If you read our weekly HealthyData blogs or have browsed our website, then you probably already know that our platform is able to pull discrete lab result data from your unstructured documents and then file them into your EMR… but why? And how?
The Why:
Non-interfaced data in healthcare eats up valuable time and creates annoyance among both clinical and administrative staff. If incoming data is not interfaced, it will not be correctly inputted into the correct fields within the EMR, and will not appear in flow sheets, reports, or analytics. This lack of data creates more work due to the manual nature of having to move and enter in results, information, etc.
In addition to manual workflows, incomplete or misplaced test results make safe and effective clinical decision making difficult. Having lab and test results in the patient’s medical record allows for ease of access and is a reference when needed. The availability of structured lab results within the EHR contributes to office efficiencies while also assisting in the ability to make real time decisions about the patient’s care.
The How:
Below is an example of a ‘before’ workflow:
Find the correct patient and open his or her electronic chart
Navigate to the Media Manager or similar EMR application
Physically scan or import the document into the EMR
Choose the appropriate document type from often hundreds of available options (note that they often choose "Other," to the great disdain of HIM and clinicians!)
Choose the appropriate order or encounter to which the document should be linked (note that they often don't link it to anything, also to the great disdain of HIM and clinicians)
Free-text a document description
Select users to whom the document should be routed
Save and accept
After all of this effort, the clinicians are still frustrated because the documents are inconsistently typed, they often live only on the media tab instead of being linked to the appropriate order or visit, and much of the time they have a document type of "Other," making them tricky to find. That is where our HealthyData platform comes in.
Our platform automatically determines the document type and the date of service for the user. We integrate directly with the EMR to find the correct patient, order, and/or encounter for you so the document shows up exactly where you want it to. We can standardize the document description format and make routing the document extremely easy- all within your firewall, so your documents and data never leave.
A Midwest Healthcare system implemented the HealthyData Platform and paired it with point of service scanning to create a centralized solution in their HIM department, creating standardized workflows between regions. They started with a pilot program in one site. Working together to work out any kinks, they soon rolled out enterprise wide. While this was a significant undertaking, the pilot provided solid proof that benefits were waiting. The pilot location handled an annual volume of 120,000 pages. As they rolled out HealthyData, they quickly moved through 2 million pages and are now streamlining 6 million pages annually while also now satisfying HIMSS 7 standards.
Their document type is now automatically identified without input over 90% of the time. 3.4% of documents need a new order created, which can be done directly in the HealthyData system rather than interrupting the workflow to create the order in Epic. Batches that were once scanned by clinics or faxed from outside providers shifted from being processed in three different queues using OnBase (Pagination, Indexing, and QA) to a single queue with Extract that auto proposes pagination, indexes, and drastically reduces the amount of QA, all within one application.
You can access the full case study here. To learn more about how Extract can help your organization achieve similar results please reach out today.
About the Author: Taylor Genter
Taylor is the Marketing Specialist at Extract with experience in data analytics, graphic design, and both digital and social media marketing. She earned her Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Marketing at the University of Wisconsin- Whitewater. Taylor enjoys analyzing people’s behaviors and attitudes to find out what motivates them, and then curating better ways to communicate with them.