EDITS Scan - Benefits Analysis

There are numerous benefits to be derived by the electrification of the ED paper medical record. They include:

1. Substantially Reduced Costs of Producing Blank ED Charts
   Currently it is the custom to generate multiple copies of the ED medical record. This is traditionally done via the use of carbonless copies (referred to as NCR copies), although some departments use single-sheet charts and have staff make the necessary photocopies. The printing of NCR forms is expensive. A traditional one-page form with an original and two or three copies costs approximately $0.13-$0.17 to produce. Most ED medical records involve at least four separate pages and, as such, cost about $0.52-$0.68 per patient, if not more. If the blank records are required to be tractor-fed through printers, they are even more costly and must be produced by companies with this unique capability. Tractor-feed NCR records must be purchased in bulk and are, therefore, not easily updated or modified. With EDITS Scan there is only one original for each page of the ED record. Thus, blank records can be produced on a copy machine at a cost of $0.01-$0.02 per page. The savings in printing costs alone will pay for the entire cost of EDITS Scan. The ED staff will also gain productivity by not having to make, sort and distribute multiple copies of the forms.
   
   
2. Substantially Decreased Staff Time in Handling of Chart Copies
   It is a traditional practice in emergency departments to have staff "break down" the multicopy ED charts into piles of the various NCR copies. Each pile of progressively more illegible copies is alphabetized and sent to the various departments for further use (generally requiring inventorying, filing, retrieving, copying, storing and destroying of each copy). All of this work is eliminated with EDITS Scan, as each department normally slated to receive a copy of the chart can be authorized to access ED records on the hospital's PC network. Once the original copy of the ED medical record is scanned, the record is ready to be filed in the Medical Records Department.
   
   
3. Facilitated Transfer of Patients' ED Records to Medical Staff Members
   Most hospitals send copies of ED charts to members of the medical staff to facilitate the ongoing care of their patients who were treated in the ED. Traditionally the charts are messengered or mailed to the staff members. Messengering costs are difficult to determine since other materials are often being sent by the hospital to the physicians. Mailing costs are much easier to establish - about $0.05 for an envelope and $0.33 for postage. The labor cost for inserting and mailing also needs to be taken into consideration and a combined cost of $.50 per record sent is not an unreasonable estimate. The EDITS Scan program will automatically fax copies of ED patients' records to medical staff members immediately after they are scanned. It is done totally unattended. Within minutes to, hopefully at most, a few hours after leaving the ED, medical staff members will have a copy of their patients' ED charts waiting for them - a system far superior to the one customarily used. The software may also be programmed to fax portions of the medical records to others who need copies - insurance companies, managed care providers, etc.
   
   
4. Decreased Work and Expense Associated with Sending Copies of Records to Outside Billing Companies
   In the setting in which emergency physicians are required to bill separately from the hospital, it is traditional to send a copy of the ED record, along with demographic and insurance information, to the physicians' billing company. The cost of copying these medical records is often borne by the hospital -- sometimes the cost is borne by the emergency physicians. In either case, a substantial amount of time and expense is invested in copying these records. In addition, the expense of sending the copied records must also be considered. Traditionally, these records are sent by overnight carrier at additional substantial cost. All of the above can be eliminated with EDITS Scan. The scanned charts can be loaded onto a ZIP drive or electronically forwarded to the billing company over the Internet. At the billing company, a computer loaded with the EDITS Scan program provides easy access to the needed records. Copies can always be printed if needed. Meanwhile, the billing company does not incur the costs of reconciling, filing, storing, copying and ultimately destroying the records resulting in the billing company saving substantial time and money.
   
   
5. Avoidance of All Costs Associated with Record Disposal
   With the growing concern for patient confidentiality, it is no longer acceptable simply to throw old records in the trash. Whole industries have sprung up whose sole purpose is to appropriately dispose of sensitive records. With EDITS Scan, there is only one copy of the record - it is the original and it is stored in the Medical Records Department.
   
   
6. Facilitation of Patient Care Through Ready Access to Prior ED Visit Records
   The care of many patients can be facilitated when there is ready access to records regarding prior ED visits. Given that it is generally impossible to have copies of all prior ED visits stored in the ED, requests are made of the Medical Records Department to send a copy of a patient's old records to the ED. This is a time-consuming, labor-intensive project in that the records have to be located and physically walked down to the ED by someone. In addition, access to records in off-hours (the majority of the time) is particularly problematic. Typically a nursing supervisor is sent to the Medical Records Department to locate the record and bring it to the ED - clearly a suboptimal use of his or her time. With EDITS Scan there is instantaneous availability of the ED record. Within a reasonable amount of time, as more and more records are scanned, the necessity to access the Medical Records Department for old records will progressively decrease. Easier and better access to prior records can be expected to clearly improve care.