Health information management solutions complete electronic medical records, speeds billing
Look in the news nearly any day of the week and you’re likely to find a story about a health information breach in one healthcare organisation or another. Access to patient information walks a thin line. Give too much access and you violate strict regulations and patient trust. Give too little access and you risk delaying patient care and the revenue cycle.
HIM departments are facing these daily pressures – providing caregivers immediate access to patient information; maintaining compliance with HIPAA, retention policies and other regulatory initiatives; and keeping coding and billing processes swift – in the face of budget cuts and mounting costs.
Every day, Hyland Software’s solutions for healthcare, built upon core OnBase enterprise content management (ECM) technology, help HIM departments handle the balance act and alleviate these concerns.
Complete and secure patient records
A complete, readily accessible patient record is the backbone of effective care delivery. OnBase helps you deliver on that promise. With OnBase, every piece of electronic or paper content is immediately available within the EMR and the other applications clinicians and staff already use. Further, all OnBase content resides in a single, secure electronic repository. No worries about inappropriate access to patient records. No more inefficiencies or costs associated with storing, locating and retrieving paper documentation.
Take Allina Hospitals and Clinics. Paper from patient charts is sent to each facility’s HIM department. HIM scans it in and OnBase automatically indexes it with information from Epic through HL7 messaging. The integration supports the capture of patient documents throughout a patient’s visit, from registration and points of care to the billing cycle.
At Allina, all of a patient’s information, whether originating on paper or as an electronic file, is available in a single place. Caregivers simply click on a link in Epic and relevant patient documents pop up. The Epic/OnBase solution is a core application for more than 20,000 employees.
Efficiently analyze charts and complete deficiencies
Transcending simple document management, OnBase supports and speeds processes unique to HIM. Electronic workflow directs charts to the right staff for analysis. Using technology designed and refined by certified HIM professionals, analysts then locate deficiencies and assign them for completion quickly and easily. Physicians and clinicians receive deficiency notifications through the EMR messaging system or email, and sign electronically or provide missing documentation from their homes or offices. As a result, charts close more quickly, helping reduce delays in billing and DNFB rates.
Lower DNFB rates with enhanced coding processes
For HIM departments using OnBase, coding processes can run concurrently to chart analysis and reanalysis, which helps further reduce DNFB rates. Charts flow to the appropriate coder electronically based on workload or departmental rules. Coders may also work remotely, easily accessing all needed content through OnBase or the EMR. With access to the complete record, they complete assigned charts more quickly.
Fulfill Release of Information Requests Quickly
When patient documentation resides in multiple silos and formats, fulfilling release-of-information takes more time than it should. OnBase helps ensure that every piece of requested documentation is available for delivery in the requested format – paper, CD, fax or email. Swiftly fulfilled ROI requests improve customer service and free staff to perform other tasks.