Digitisation in Healthcare – Improve Your Records Management

Digitising health care records has been highlighted as a strategy by the NHS with a goal towards being paperless as soon as possible. This can be a key tool in providing flexible access to patient information which is critical for agile working. There are many ways to streamline workflow in healthcare, and electronic medical records are a useful step in the right direction to ensuring that patients get the best possible care.

Cleardata provides secure medical document management for hospitals, medical practices, care homes and hospices across the UK. Working in line with the NHS DSPT standards, our secure medical records scanning and archiving services allow records to be digitised quickly, or stored offsite in a secure environment, with fast digital retrieval available. Allow us to manage your records, so you can focus on excellent patient care.

Electronic Medical Records

There are several benefits associated with switching from paper to electronic medical records:

• Compliance with NHS digital strategy
• Electronic Medical Records managed efficiently
• Safe against fire, flood, and physical theft
• Flexible document access
• Restrict access to authorised users only
• Improve GDPR compliance
• Reduction in long term archive storage and retrieval costs

Cleardata provides a wide range of services for digitisation and management of healthcare records, including medical records storage, archive management and document destruction services, to name just a few. We endeavour to ensure optimum protection of your medical records, such as shielding them from fire, flood and theft, as well as a fleet of transportation that is both secure and tracked for added security.

Cleardata for Digitising Healthcare Documents

Digitisation is the streamlining solution that benefits not just GPs, practices and hospitals, but the patient as well. Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic has seen less face to face consultation time become available and so GP’s, out of necessity, are having more telephone consultations. 

This may have led to an increase in inbound phone calls and a further burden on hospital and practice administration. With the strange and limiting times we’ve now found ourselves in, communication and the sharing of digitised health records has never been more important.

Cleardata is here to be your patient record digitisation partner and lift some of those burdens. Our dedicated secure healthcare scanning bureau can scan all sizes of paperwork at high volume for medical records scanning in bulk. Documents are digitised using the latest IBML Fusion and Kodak scanning technology before undergoing a thorough quality check to ensure the highest standards and data accuracy, in line with BS 10008.

The team is experienced in digitising medical records such as Lloyd George wallets, patient records and related medical documentation, as well as organisational files such as HR, finance and operational records. We have worked for NHS Trusts and various hospitals, medical practices, care homes and hospices throughout the UK. Watch our case study for Northumbria Healthcare. 

Cleardata offers advice and training in the best way to box up records ready for scanning and also offers a boxing up service, if preferred, to reduce the work for your team. Our collection service is available throughout the UK.

Any size document can be scanned. The bureau uses IBML Fusion and Kodak production scanners for documents up to A3 in size. Larger documents are scanned using large format Canon scanners. The company also has a specialist scanning area which can digitise older fragile records or bound documents. Cleardata utilises both flatbed scanning and book scanning technology.

Scanned records can be indexed to meet your requirements, to help ensure information can be found easily and are in a compatible format to meet the needs of your existing patient records systems. As part of the process our team will agree naming conventions for the files such as:

• Patient name
• NHS number
• Date of birth

Medical Records Storage

As an alternative, Cleardata’s archive facility provides secure storage for your medical records. Our state-of-the-art security and detection alert systems, combined with authorised personnel only access, ensures that your medical records are kept safe from harm or breach. In addition, records can be retrieved, scanned and returned quickly when needed using our environmentally friendly scan on demand service.

Archive Management and Document Destruction Services

Our bespoke archive management system, Cleardox AMS, provides archive storage customers with the ability to efficiently manage records stored offsite. Authorised users have access to the secure online system for easy management of their medical record’s full life cycle.

Cleardox AMS allows users to submit file retrievals, manage destruction, extend retention periods and provides full tracking capabilities to see any physical interaction with records, by date, time and user. Cleardata offers efficient management for the full lifecycle of your medical records, including secure destruction when a document reaches the end of its retention period.

Patient records document scanning services

We offer an end-to-end solution that encompasses the following:

• Patient records can be collected from any UK location, using our securely tracked fleet
• Our team offer a full boxing up service to reduce the workload for practice staff
• Records are checked in for each stage of the process, providing a secure audit trail
• Our secure scanning bureau uses the latest Kodak scanning technology
• Lloyd George patient records can be prepped and scanned quickly and easily 
• Fragile documents are digitised in our specialist scanning area, using flatbed scanning equipment
• Scans are checked twice to ensure clarity and quality
• Scan on demand is available throughout the scanning process, which means records can be requested, retrieved and digitally returned within hours of your request
• Our data entry team can index to your requirements e.g. first name, surname, NHS number and date of birth
• Secure destruction – once you’re happy with the digital images our team can shred the patient records. Lloyd George wallets can be returned to meet compliance requirements

Cleardata has a secure storage facility

Throughout the scanning process, records will be stored in our secure document management facility.  Premises are protected by enhanced security and fire detection systems and 24 hour CCTV. Cleardata is assured to:

• ISO27001 – Information Security
• ISO9001 – Quality Management Systems
• Cyber Essentials Plus
• Annual DSPT Toolkit Submission

Cleardata Will Protect Your Medical Records

In many ways, digitising medical records protects your patient data. Physical documents are at risk of disasters which can occur at your premises, such as fire or flooding. Documents are also more at risk of being accessed by unauthorised people in paper form, than password-protected in an electronic system.

GDPR regulations require the release of patient data upon request to see how, where, and why their data is being used. Electronic medical records make it easier to provide access to a patient’s medical notes when requested, as they can be retrieved from their electronic system and either emailed or posted to the patient, making your medical practice, care home or hospice fully GDPR-compliant.

Cleardata will work alongside your Document Controllers, Records Managers and Information Governance team to ensure the complete safety and protection of your patient records and notes, keeping you in the loop at every stage of the digitisation process. See how Cleardata has overseen the digitisation of 1.2 million patient records over a three year period.

Contact Cleardata today on 0800 046 8081 to discuss your medical record digitisation requirements with one of our data management experts.