The market for electronic health records (EHRs) and electronic medical record (EMR) systems is growing exponentially, thanks in part to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. That piece of legislation earmarked tens of billions of dollars to help healthcare providers implement electronic systems.
Transparency Market Research predicts the global market will reach $23.98 billion by 2020, fueled by the vast number of hospitals, medical offices, insurance companies and other healthcare organizations embracing electronic systems to manage and access a variety of patient and client data. The move to EMR isn’t smooth sailing for every organization, particularly when transitioning from a legacy paper-based system to an electronic-based offering.
That was the case for Cape Fear Cardiology, a practice based in North Carolina that recently sought to transition their offices to a standardized electronic health system. Specifically, the practice was having issues with its existing scanner technology and was experiencing delays when processing patient documents and medical records. This opened up the organization to potential liability and lost revenue, putting the practice at significant risk. Cape Fear Cardiology was concurrently transitioning to the Aprima Medical Software EHR System and needed a scanning and document management solution that would integrate with the new system.
The practice ultimately chose Panasonic’s KV-S1026C personal workgroup scanners to meet their needs. The scanners are capable of processing patient paperwork and are also used for back office applications, integrating seamlessly with the Aprima EH system. Panasonic’s offerings are based on an open platform with support for TWAIN and ISIS APIs, enabling easy integration with most EHR systems. The company also provides SDKs to let developers build advanced integrations to meet the needs of specific healthcare organizations.
“Our previous scanner technology was just not reliable and in a busy office like ours it was becoming a real problem,” said Donna Mitchell, office manager for Cape Fear Cardiology. “Since installing the new Panasonic scanners we haven’t had a minute of trouble and that makes our jobs a whole lot easier.”
“In our busy practice where we are seeing hundreds of patients a day, we need technology that helps us get patients in and out as quickly and conveniently as possible rather than slowing us down,” added Mitchell. “When I think about it now, the before and after is hard to believe — there’s just no comparison.”
Edited by
Kyle Piscioniere
