The Health Information Technology Act (HITECH Act), which was passed into law in 2009, brought about a revolution in the healthcare sector by pushing insurance companies, healthcare facilities, and providers to increase the accessibility of electronic information. In the past, electronic health records were utilized by fewer than 10% of hospitals.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 90% of physicians currently utilize an electronic medical records system, illustrating how widely and swiftly HITECH has been adopted.

By digitizing medical records, healthcare providers can enhance their diagnostic abilities, expedite patient referrals to specialists, and increase the accuracy of their bills for services rendered. This article provides a summary of the advantages of medical record digitization for clinics and hospitals of all sizes.

It also examines key facets of digitalization in the healthcare sector that companies can leverage to increase the efficiency of medical record digitization and thereby boost employee productivity and patient satisfaction.

What is the Digitalization of Health Records?

Medical record digitization is the process of transferring paper medical records into an electronic format for data management, archiving, and retrieval.
Digitizing medical records involves converting patient data into digital files. This makes it possible for clearinghouses, insurance companies, hospitals, and doctors to store and manage medical records online.

Healthcare providers can help with the conversion process in a number of ways, including by using electronic intake forms, physically entering data from physical papers into computer database systems, or scanning or imaging the documents to convert them into digital files.

Digitization is part of the larger trend of digital transformation that the healthcare industry is currently experiencing.

In order to provide and receive healthcare services, patients and healthcare providers are increasingly using electronic patient portals, telemedicine integration, electronic scheduling and data delivery, and other technological advancements.

Read more : Transforming Healthcare: Know About Advantages and Essentials of Digital Health Records