Patient Records Scanning

patient records scanning

Improving GP Services with Digital Records

The NHS is in crisis at the moment, described by many medical professionals as ‘at breaking point.’ The latest disaster is a series of strikes, held by junior doctors in a row over new contracts, weekend working and pay. This comes after surveys highlighting public dissatisfaction with NHS services, and countless A&E waiting time targets missed.

Hospitals and GP services are under increasing pressure, and with the government looking to introduce a 7 day NHS in the near future, the whole system is about to change. Ministers say that people need access to GPs at weekends as well as in the week – but is it viable? With many GPs planning to quit the profession or retire in the next few years, the NHS may find themselves in a recruitment crisis, without enough doctors for the amount of patients.

Paperless NHS

Another reform which is currently under way is the paperless NHS initiative – services must become digital by 2018. Many NHS organisations have already made the switch and recorded multiple benefits to patients and staff. Recently an extra £4billion of funding was set aside in a new push for a paperless and digital health service.

Going digital is estimated to save the NHS £4billion per year – a figure which surely has the potential to be spent elsewhere and improve services. As part of the move to paperless operations and a plan to increase remote services, the NHS is planning to:

  • Allow patients to access health records online
  • Introduce remote monitoring so patients can be treated at home rather than in hospital
  • Make sure digital medical records are used rather that paper files in GP surgeries and hospitals
  • Create new online services and apps. This will provide extra patient support and allow them to book services and order prescriptions online. Patients will also be able speak to doctors via a video link.
  • Free Wi-Fi in NHS buildings

Medical Record Scanning

Switching millions of paper medical records over to digital records won’t be an easy task – but it is achievable with a professional scanning service. At Pearl Scan, all records are scanned by fast hi-tech scanning equipment, and instantly transferred into OCR digital files. The digital medical records can then be searched using the document storage and retrieval software. Staff can search using a patient name, date of birth, date of last appointment, patient number or consultant name.

The medical record scanning process is efficient and confidential. The qualified team at Pearl Scan have worked with numerous public and private health organisations to improve their document management, and all services are quality assessed by national boards. The company also complies with Data Protection 1998 regulations.

A GP is usually the first point of call when someone is feeling ill. They can identify serious illnesses and recommend other professional services if needed. This is why it’s essential that GP services are effective and help patients as much as possible – and going digital is one step in the right direction.

Poor Paperwork Management Blamed for FSA Rating

Paperwork Management

Poor Paperwork Management Blamed for FSA Sting

A respected hotel in the Isle of Wight was recently shocked when the Food Standards Agency gave them a rating of zero – and has said that a paperwork error was to blame. The George Hotel in Yarmouth used to be a Michelin starred restaurant and has played hosts to celebrity guests.

A rating of zero means that an establishment requires ‘urgent improvement.’ A manager at the hotel has said that an administration problem was the main contributing factor to the unforgiving rating, after the inspection in September. The paperwork error is said to be resolved, but the hotel will have to wait until the next visit to be rated again.

Poor paperwork management has obviously been a recipe for disaster for The George Hotel. Unorganised paperwork can be a problem in all businesses, but to many it would seem unlikely to affect a hospitality establishment. But all businesses have files to keep and standards to upkeep, so having an efficient system is a must.
In November, a spokeswoman for The George Hotel said that the administrative problem had been rectified, to the satisfaction of Environmental Health Officers. She said, "Although we now have a clean bill of health we have to wait until the New Year to be given our official new rating which we are confident will be back to our previous high standards. We apologise to our customers for any concern caused by these administrative errors."

Improving Document Management

If your paperwork was to be inspected by an industry body, do you think you’d pass? Businesses drowning in paperwork should take action before it starts to affect quality of work and compliance. Electronic document management has already been embraced by many organisations, and these forward thinking companies have seen results.

Firstly, using digital files instead of paper frees up lots of space, which can be put to better use. Some businesses can even save on storage costs or choose to move to a smaller office.

Implementing an electronic document storage system also increases productivity and efficiency. Your staff will no longer have to search through filing cabinets to retrieve information – it’s all available at the click of a button. Basic admin tasks will take less time which means that valuable time can be spent on other important jobs or business development.
If you think you need to improve your document management, see how Pearl Scan’s scanning services can help.

How Business Card Scanning Can Improve Your Life

business card scanning

How Business Card Scanning Can Improve Your Life

How many business cared have you collected over your lifetime? Hundreds, thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands?! Searching through all of your business cards is a massive waste of time, not to mention frustrating. Even if you’ve made your own digital list of contacts you can add to each time you receive a business card, there is still the risk of typing in an email address or phone number wrong – and you’ll probably only find out when it’s too late.

Business card scanning is the future – it can collect all the important data from each business card and format the data into any format. Here are some ways this fast scanning service can genuinely improve your life.

Create a Digital Address Book

It’s probably something you’ve been meaning to do for a while – but really, who has the time?! Sitting down and manually entering the contact details for your entire address book or sales database is far too time consuming. Plus, it leaves room for errors. A business card scanning service can quickly scan all the details and sort them into the correct columns for name, address, phone numbers and emails. You’ll be able to access your digital address book from anywhere, on any device.

Say Goodbye to Losing Phone Numbers

We’ve all done it – had a really good business meeting or opportunistic chat with a client, and stuffed their card in a pocket in a hurry. When you go to follow up, you can’t find the business card anywhere, and have to struggle to get in contact with them. Once you start your digital address book it is easy to keep on top of, so you can enter the details straight away. Alternatively, Pearl Scan has a scan on demand service so each time you receive a business card simply arrange for it to be picked up and scanned into your system.

Increase Leads and Sales

Once data is captured effectively, it can be transferred into Salesforce or CSV. This means that you’ll instantly have a larger sales database to work from, and some of your contacts could be years old and make new leads. Instead of trying to contact people individually, involve them in your marketing and outreach and you’ll almost always find new leads and sales.

Business card scanning is convenient and will make your office and briefcase much more organised. Not only this, but it also has the potential to improve your business operations and increase sales. It makes total business sense.

Why choose Pearl Scan

Document scanning | Audits

We are backed up by external quality and security audits. Our operations have been audited and approved by many NHS, Local Authorities, Private blue chip companies and we pride ourselves on the high levels of quality and security we provide to each and every one of our clients.

Our data capture and document scanning services offered in London are accredited to industry standards.