How OPEX is providing digitisation solutions for the NHS

Here, we learn how solutions-based organisation OPEX are simplifying the often daunting and complex digitisation process of healthcare records to vastly benefit the NHS

As we readjust and revaluate best business practises instigated by the Coronavirus pandemic, it has never been a more crucial time to address the digitisation of healthcare records. Staff shortages, social distancing and a new way of working have brought on additional challenges to the NHS and OPEX has the solution to help minimise these pressures.

As a results-driven, solutions-based organisation, OPEX has already helped over 30 NHS Trusts across the UK streamline medical records in-house by making the digitisation process as seamless as possible. With an innovative approach, OPEX is best placed to supply a variety of unique, automated solutions with proven experience in the healthcare industry.

Key benefits of digitisation for both providers and patients include creating additional physical space and increased work-flow efficiency. Digitalisation not only saves time, reduces the margin for human error, eliminates missing or misplaced files but also provides round the clock access to healthcare records. Hospitals can also expect regulatory compliance and the elimination of warehouses full of records, creating a substantial cost saving on operating expenses. Eradicating physical paper will free up valuable space needed for patient care and will allow doctors to instantly view records and files directly from their computers.

A seamless transition to digitisation of healthcare medical records

Digitisation can feel like a daunting task however with the right equipment and business partner, the entire process is a lot easier than anticipated and will have a tremendous impact on patient care and internal efficiencies. By working with industry experts who understand digital transformation challenges and who have successfully delivered both onsite projects within hospital premises and offsite projects, OPEX uses next generation technology and state-of-the-art equipment that can easily handle the most challenging of tasks.

While some hospitals have completely transitioned to electronic medical records, many others are overwhelmed by the formidable task of digitising warehouses full of patient records. However, the sheer costs, risks and inefficiencies of using a paper-based system are not sustainable, and many government and public sector bodies are mandating the use of digital medical records.

Over the past five years, successive Government Ministers for Health have been driving a digital agenda, initially setting a National Health Service (NHS) goal of going paperless by 2020. The current long-term plan encourages all NHS organisations, from large hospital trusts to small practices, to reduce and ultimately eliminate the trail of paper that follows every patient’s journey through the healthcare system.

North Bristol Hospital NHS Trust’s journey to digitisation

It was for those precise reasons that North Bristol Hospital NHS Trust (NBT), one of the largest hospitals in the UK with 1,300 outpatient and 200 inpatient attendances, decided to embark on the journey to digitisation.

Before they embarked on their digitisation strategy, NBT stored a total of 400,000 medical records in two warehouses, as well as 800,000 additional records at off-site storage facilities. The hospital received daily deliveries of approximately 850 paper files to prepare for upcoming appointments. On occasion, patient records were not delivered or found in time, which meant that the clinicians were unable to access historical information during the appointment.

To address the excess costs and barriers to effective patient care, NBT introduced an Electronic Document Management System (EDMS), which would provide instant access to patient medical records for the hospital’s 6,000 clinicians, nursing, and administrative staff. The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), an organisation that provides back-end support to the NHS, determined that OPEX Falcon scanners were the best available product in the market for the complex, challenging task at hand.

OPEX Falcon scanning solution for NBT

The scale of the digitisation process was enormous and many of the legacy documents were in poor condition, ripped, torn or worn with age and in an unstructured format. Such difficult-to-scan documents could not quickly and easily be captured by a typical scanner however the OPEX Falcon scanning solution handled the entire process efficiently and with ease.

Commenting on the digitisation, Vinny Butler, Head of Scanning Services, NHS Business Authority said: “We recognised that OPEX’s Falcon is the go-to product for scanning medical records and patient files, due to the significant labour savings, increased security and document integrity, combined with a powerful chain of custody associated with all records”.

Digitisation will not only help create a more efficient NHS which in turn will improve care and outcomes for patients. OPEX currently deals directly with 30 NHS customers across the UK, and many more BPO’s. Each capture and transform a vast array of unstructured paper workflows into structured digital output for onward ingestion into back-end systems, with hundreds of OPEX’s machines already installed across the UK and Ireland, creating billions of images annually.

For an informal chat to discuss how OPEX can help with your digitisation, please contact: DMA_EMEA@opex.com

www.digitiseyourdocuments.co.uk

@OPEXCorporation

 *Please note: This is a commercial profile