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Tip: Remember these seven definitions to ease the EHR learning curve

EHR Connection, February 11, 2008

Change can be stressful, but EHR implementation ultimately makes everyone's life a little easier at work.

Learning, remembering, and using these terms will facilitate the paper-to-electronic transition at your facility:

• Indexing: stage of the electronic document-management process that involves examining scanned data for quality and accuracy, checking for black lines, patient ID errors, poor quality images, page/date sequence, and correct document type (simplex and duplex formats). Indexers may assign a document type to portions of the scanned data during this process. When indexers identify errors, they delete documents from the batch and rescan.
• Informatician: an individual who practices informatics, which is the study of information designed to help with clinical care management.
• Interoperability: the capability of different information technology systems, software applications, and networks to communicate; exchange data accurately, effectively, and consistently; and use the information that has been exchanged.
• Machine-interpretable data: this is data that are collected and can be analyzed, measured, compared, and mined. Applications include predicting disease correlations, identifying trends, providing decision support, and managing patient care.
• Patient portal: system that allows patients to e-mail physicians, access laboratory and test results, review and pay bills online, and access general health information that has been vetted by a health system. This helps to involve patients in managing their own healthcare.
• Prepping: portion of the electronic document-management process in which an employee or volunteer organizes a chart to be scanned. This includes checking for possible misfiles, ensuring removal of all staples, and taping torn paper.
• Scanning: portion of the electronic document-management process during which someone manually feeds a chart through a scanner.

This tip is the second of a two-part series brought to you by The Legal Health Record Companion: A case study approach, published by HCPro, Inc.

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