Rip Off the Bandage... It’s Time All Healthcare Goes Paperless

Many smaller medical centers still rely on paper documents, and they could be setting themselves up for failure due to the inherent pitfalls of paper documentation. Learn more about how an EMR/EHR, or electronic medical record/electronic health record system, provides efficient healthcare delivery and organizational profitability. 

Is Your Medical Facility Still Using Paper Records?

For decades, medical institutions stored and maintained patient records on paper documents. While this was the norm for all businesses, advances in technology have made using paper obsolete for the most part. While most larger institutions have transitioned to electronic medical records, a substantial amount of smaller facilities are still using paper documents. There are various reasons why this is the case and why smaller facilities are reluctant to make the change to EMR, including:

• Unfamiliarity with the underlying technology
• The upfront cost and labor involved to digitize everything
• The hurdle of staff training

While these concerns are understandable, the reality is that patients, insurers, and compliance rules that govern patient privacy have moved beyond paper records. If your practice is still relying on physical documents, you are out of step with current best practices regarding patient privacy and security.

Paper documents bring with them an array of issues, ranging from their bulk, needing to invest in storage space to maintain them, to the challenge of having a backup. The longer your practice is in business, the more paper you will generate and the more storage you will need to invest in to contain it. Additionally, paper is by nature transitory, unless properly preserved it will degrade over time. 

These are all obvious. We all know how paper works, and most organizations feel pretty confident in their ability to file and store information on paper, which is why it has been such a challenge to move away from it.

Another thing to think about is continuity. Extreme weather seems to be becoming more common, particularly in Texas, which is now experiencing extreme winters and summers. As such, there is a risk of disaster due to loss of power, which can result in fire, flood, and everything in between. Losing your paper records can result in some major problems on its own, but things get really messy, leading to liability exposure if patients are affected by the lack of records. 

The Benefits of EMR/EHR Solutions

As a cloud-based technology, EMR provides a wealth of benefits over paper records. The obvious being a reduction in the need to physically store paper records, and the ability to easily back up the data, but there is more to it than that. 

Going paperless also:

• allows patients to be participants in their own care
• improves the quality, efficiency,  and safety of patient care
• increases communication between different physicians and departments
• helps meet HIPAA regulations

Now is the Time for Texas Healthcare Practices to Go Paperless

While there are some hurdles to migrating your records into digital files, modern-day solutions are extremely user-friendly and designed for non-technical healthcare staff to use. It does take some time, effort, and training, but once everything is deployed, a paperless practice should be able to operate even better than before.

If you’re still on the fence, we are more than happy to review your current situation and help walk you through the process of going digital. We offer specialized support and services specifically designed around the technical needs of healthcare providers. Call (512) 343-8891 today to improve the way you use technology to your practice’s benefit by modernizing how you handle your essential medical records!