Difference between revisions of "Disadvantages Of Paper Records"
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| − | Many people want to discuss the advantages of Paper records over electronic records. They may even want to talk about the disadvantages of electronic records as well. For the | + | Many people want to discuss the advantages of Paper records over electronic records. They may even want to talk about the disadvantages of electronic records as well. For the completeness, this is a list of the many disadvantages of a paper record. |
# They cannot be searched quickly at the point of care to give more information to the care provider when a quick decision must be made. Tabs and Indices help, but a complete search of a record for the existence or non-existence of a particular issue is very difficult, especially if it is only noted in an rare abbreviation or a form unfamiliar to the person searching. | # They cannot be searched quickly at the point of care to give more information to the care provider when a quick decision must be made. Tabs and Indices help, but a complete search of a record for the existence or non-existence of a particular issue is very difficult, especially if it is only noted in an rare abbreviation or a form unfamiliar to the person searching. | ||
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# Only one way of phrasing a condition, treatment, or issue can be recorded in the record. Any abbreviation, alternate emphasis, or obvious generalization of the term will probably not be recorded, as people don't have the time to write down synonyms, etc. | # Only one way of phrasing a condition, treatment, or issue can be recorded in the record. Any abbreviation, alternate emphasis, or obvious generalization of the term will probably not be recorded, as people don't have the time to write down synonyms, etc. | ||
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# Someone has to manage all the records and the physical space they occupy. If the records are too large, additional expense must be budgeted to pay for off site storage. They have to be indexed properly, and kept organized. | # Someone has to manage all the records and the physical space they occupy. If the records are too large, additional expense must be budgeted to pay for off site storage. They have to be indexed properly, and kept organized. | ||
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# There is only one copy of a paper record. If it is lost, no one can use it. If it is in use by one person, it cannot be used anywhere else. If it is separated for use by several people concurrently, it must be merged again, or it won't be available for the next time it is needed, which might affect care. | # There is only one copy of a paper record. If it is lost, no one can use it. If it is in use by one person, it cannot be used anywhere else. If it is separated for use by several people concurrently, it must be merged again, or it won't be available for the next time it is needed, which might affect care. | ||
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# A competent filing person must be employed who can put the records in the proper place so they can be retrieved again. If any alternate indices are desired such as a card catalog, they also must be created and maintained. This requires training expenses, recruitment and retainment expenses, as well as salary and benefits for that person. Even if a full time dedicated person is not needed, some person must have this work as one of their duties, with the corresponding percentages of expenses accrued proportional to the amount of their time that involves these tasks. | # A competent filing person must be employed who can put the records in the proper place so they can be retrieved again. If any alternate indices are desired such as a card catalog, they also must be created and maintained. This requires training expenses, recruitment and retainment expenses, as well as salary and benefits for that person. Even if a full time dedicated person is not needed, some person must have this work as one of their duties, with the corresponding percentages of expenses accrued proportional to the amount of their time that involves these tasks. | ||
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# Accurate summary information must be accumulated by an exhaustive review of all the records, or by another method that must be a part of the workflow. If exact numbers are required, rather that statistical guestimates, this might involve shutting down the care facility for multiple days whilst the information is collected. Alternately, staff must exist to do this as part of their duties. Similarly, statistical reports, including ranges of values, averages, minimum values, and maximum values require the same extensive efforts. Many grants and sources of external funding are not allowing any type of reporting other than exact numbers in their reports. | # Accurate summary information must be accumulated by an exhaustive review of all the records, or by another method that must be a part of the workflow. If exact numbers are required, rather that statistical guestimates, this might involve shutting down the care facility for multiple days whilst the information is collected. Alternately, staff must exist to do this as part of their duties. Similarly, statistical reports, including ranges of values, averages, minimum values, and maximum values require the same extensive efforts. Many grants and sources of external funding are not allowing any type of reporting other than exact numbers in their reports. | ||
Revision as of 13:10, 22 June 2009
Many people want to discuss the advantages of Paper records over electronic records. They may even want to talk about the disadvantages of electronic records as well. For the completeness, this is a list of the many disadvantages of a paper record.
- They cannot be searched quickly at the point of care to give more information to the care provider when a quick decision must be made. Tabs and Indices help, but a complete search of a record for the existence or non-existence of a particular issue is very difficult, especially if it is only noted in an rare abbreviation or a form unfamiliar to the person searching.
- Only one way of phrasing a condition, treatment, or issue can be recorded in the record. Any abbreviation, alternate emphasis, or obvious generalization of the term will probably not be recorded, as people don't have the time to write down synonyms, etc.
- Someone has to manage all the records and the physical space they occupy. If the records are too large, additional expense must be budgeted to pay for off site storage. They have to be indexed properly, and kept organized.
- There is only one copy of a paper record. If it is lost, no one can use it. If it is in use by one person, it cannot be used anywhere else. If it is separated for use by several people concurrently, it must be merged again, or it won't be available for the next time it is needed, which might affect care.
- A competent filing person must be employed who can put the records in the proper place so they can be retrieved again. If any alternate indices are desired such as a card catalog, they also must be created and maintained. This requires training expenses, recruitment and retainment expenses, as well as salary and benefits for that person. Even if a full time dedicated person is not needed, some person must have this work as one of their duties, with the corresponding percentages of expenses accrued proportional to the amount of their time that involves these tasks.
- Accurate summary information must be accumulated by an exhaustive review of all the records, or by another method that must be a part of the workflow. If exact numbers are required, rather that statistical guestimates, this might involve shutting down the care facility for multiple days whilst the information is collected. Alternately, staff must exist to do this as part of their duties. Similarly, statistical reports, including ranges of values, averages, minimum values, and maximum values require the same extensive efforts. Many grants and sources of external funding are not allowing any type of reporting other than exact numbers in their reports.
