| by Robert Golden
If there's one constant in the healthcare industry, it's change. The very
model of healthcare is steadily evolving as the industry faces complex
issues like managed care and capitation. Additionally, healthcare providers
are driven to find new ways to cut costs while improving care. To meet
these challenges, healthcare organizations are rethinking their view of
information technology. After decades of spending well below other industries,
healthcare is turning to information systems to control costs, improve
overall efficiency and enhance patient care.
In particular, the last two years have seen a significant increase in
electronic patient record implementations based on document imaging and
workflow technologies. This is no surprise to those familiar with the
impressive efficiency gains and quick financial returns made possible
with these systems. Some industry watchers estimate that more than 60%
of healthcare institutions are investigating this technology. This market
acceptance is driven by the promise of immediate, simultaneous, enterprise-wide
access to the complete patient record, including paper-based and multimedia
information.
Just like the healthcare industry, technology can't stand still. Systems
must continue to evolve to meet the industry's changing needs. While today's
imaging and workflow applications are excellent for viewing and accessing
information, healthcare institutions continue to push for more. Suppliers
must keep developing greater intelligence within their systems to serve
this dynamic industry.
A case in point in the medical records arena is the completion of patient
charts. While greatly improved through imaging, this remains a costly,
laborious process, which has a tremendous impact on healthcare enterprises.
Systems must evolve to find a way to automate the identification of deficiencies
in patient charts. They must also enable electronic routing of incomplete
documents to appropriate medical and administrative personnel for on-line
processing, completion and reporting and include advanced features like
electronic signature.
Furthermore, to be truly effective, electronic patient record systems
must address ancillary functions such as dictation and transcription.
For example, one common deficiency is "missing notes" from clinicians,
such as physician orders and progress notes. Today, in order to complete
that deficiency, a physician must go to a separate station to perform
the necessary dictation. From there, the information must be transcribed
and then entered into the patient's chart. While today's technology has
helped this process, it's still cumbersome and involves multiple non-integrated
manual or automated systems. Therefore, the ideal electronic patient record
application would include closely integrated document imaging, workflow,
chart completion, dictation and transcription capabilities. This would
empower caregivers with all tools necessary to process, complete and view
medical charts on a single workstation, without relying on multiple manual
or automated systems.
For administrators, faster chart completion enables quicker billing,
reduced A/R days and lower costs. For physicians and clinicians it means
greater productivity and convenience plus more time for patients. For
HIM professionals it means simplified processing and faster availability
of the health information for those who need it. Finally, for healthcare
organizations to truly achieve the vision of the elusive enterprise-wide
computerized patient record, seamless integration between the evolving
imaging systems and computer data repositories will be necessary.
Recognizing that information systems must progress to meet the changing
needs of the industry, Lanier Healthcare is developing "Caregiver
Station." This evolving product will combine Lanier Healthcare dictation,
transcription and electronic signature systems with LanVision, Inc. imaging
technology and other third party technologies to provide greater efficiency
and capabilities than products currently available in today's marketplace.
Robert Golden is Chief Technology Officer of LanVision Systems, Inc. He
can be reached at 513-794-7100.
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