Consider the situation found in medical offices throughout the nation. Overflowing file shelves, cabinets or boxes full of inactive, long-term retention, or low probability of access paper medical records consuming costly square-footage.
Data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) indicates that one-quarter of office-based physicians report using fully or partially electronic medical record systems (EMR) in 2005. This represents a 31% increase from the 18.2 percent reported in the 2001 survey.(1) [See figure 1.]
Although these estimates show progress continues to be made toward the goal of universal electronic health records, there is still a long way to go.(2) Paper medical records still dominate in many physician practices, since paper has many physical properties that make it an ideal tool for some tasks.
One strategy that can used by health care practices to begin closing the gap between a paper medical record system and EMR is to consider the use of physical paper and digital files as complementary systems - not an either/or choice. Doing so, can deliver a solid ROI while helping to conquer some of the space and costs issues consumed by these inactive paper records instead of being used to harvest revenue.
E-Z Store, by i/oTrak is an innovative solution utilizing a fully indexed and secure off-site storage system offering on-demand conversion of paper medical records only when access is required. The end product is a digitally imaged record available upon request. Meanwhile, no conversion cost for inactive records is required making it extremely affordable and practical.
With all requested records in electronic format, they are available instantaneously using secure, online electronic delivery directly to any computer or web-enabled device for access, use, and management of patient care/treatment. And, since i/oTrak uses an open imaging platform, all converted E-Z Store medical charts are ready for integration into your current, or future, EMR system.
Why miss out on the advantages of closing the gap between paper records and an EMR because of high costs or an ROI that doesn't come close to making economic sense?
Contact i/oTrak to learn more about how you can begin using i/oTrak's wealth of experience in managing records, streamlining workflow, and reducing storage clutter.
