The Benefits of Having an Office Computer Network

Peter Polack — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:56:40 +0000

There are many benefits associated with having a computer office network, regardless of whether you are ready to implement electronic medical records (EMR) or not. For example, what may begin as a helpful suggestion from an employee can blossom into a practice-wide tool which can improve overall productivity.

Before EMR, we first had to set up a local area network, or LAN. We soon discovered that the basic computer network promoted better communication between personnel and added functionality which did not exist previously.

Here are some ways that we took advantage of our office network:

Electronic Payroll and Time Clocks - By rolling out electronic time clocks, we could could use a pin code and biometric hand analysis to keep track of employee payroll hours. The scanner makes sure that those who clock in, clock out - and prevents one employee from clocking in or out for another. The data is relayed to the accountant over the network, which is used for payroll purposes. All the information is then exported to our outsourced payroll firm.

Network Applications - Now everyone in our practice is able to share applications such as the Clinical Science Course Books on CD-ROM, which is available with a license. This great clinical resource is accessible from the home or office using Remote Desktop Services. Photos from our digital slit lamp can also be viewed and emailed as attachments in this way.

Office E-Mail - At our practice, internal email is handled by our own mail server. The administrators can quickly disseminate information to all the doctors, or collect the results from quick polling when there isn't enough time to meet with everyone in person. This helps us save time which would otherwise be spent making multiple phone calls, tying up the lines during business hours. Our staff members are asked to check their email inbox at least once a day, to be sure they have the most current information from their supervisors. Another benefit that Microsoft Exchange offers is remote access. The physicians are able to safely check their office e-mail from anywhere in the world using the Internet. Financial information can be safely transmitted to our partners by the accountants, and the need for excessive paperwork is reduced.

One question that has come up is, why don't we use GMail or Yahoo mail, instead of having to pay for a piece of hardware and the associated costs of maintenance and support? The main argument against this is potential HIPAA violations because, undoubtedly, there will be some patient information contained within medical practice communications. And because Google or Yahoo would probably not enter into an agreement with every medical practice for vendor compliance with HIPAA, the use of these free email services would be problematic. Another reason is that because these services are so widespread, they are vulnerable to hacking, spamming, and scams such as phishing.

Paperless Fax - Our administrators are able to electronically review faxed documents using networked fax service. During this process, they are able to decide if they want to email, delete, or print them out. A networked multi-function printer can scan paper documents as PDFs, then email them on to any number of staff. This significantly reduces the amount of paper faxes at a practice. We try to encourage everyone to scan and email documents rather than fax paper ones.

Triage Processing - A few years ago, we found ourselves drowning in the volume of patient phone calls we received each day (up to 1000 calls on a busy Monday). So our IT director created a phone triage application Tweet This Post

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Post tags: computer network, electronic medical records, EMR, healthcare IT, HR, information technology, pqri

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The Benefits of Having an Office Computer Network