WCHS Makes Medical Records Digital
January 26, 2024
Winnebago, NE – The Winnebago Comprehensive Healthcare System is embarking on a Health Information Management (HIM) digitization project. This initiative involves the scanning and digitizing of medical records to enhance patient care and accessibility.
At WCHS, our HIM department plays a pivotal role in collecting, analyzing, storing, and protecting patient health information. Accurate, secure, and accessible medical records are essential to nearly every department at WCHS from primary care to business office, and from purchase referred care to dental clinic. By enabling this information to transition to a digital platform, WCHS aims to expedite access and retrieval of patient records throughout the organization with the ultimate goal of fostering efficient and seamless care delivery for our patients.
Tara Divis, HIM Manager at WCHS commented, "This project of digitizing medical records to make them key word searchable has been a long time want for our team. We are excited to see it streamline operational processes by ensuring our providers have swift access to critical patient information."
The digitization process will mean the secure and transition of current physical records into a digital format, enabling faster access to patient information for all WCHS healthcare services while allowing the appropriate security controls and limitation functionality to ensure access is relevant and keep patient information safe. This transition will enhance data security, control access to patient histories, and unlock physical space previously occupied by paper records for other initiatives within the health system.
Beth Wewel, CFO at WCHS, highlighted the significance of this initiative, stating, "The HIM digitization project exemplifies WCHS's unwavering commitment to meeting the evolving healthcare needs and expectations of our patients. Embracing digital transformation is a demonstration of our dedication to using innovation to enhance the quality and efficiency of patient care in alignment with the healthcare standards of today.