Barcode Tagging – a First Step in Automating Accurate Patient Record and Lab Report Scanning

Barcode tags identifying patient data or other information are common in many industries. The intelligence contained on barcodes offers the most accurate way of capturing patient data for entry into EMR systems and helps solve a number of issues found in capturing medical records for health care providers, dental practices and more.  Read how ImageRamp users take advantage of barcodes.

Even when they are not found on existing documents, cover or separation sheets can be created with many free Scanner Separation tools found in the industry today. Some are cloud-based services, installable applications, or even simple fonts you can use to print your own cover sheets prior to scanning.  Read more on creating your own Separation Sheets.

Here's how barcodes are commonly used in medical records capture to:

• Identify when a new patient record is encountered so stacks of records can be scanned at one time and automaticaly split when new ones are encountered.
• Identify information about a patient, supplier, clinic name, so that files can be automatically named or stored in folders matching the identity tags.
• Name files - take the barcode values that are read by the scanner and use them as part of the output file name.  Read more on barcode file naming
• Identify index data for entry to EMR/EHR systems. XML, the eXtensible Markup Language found commonly in database systems, is one widely used method to capture index data stored in the barcodes.  Read more on barcodes to XML indexing.
• Store any barcodes of the same value by appending them into the same PDF document, until a new barcode is found.
• Define folders subfolders to organize your documents and records in traditional file folder manners.  Read more on how to automate file storage and routing.

A Final Note

Barcodes offer the simplest, most accurate way to identify patient records for your EMR solution. With intelligent data capture software such as ImageRamp and touchscreen scanners, you have tremendous flexibility to capture and manipulate the index information and file structure to feed your EMR system.  If you are just beginning your journey to a fully functional EMR system, DocuFi offers smart data capture technology with a simple search and retrieval system that can satisfy many basic document management needs.  If a true EMR solutions is required, ImageRamp can capture and integrate with today's systems. Call us for more information.