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WellSpan Signs HealthPort(TM) to Conduct Large-Scale, Back-Scanning Project

Posted on: Monday, 25 February 2008, 18:00 CST

WellSpan Health, an integrated health system serving the York and Adams County region of Pennsylvania and northern Maryland, has engaged HealthPort, a Top 100 HIT Company by Revenue according to Healthcare Informatics, to conduct a large-scale, back-scanning project of all paper medical records across the organization's medical group practices.

The back-scanning project is a high priority, as every WellSpan physician practice is now implementing an electronic health record (EHR) system. WellSpan is continuously adding new practices, with 58 currently being served by nearly 400 providers. WellSpan's objective is to create an entirely paperless environment; therefore, as each practice goes live with the EHR, HealthPort picks up the practice's active records and scans them. The total number of images to be scanned is approximately 53.5 million or 20 truckloads. To date, two truckloads of 5,349,803 images have been scanned. Once scanned, WellSpan imports the scanned records into their EHR.

"As we began our transition to the EHR, back-scanning just made sense for our organization," says Susan Grove, Bulk Scanning Coordinator for WellSpan Medical Group. "Living in two worlds -- the paper world and a paperless one was confusing and difficult, and it slowed tasks for both providers and staff. Through back-scanning, we'll gain the end-to-end efficiency a practice can expect from being completely paperless."

Grove indicates that the back-scanning process has gone quite smoothly with no glitches to date. Overall, the paperless environment is well received by providers and staff. "Nearly everyone is anxious to become completely paperless because that's when we'll realize maximum efficiencies," notes Grove. "It's also nice to have the additional space created when the paper files are eliminated." Grove indicates that they've employed "best practices" for preparing for scanning, such as placing the most recent records first in the patient's file to enable fast adaptation and ease of use.

"Back-scanning doesn't glean as much attention as other IT solutions because it doesn't have as much 'sizzle'," says Amber Doster, Vice President of Marketing at HealthPort. "However, it's a smart and relatively easy step for healthcare organizations going paperless, and it can go a long way in increasing efficiency for providers and staff."

About WellSpan Medical Group

The WellSpan Medical Group provides medical services through more than 30 primary and 20 specialty care offices in York and Adams counties in southcentral Pennsylvania and northern Maryland. It is part of WellSpan Health, a not-for-profit, community-based, integrated health care network. WellSpan Health also includes Gettysburg Hospital, York Hospital, VNA Home Health, an outpatient surgery center and WellSpan Pharmacy.

About HealthPort

HealthPort combines technology and strategic solutions to continually improve fragmented business processes for the healthcare community. The company offers revenue cycle management, electronic medical record, electronic document management, document conversion and storage services, practice management, release-of-information, and healthcare consulting services. HealthPort is the one-source provider, offering the widest selection of affordable, quality health information products and services in the industry. For more information, visit www.healthport.com or call 800-737-2585.

Source: Business Wire

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