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Unfortunately, after you make the decision
to implement a cost effective, paperless system like the Team
Chart Concept, the rest of the world will still be on
paper, and they will continue to insist on sending paper to infect
your office. Lab Reports, X-Ray Reports, Referral Letters,
EOB's, etc., will still be used as justification for harvesting
trees.
One way to cut down on
the amount of paper sent to your office is to request that information
be faxed to you. You can then purchase a computer-based fax
system that will allow you to receive the faxed images on the computer.
You can then drag-and-drop the fax image icon file into the Patient's
Timeline in the Team Chart Concept.
This is a very effective way to cut down on paper.
Or, you might ask other
offices to e-mail information to you. Again, you can drag-and-drop
(or copy/paste) e-mail information into the Team
Chart Concept.
But even after taking
the above steps, there will still be some paper that slips into
your office. To handle this paper, you will need to purchase
a good quality, high-speed scanner. Scanners range in price
from the cost of a night out on the town, to the price of a good
used car. Your budget and scanning needs will dictate what
you can afford. However, note that a slow scanner may cost
you later in wasted staff time spent scanning in large quantities
of paper.
You will probably need
a scanner that has the following features:
- Sheet Feed
- Duplex Scanning (optional but recommended)
- Blank Page Separator
- SCSI Interface
- Supports compressed TIF File Format (uses
the least disk space)
- Reliable with a good warranty (scanners do
break)
When you scan a paper
document into a computer, a 'picture' (image) of the document is
made and stored in a digital file on the computer. That file
appears as an icon on your computer screen. You can then 'drag-and-drop'
that file's icon into the Team Chart Concept.
Of course, if you have
been using paper charts, you will probably choose to scan those
into the Team Chart Concept
when you make the conversion. This will be, for a few months,
the greatest need for a scanner. In fact, you may hire some
one to do the scanning for you (either with their scanner) or your
scanner. Each situation is unique and depends on the size,
complexity, and number of paper charts, and the need for immediate
access to those charts in the future. For more information
on handling your old paper charts, click here.
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Paper
Documents
