Home Forums Discussions Problems Importing Old Charts is taking FOREVER

Hi All. I was hoping some people might be willing to share their experience with importing old charts into Amazing Charts. For us, it seems to be taking FOREVER.

We're trying to figure out whether it is a factor of our SCANNER or just because we are being OCD/PERFECTIONISTS!

Anyone care to share how they imported old charts? Did you just shove all the papers from the chart onto a stack and scan it in as one big document? Perhaps we just have larger than life charts (Some easily more than 100 pages not including labs)?

We are separating sections according to whether they are labs (hence putting them in the "Laboratory Category") versus visits, etc. We're even going so far as to separate each lab, visit, etc. by date as a separate imported item!

Are we just being CRAZY in going into this much detail with separating the papers, or should we consider purchasing a faster scanner? We have a Brother MFC-9840CDW All-In-One Printer/Copier/Scanner/Fax.

Any Thoughts are appreciated!

- S.K.

We just had a business company scan (1.5M) pages to our X drive. Then when patients came back in started them in AC. Anything we needed to be in AC we imported but mostly just looked it up on the x drive for a visit or two.

Your machine might be too "all-purpose" . We use a Kodak scanner that does nothing else but scan. It has speed, can do front and back and skip blank pages. It did not cost $400 and has paid for itself many times over in employee salary at $12 plus an hour.We scan in charts of patients who have made appointments, telephone consults, refill requests and correspondence, etc. Any paper chart that is pulled from the file cabinet for any reason is converted to an electronic file that is imported to AC and the old paper chart is then shredded ( never placed back into the metal cabinet). We have sold a dozen ( or more) metal file cabinets on Craig's List and are loving the additional open space in the office.

And just what is the model of this Kodak scanner? The Kodak Ektascan ?????. Just so we can go look it up.

Well, I am too anal I guess also because I have been scanning 20 years worth of charts for the last 1 and 1/2 years. But, I am not really in a hurry. I have a part-timer who does this as well as takes care of other odds and ends in the office. I actually go through each chart and pull out things like colonoscopies, pertinent xrays, recent labs, consults, etc. and import them directly into their appropriate AC categories after scanning. The rest of the chart is then separated and scanned in as files like "LABAROTORY...Old labs", "PRIOR RECORDS...Dr. Strouse", "RADIOLOGY...Old Xrays" and so on. Although it is taking more time on the front end to do this, it is a real time saver for me on the back end when I am looking for specific information. I then shred the chart. I have less than one file cabinet left to do and that contains a number of patients who have not been here in years and likely will not return. I am not sure I am going to scan them.

Leslie

Oh, by the way, we are using the Fujitsu Scan Snap...works great and fast.

Thanks for all the great responses! (We are also doing the same thing, Leslie, as far as separating all the labs).

Deborah, are you separating the info in your chart into categories in the AC import section or do you import the whole chart as one big document and call it "OLD FILES" or something like that? Also, what model is your Kodak scanner?

It seems like it would be worth it to look into getting a dedicated scanner; either the Fujitsu or Kodak. Thanks for all the suggestions!

Cheers!

- S.K.

With the inactive charts we scanned them whole. We have recently started on the active charts and are separating them into administrative, written notes, labs & xrays, consults and hospital, immunizations and schools PEs sections, which does take more time both to separate and scan.

We use a fujitsu M3093 scanner I picked up at ebay. It will do 25 sheets double or 36 sheets single sided. The scanning is the easy part.

It does take a while to get all the scanning done.

I would think the method you are describing would take longer than forever depending on the number of charts and the size.

Leslie's method sounds extremely thorough, but she is still not separating everything.

We scanned everything in as categories but not by date. By definition, they are a going to be at least a day old (if that makes sense). Then everything that comes in will be scanned in separately.

I am old. My charts are old. We have lots of them. (Correction, HAD lots of them)!!

We treated Amazing Charts as a new practice. We scanned in whatever we wanted on the first visit. Typically the last lab, Mammo and EKG. Most x-rays. NO NOTES. We entered a good problem list and Fam/Soc. history by reviewing the chart. ALL OF THE REST OF THE CHART, (and all charts that are inactive) are scanned into as system called, "capture perfect". That is just a data file system that came with a Canon Scanner we bought.

On the relatively rare occasions that I need something old, I open the file in Capture Pefect, (labeled with the Amazing Chart number or the Old system number if they have not been in since we went live)and then I just flip through the one or two hundred pages in the chart. They are stacked in the hopper in the order that they come out of the chart. You can flip the pages as fast as you click the mouse. You go like stink until you start seeing labs, then you slow down and read the dates, or whatever. If the patient had 5 (or more!) volumes of paper chart, we load one on top of the other, so you will go like stink, slow down and read the dates, if it ain't there, then go like stink to the next group of appropriate appearing blurs.
It works GREAT. Then you print it, use it, scan the pages into AC and shred them.
We have less than 100 feet of shelving still containing charts, NO OVERTIME was used, and we emptied all the old charts out of storage 1 year ago.
Hope this helps.