Medical Records
Health Information Management (HIM)
With the federal government's push toward the adoption of a ubiquitous electronic health record and the continual increase of costs associated with storing, securing, managing and distributing patient charts, providers must look for ways to be electronic. However, the costs and culture changes associated with adopting an EMR (electronic medical records) system can be prohibitive for many hospitals and physician practices. Even so, the consensus among providers is that the need to be electronic is imminent.
The OnBase Medical Records Viewer gives those providers that currently are unable or unready to purchase an EMR system the opportunity to digitize patient charts. The Medical Records Viewer is a web-based presentation built on the Microsoft® .NET platform that takes medical record information stored in the OnBase system and presents it in a tabular, longitudinal view that looks and reacts like a paper chart. Because of its chart-like look and feel, the Medical Records Viewer alleviates many of the cultural boundaries associated with moving to an electronic patient chart.
Additionally, for those providers that already have adopted an EMR, the OnBase Medical Records Viewer can be utilized in conjunction with those systems for the presentation of documents unable to be stored directly in the EMR (e.g., externally created paper documents such as labs and consults). Organizations planning to adopt an EMR in the future also can benefit from the OnBase Medical Records Viewer. Scanning, storing and working with digital chart information in the OnBase system will not only provide significant efficiencies but also will ease the transition process to a full-blown EMR. And, because OnBase can be easily integrated with third party applications, the documents stored in the OnBase system would be accessible immediately upon implementing an EMR system, without the need for a costly conversion.
As a fully integrated feature of the OnBase enterprise content management solution, the OnBase Medical Records Viewer can be used in concert with other OnBase modules (e.g., Workflow and Electronic Signatures) to provide HIM departments with the tools needed to streamline processes such as chart completion and release of information. Workflow digitally routes chart work – with the look and feel of current paper versions – to physicians for review and signature. OnBase Web Server provides physicians with the ability to securely view and sign off on chart work virtually anywhere via the Internet. For Release of Information, OnBase also automatically groups together and prints needed documents, further easing the burden traditionally associated with paper chart information.
Key Benefits for HIM
- Provides simultaneous access to patient information across the provider enterprise
- Enables providers not ready or financially able to adopt an EMR with the ability to digitize patient charts
- Eases the transition when implementing an EMR
- Chart-like presentation eases clinician acceptance
- Creation of shadow charts eliminated
- Promotes process efficiencies for Deficiency Management and coding
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