Outsourcing Electronic Health Records Scanning

If your health organization is one of the numerous covered entities that must comply with the HITECH Act as well as HIPAA regulations, it makes good sense to consider outsourcing the scanning of paper patient records to convert them into secure Electronic Health Records, as required by the government regulations.

The Costs Associated With Not Outsourcing EHR Scanning and Storage
When considering the costs associated with legal compliance, many companies only consider the cost of purchasing new scanning equipment and computer storage devices. However, there are numerous soft costs that may not be obvious. These costs are related to personnel, secure storage of original paper documents, etc., that should also be considered in the total cost of compliance.

• Direct Cost of Personnel – How much will it cost to hire and train employees to perform the scanning and document management services? What will these employees be doing when there are no current documents in queue to be scanned and electronically stored?
• Personnel Support Costs – What are the long-term costs associated with maintaining additional employees, such as salary increases, benefits, computers, desks and other office equipment?
• Storage of Paper Documents – When original paper documents must be securely stored for a period of time as specified by law or regulations, what is the cost for that storage space? What is the cost of security measures as required to protect the confidentiality of personal patient information?
• The Cost of Distraction – What is the cost of not concentrating on your core business while performing research to determine the best scanning equipment to meet your needs, purchasing and installing the hardware and software, training employees, and monitoring the process to assure that employees meet all government requirements as defined in HITECH and HIPAA?

Every task performed in an office has costs associated with it. The cumulative costs of meeting all of the requirements for scanning and storage can be much larger than it appears.

A professional Electronic Health Records Scanning and Storage company can relieve your company of much of the burden of compliance with the new health care laws, either temporarily or on a long-term basis.