Healthcare Industry Document Management Services

Anyone who has worked in the healthcare industry knows that the medical and dental professions use and accumulate a lot of paper. Document management systems have provided the healthcare industry more successful applications than any other industry.

The concept of a document management system has come a long way. In the past, imaging systems typically involved scanning and storing documents -- often using common office equipment such as photocopiers with scanning capabilities.

Today, document management systems offer several ways to capture and store electronic streams of data. Using document management technology, organizations can automatically store, without scanning, print streams from their billing systems such as claims, patient statements, close reports and aging reports. These are stored in the document management systems, alleviating the printing of reams of reports. Once captured, documents such as claims can be automatically matched to their corresponding documents like an explanation of benefits and charge tickets.

Document management technologies also now have the ability to handle data streams, allowing HIPAA transaction files to be stored and managed in the document management system. Outbound claim files in the HIPAA format and inbound payment and remittance advices can be stored as part of a patient's accounting folder, each transaction becoming its own patient-specific document.

In addition to the capture and storage of documents, an appropriate document management solution can manage the entire life cycle of those documents, including work flow and distribution. Work flow technology provides business process management tools that can reduce the amount of time it normally takes to perform manual exception processes such as managing denials and secondary billing.

Examples of documents that can be usefully digitized include:

• Patient Files
• Dental Records
• Photographs
• X-rays
• Billing

Benefits for Healthcare Providers:

• A more efficient way to locate documents and patient records
• You have one centralized repository to store complete document files
• Eliminate request forms to pull documents and the re-filing of documents
• Staff member can Fax and email directly from their workstation
• Information is available when you need it

Security Benefits:

• Initial user authentication verified against your network operating system
• Limiting document access and system functions by the user’s security login
• Password protect sensitive information on a document
• Restrict specific documents from being printed, emailed or faxed from the workstation
• Version/Revision tracking of changes made to a document
• Security audit log to capture actions performed by users such as each time a document is viewed and at which workstation the document was viewed
• 128-bit encrypted document storage and stored procedures. Breach of physical access will not disclose the patient’s data
• All of the above security functions help to assist you in meeting regulatory reporting compliance for HIPAA

Cost Savings:

• Callbacks can be reduced or eliminated
• Elimination of lost documents or misfiled folders.
• Savings in printer cost, paper, making duplicate copies, and mailing/shipping charges
• Elimination or significant reduction of off-site storage and regain valuable office space

Web-based solutions provide a single point of access for all healthcare documents and, thus, improve document accuracy by minimizing the opportunity for human error. It also provides an effective method for distributing documents. Additionally, web-based storage and management offer on-demand printing and forms management, which allow for timely form revision as requirements change and help standardize data output and presentation.