiencies in the actual coding process. At times, chart information is pushed to hospital coders in an incomplete state, with necessary documents missing and coders not aware of it until they spend time working a chart. Work flow tools can flag incomplete charts before they get to the coding stage. They can also provide a level of reporting related to coding productivity not typically possible through manual processes.