Partnership In Better Patient Care

Think healthcare organizations are done now that most of them are using basic electronic medical records? They're just getting started. Interest has never been higher for Enterprise Content Management (ECM) products such as intelligent automated workflow, record sharing and cyber security. Also, a ton of other paper is still out there to be digitized, including billing records, office paperwork, job applications and printed record archives, to name a few. Better patient care is the ultimate goal for healthcare professionals. We’re partners in that effort. Learn more on the following pages about ECM’s vital role in healthcare.

The information management needs of the healthcare industry are evolving. Providers want ways to better collect, organize and manage the growing amounts of information flowing in and out of their businesses. Use this guide to increase your understanding of the healthcare marketplace, to learn why Electronic Health Records (EHR) applications are falling short, and to better match your ECM offerings to their technology needs. Grow your business as you identify opportunities to help healthcare professionals improve patient care and achieve their other goals.

Drivers of Growth: The following are among the trends fueling the growth of healthcare ECM spending:

? Patient demand for more and better services ? Increased government funding to aid providers with compliance

? The drive toward remote/hybrid work

? A preference for cloud technologies ? Helping the environment

Trend one: Better Patient Care Through Technology When patients talk of a good experience at a hospital or medical clinic, they're talking about more than the staff's bedside manner. Maybe the doctor impressed them by going online to access their complete medical history to better guide their care. Or they received a quick answer about a past billing statement. Or they went home confident their health records are private and secure. At the end of the day, better patient care is the number one goal of doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals. When discussing technology options with healthcare professionals, talk their language. Tell them that it’s ultimately about better patient care. More than 95% of patient complaints are related to customer service issues and not the expertise of the doctor, noted a study in the Journal of Medical Practice Management. 4 Digitization of patient data gives patients and doctors immediate access to information and aids in the development of digital patient portals for handling appointments, telehealth visits, resources and patient documents like prescriptions. Digitization of business records like invoices, applications, and billing information further streamlines patient care before and after their visit and reduces overhead costs for the organization.

Trend two: Government Spending A quarter century after HIPAA, governments continue to push hard for the healthcare industry to transition from paper to digital. There are still a lot of opportunities -- and government funding -- available. In the area of healthcare technology, the COVID-19 economic recovery packages approved by Congress set aside hundreds of millions of dollars, including more than $500 million for rural healthcare providers. "Federal, state, and local governments, along with the private sector, have worked together to help digitize health information and healthcare. Yet, much work remains to ensure patients and caregivers have access to valuable, usable information," Dr. Donald Rucker, the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, said in releasing the 2020-2025 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan that outlines the government's latest goals.5 The unfinished work extends to patient privacy and data security, Rucker said. The strategic plan credits healthcare providers for improvements but notes that records "can still be misused or inappropriately disclosed in ways that may harm consumers." The funding wave harkens to 1996, when the landmark HIPAA patient privacy legislation was a springboard to the healthcare industry's digital transformation. Government funding became available for ECM products and services. Failure to guard privacy and prevent data breaches brought costly fines. Today, HIPAA remains a driving force behind ECM for healthcare. Invite healthcare professionals to explore the information sharing capabilities of the PaperVision suite of products and services.

PaperVision? Meets This Need Each healthcare organization faces its own set of goals and challenges in managing information. By identifying specific needs and the best ECM tools to help, you can focus your efforts in a way that gives you the greatest likelihood of winning the business and growing your revenue. As you’re speaking with prospects, keep in mind the following issues and technologies. Issues In addition to the trends previously discussed, the healthcare industry faces certain issues to be successful in today’s marketplace. Be sure to investigate the following issues with prospects as you’re delving into their technology goals. Telemedicine/Telehealth The doctor is available online but the patient's records aren't? When a health issue is urgent enough for a telemedicine visit, neither patients nor doctors want to hear, "Sorry, we can't access those records right now." Doctors need to be able to access a patient’s records no matter where they’re working, and ECM makes secure retrieval simple. Help your prospects to deliver better patient care with speedy access to full healthcare histories including prescriptions. Healthcare organizations can also improve customer service by making intake records, billing and other information readily available in an ECM. Going forward, telemedicine/telehealth is expected to play an increasingly larger role as a way to reduce healthcare costs and make office visits more convenient. ECM tools are vital to maximizing telemedicine's effectiveness. EHR + ECM Did you know that an EHR doesn’t complete the records management needs of healthcare providers? The digital transformation of the healthcare industry is just beginning. This remains a strong market for ECM and digital transformation technologies such as imaging, cloud-based information management and process automation. By digitizing older patient charts that are typically still managed in paper format, doctors can get a complete view of a patient’s health history no matter where they are working. In addition, fast access to information improves patient care and saves lives. Digitizing and automating intake processes and giving patients faster, more secure access to their own healthcare records, billing and other information is also important for improving customer service.