Issue 10 - August 2003

The handheld revolution
Electronic records management cuts costs and improves efficiency
By Gerard Clum, DC

We are all comfortable with a patient file. A patient feels reassured when you review it. The staff is thrilled when the information they need is in it. And you know what to look for and where to find it when you pick the file up.

But patient files are not efficient, nor are they easy to work with and they are subject to all sorts of simple physical problems — from having coffee spilled over them to getting lost.

Could managing patient information be made easier and done more efficiently? Yes — through electronic records management.

Some experts have estimated that keeping and maintaining a paper file in your office costs on average $8 per file per year. If you have 5,000 files, the maintenance cost of these files for ten years could be in excess of $400,000!

Electronic records management, on the other hand, takes up little room and — after initial investment and transition to an electronic system — offers distinct advantages over paper files:

• Automatic tracking. Paper files don’t record who is reading them or when they have been accessed. Nor do they track what has been changed in them, or who has made the changes. Electronic files do all that — an important consideration, in light of the HIPAA era of healthcare.

• Controlled access. Anyone can access an unlocked filing cabinet. But the only people who can access electronic files are the individuals you give permission to — usually by job function.

• One-button copying. Making a copy of an entire patient record can be a tedious process, but a quick burn of a CD provides a complete copy of your electronic file within seconds.

• Complete records. Electronic medical record software can also prompt you for complete patient-encounter information.

• Chart creation. The right software will give you the proper tools to create level-four evaluation and management charts.

Equipped with the proper software, your office computers can — and will — generate these electronic files — make the work of your support staff easier and more efficient.

By adding a a handheld computer into your computer system, your productivity will increase even further!

Handheld computers are not just dressed-up address books with calendars. They are powerful computing devices that are physically easier to handle than a paper file.

Handhelds include pocket PCs, tablet PCs and some smaller laptop computers. Some of these computing devices come with keyboards; others do not. Most have touch screens that use a stylus and eliminate the need for a mouse. Most provide an option to use “drawing software,” which is useful for making pain drawings, capturing your signature and translating handwriting to text.

Some handhelds don’t even require you to type or write anything: They are capable of using voice-to-text software. Some systems even allow you to leave the office, remember the changes you’ve made and add those changes upon your return.

If your handheld has wireless capabilities, patient data is always available to you. You can print charts and other documents as you move around the office. One software application makes it possible for your CA to send wireless messages within the clinic, to tell you about a phone call or a patient arrival or to send you a patient’s file electronically. You can also send messages and files back to the front desk.

Every practitioner today has been at the point of diminishing return, when record keeping and patient documentation cease to done for the best interests of the patient and are done in response to demands that are external to the doctor-patient relationship. Electronic record management — especially through handheld computing — can put the power of your patient files at your fingertips.

Dr. Gerard Clum is president of Life Chiropractic College West (www.lifewest.edu) and has held this position for more than 22 years. He serves as a member of the board of directors of Association of Chiropractic Colleges, Council on Chiropractic Education, and the World Federation of Chiropractic. He can be contacted by e-mail at gclum@lifewest.edu.