You might not realize this, or maybe you just haven’t been able to fix it, but there’s a good chance your medical group has a big problem: your medical record indexing is slow and inefficient.
And there’s one culprit, in particular, that’s dragging down the process—clicks.
Whether it’s mouse clicks on a computer or finger taps on a tablet, each “click” consumes a measurable duration of time (roughly 0.25 seconds). That’s pretty fast, but across your entire organization, your group likely makes millions and millions of clicks each year.
And each of those clicks requires more from your team than just moving their fingers. They first have to read the document, decide what needs to be done, enter data by hand, and navigate the mouse to the correct place—all before a click ever happens.
According to our research, the average of all that time comes out to roughly one click per second. Maybe that doesn’t sound like much, but with enough clicks, it can become a real drag on your efficiency. At their fastest, your staff typically will process about two documents per minute. And the negative impact a slow filing process creates is undeniable.
A slow medical record indexing process reduces the quality of patient care in three distinct ways:
- Providers don’t have the information they need to make an informed diagnosis or recommendation.
- Administrative staff are overwhelmed and frustrated by a backlog of unfiled documents.
- Patients face delayed appointments and treatments, which reduces their overall satisfaction and might even lead to additional complications.
How much time does your staff spend on medical record indexing?
Another study we conducted shows that the average manual filing process requires one million clicks per year for every five providers in your group. If you’re like many of our clients, with around 200 providers, you’re looking at 40 million clicks* per year, just for filing patient records.
If each click takes one second, that’s 40 million seconds—or 11,112 hours—worth of clicks each year. That’s more than 15 months of continuous clicking. Staggering, right?
(*The number of clicks per page varies with EHR.)
You might need a faster process with fewer clicks
Maybe you have fewer providers in your group, maybe more. Do the math and see what your numbers look like. If you’re shocked at how much time is wasted on clicks and find yourself suddenly looking for a better way, we propose that automation is the solution you need.
Instead of manually entering data and uploading forms one by one, an automated service like SmartFiler uses a combination of technology and highly-trained experts to identify each document, determine where it needs to go, and file it correctly within your existing EHR platform.
When a document comes in, your team only needs to send it through the system. The computers do the rest, no matter the format—eFax, PDF, or paper. All your staff has to do is initiate the process.
But SmartFiler is more than just software. It’s a technology-enabled service. Highly trained, expert reviewers are always standing by to make sure that no document gets left behind. If the technology is having a hard time with a form, a real human steps in to get the document in the correct place and ensure an accuracy rate of up to 99.99%.
Reducing clicks can lead to happier staff, patients
This type of automated medical record filing service eliminates up to 99% of clicks. So, instead of 11,112 hours’ worth of clicking, your team might only spend about 111 hours (1% of 11,112), creating a dramatic change in how your group operates:
- Providers will have the information they need to make accurate and timely decisions for quality patient care.
- Staff members will be unburdened from the monotony of data entry and the stress of potential mistakes.
- Patients will receive better care and service. With faster and more accurate medical record indexing, you can decrease patient risk, while increasing patient satisfaction scores.
If you’re interested in learning more about SmartFiler, reach out to us. We’d love to talk about how we can improve the efficiency of your record indexing and help you get rid of those time-consuming clicks.
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