What is medical records management?

The ability to deliver excellent health care outcomes to patients is dependent on accessibility to the data that informs providers of critical medical information. The instantaneous availability of medical records can have a dramatic impact on the success of patient care. If you’re in the healthcare industry, you’re undoubtedly aware of the consequences associated with mismanaged medical data.

Health Information Management (HIM) is essential for the viability of any medical profession.

Since this information can prove to be vitally necessary for healthcare providers and patients, your business deserves the best medical records management platform available.

Let’s examine the best practices for ensuring your business is equipped with up-to-date protocols to handle medical records, patient information and critical documents.

MEDICAL RECORDS RETENTION & MANAGEMENT

The Australian government requires medical records to be kept for seven years. Having adequate administrative data reaps benefits that go beyond ensuring the security of confidential clinical files and enhanced business continuity. Should your organisation ever be asked to provide health care regulatory compliance documents or other accreditation validation, you’ll be fully equipped to provide the necessary information.

Healthcare providers have benefited greatly from an ever-increasing transition to electronic medical records (EMR). The meticulous patient documentation, disease coding and billing, clinical pathway utilisation and optimised workflow this system creates by virtue of instantaneous access to real-time health informatics has dramatically increased efficiencies across the industry.

Interoperability and vertical portability are two key benefits of cloud-based patient record data. The ability to provide a team of health care providers with the latest updates and changes to things like prescription history saves on the time once delegated to requesting charting. A centralised platform increases productivity and efficiency by ensuring the latest regulations, compliance standards and patient information is housed in an easily-accessible interface.

THE IMPORTANCE OF MEDICAL RECORDS MANAGEMENT

The need to effectively safeguard medical records is a top priority for healthcare providers. In this increasingly digital world, critical patient data can be put at risk if your software has security vulnerabilities.

Legislation passed in November 2018 implemented harsh penalties for organisations found in violation of Privacy governance. Fines of up to $666,000 AUD may be levied for breaches of patient information data to companies found at fault. Ensuring proper security authentication for your valuable data is one way to maintain compliance and safeguard your business.

MEDICAL RECORDS REQUIRING RETENTION:

• Medical information or patient history
• Charting, scans or records
• Medical devices
• Human drugs
• Natural health products

Noncompliance with medical retention policies, revealed by a data breach or a violation of the duration of stored personal information, could result in damages beyond financial penalties. The reputation of your business could be affected, and social or economic disadvantages from a lack of client trust are often intangible but create negative effects that can be long-lasting.

In these cases, the legal violation is revealed when the breach takes place and the company is found to have more records than it should, or insignificant protection protocols for valuable documents.

Another risk facing managers of medical facilities is the potential overload of patient data systems. As reported by Mobihealthnews, the concept of data minimization is pertinent as medical systems become overloaded by a mass transition to the electronic storage of decades worth of data. Data minimization tasks electronic medical records management systems with eliminating the non-essential and expired information that may be burdening your business.

Finally, by freeing up employees previously tasked with managing complex electronic records databases, you’ll increase the productivity of your workforce.

YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS DIGITAL RECORDS MANAGEMENT

As many services transition to an online model, your valuable documents should be digitised in order to ensure the safekeeping and easy transfer of the information vital to your business.

Scanned documents can be securely added to health records with the click of a button – a far cry from the days of scouring filing cabinets to add new information to overstuffed folders. Factor in the risk of damage or loss that comes with outdated paper filing systems, and it’s clear to see the benefits of transitioning your HIM system to a digital base.

While many businesses are embracing the benefits of a records management system, a secure digital system doesn’t guarantee regulatory compliance. Tasking your employees with the responsibility of ensuring every document follows the latest policies and regulations for retaining and disposing of hard-copy and electronic records is a daunting and unrealistic expectation.

Not all businesses are equipped with the security protocols necessary to maintain sensitive patient information and valuable medical data.

With these multiple considerations in mind, it is important for your business to ensure quality records management solutions. Whether you want to realign your records retention strategy or ensure the security of your critical data, Iron Mountain provides the comprehensive platform you’ve been waiting for.

IRON MOUNTAIN MEDICAL RECORDS MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS

Iron Mountain has been trusted by the healthcare industry to aid in delivering unparalleled health care and confidence for decades. Patient medical records, health information, critical documents and more are managed in physical files and through our electronic record management systems.

Iron Mountain Policy Centre provides instant and up-to-date insight into the records retention protocols necessary for regulatory compliance. Our cloud-based platform safely houses medical records and patient data behind advanced authentication protocols. Once you access your customised platform, our easy-to-navigate interface will guide you to the latest regulatory information and changes.

When you’re able to manage privacy and retention together, you’re ensuring compliance with regulations while protecting the privacy of your trusted resources. When it comes to Health Information Management, you can’t afford to take chances.

Iron Mountain Policy Centre Professional Edition provides regulatory coverage for up to 10 countries and enables up to 5 administrators with editing capabilities.

Policy Centre Enterprise Edition takes the features of Professional Edition a step further by offering global coverage and a data flow mapping tool to record your processing activities. What’s more, our expert Advisory Services team will partner with you to tailor your retention strategy to suit the needs of your business.

Looking to transition your physical HIM system to a more efficient digital solution? Our digitisation service will convert the entirety of your paper records into electronic and easily accessible data. Whether you need a same-day scanning service or the bulk scanning of thousands of archived and active files, Iron Mountain is here to help future-proof your business.

Our medical records management, patient charting and personal data protection services ensure your organisation can focus every employee’s attention on health. We’ll take the worries associated with compliance off of your hands, and futureproof both your physical documents and e-files against regulatory changes and governance.

Our security protocols will evaluate the efficiency of your storage systems, and provide information on how you can augment or offload your critical patient information to one of our secure remote facilities.

Trusted, protected and guarded, your data is in safe hands. Take the worry out of your health information management with Iron Mountain and Policy Centre solutions today.