Home Forums Discussions General Discussion medical records requests

For you more experienced AC users out there, I need some help with med record requests. I have been using AC for about 4 years now, there are many things I know how to do on the system and many I don't. I would like to know an easier way to send out medical records requested from other offices, patients, insurances and law offices. As it is now we print them off and fax or mail them. Is there another way that saves on paper and time? I would also like to know a way to get them sent to our office without having to scan so many pages. I tried to get info on updocs but have had no luck in finding the information.

Any suggestions?

Thanks, Grace

Grace,
Take this for what it is worth, as I have only been using AC since 11/2011--so am a newbie, but I would suggest trying out the 2 week free trial of UPDOX and play around with the capabilities, but have to say since integrating UPDOX the scanner and faxing issues have been streamlined immensely. I literally am still astounded at the improved efficiency in the office flow as my nurse manages the UPDOX mailbox for the most part--I have about 1500 patients--work 5 days a week, outpatient only--see about 15 per day and my faxing is about 1500-2000 pages per month about 55-65 dollars a month--well worth it as I don't have to have a designated fax line--I have gone from totally paper dependent to paper free in just a few months--jimmie

Thanks Jimmie, I will look into updox, maybe if I spelled it correctly the first time I would have found it. You fax way more a month than I do..

Grace

Grace,
I forgot to add if you decide to try UPDOX--charlie spent about a half hour on the phone remoted in and helped get me oriented--and I bet he would do the same if you called and requested him--jimmie

Grace

We love Updox in our office, it would just depend on how many faxes you send/receive. Since all our faxes come in to Updox, these are then imported into the patient chart without having to print anything. If someone requests records from us, we print the selected pages to Updox and send them from there (very easy).

Many on the board here use Paperport which doesn't cost per month.

Here's a link regarding faxing from AC that might help you

http://amazingcharts.com/ub/ubbthre.../Search/true/Re_Faxing_from_AC#Post35600

As Jon (JBS) pointed out several times, for high volume faxing you can use your own fax line and import them into UpDox without having to buy bundles.

Bert and I use Mainpine fax boards which are also ideal for high volume faxing. I get 1500-2000 faxes/month (from 3 pages up to 50 pages per fax). Doesn't require any software for the conversion as the PDF conversion is built into the driver. You can also fax from all computers.

And, support comes with it forever. Seriously!

I have had updox for 3 months, can't seem to figure it out...can't find a live person to help me! anyone have a number for customer service?? i get an answering machine.

Bridget,
My advice is to go to support@updox.com and ask for charlie--he usually answers me back within the business day whenever I need help. -jimmie

Grace, when we send records (esp if a multipage chart) we print to PDF file using Adobe Acrobat. Then burn these files to a CD and give to patient or mail to the other office requesting records. Sometimes we will combine all PDF images into one big PDF file, then we print that PDF file to the networked fax machine sending it to the requesting office. Both methods save paper.

Regarding your second question, our fax machine is set to receive all images and translate them into PDF images. These are routed to a shared folder on the server. These are then saved into the appropriate AC chart under Imported Items. Therefore no paper is printed from the fax, ever.

Thank you all for the replies, I will give to my IT person, my son, and have him work on getting this set up for the office.

We prefer to fax. I will burn them down to a CD on occasion, but usually I fax them out. It's on the other sides dime to receive them. Time of a phone call is somewhat irrelevant (never enough to raise the phone bill).

I use a brother fax connection as well as have a 56 K modem as backup. I actually prefer to send by Microsoft fax as it keeps a more detailed record of what was sent. It's faster to send by Brother fax in setup and that's usually the way the staff does it. I don't feel strongly enough to change their modus operandi.

Grace,

Wow, as far as records are concerned whether incoming or outgoing, you should NEVER have to use a sheet of paper. Logistics with the caveat that we don't use imported items:

1. Pull past encounters and check Progress Notes Only. Print those to a PDF using one of the 1,000 free PDF printers. We use Adobe, but you can get CutePDF for free.
2. Print the immunization sheet.
3. Probably easiest to go to the ImportItems folder, find the folder using the patient ID and, again, print to PDF. Combine these to one PDF and burn it to a CD. We even use LightScribe to put the name and DOB on the CD, put it in a case, put it in the made for mailing CD packages and mail it.

We don't use anything else in AC especially messages as they tend to have a few derogatory messages. They are part of the medical record (maybe) and you will have them in the event of a legal matter, but there is no reason for the receiving office to have them.

We have done it this way for 5 1/2 years, and no office has ever called to get the messages.

When receiving, your fax machine or fax server HAS to be capable of receiving to a PDF or TIFF file on your "server." You can't let some office send you 300 sheets and tie up your system for that long.

Now there are times, such as when Mainecare asks for records to determine whether a patient get approved for a prior authorization that we will print the 637 page record via the computer, so they have to use that paper and have their fax machine tied up for two hours. Just a little passive-aggressive touch for the government.