Posts Tagged: data archiving

Data Cleansing for Healthcare

Posted by & filed under Healthcare.

data cleansing

“Dirty” data is an epidemic in just about every industry. Healthcare is no different. Due to the complexity and regulatory mandates around healthcare data, data cleansing for the vertical is often more urgent and complicated. Data cleaning is a necessity for multiple healthcare data management activities, including data conversions, data arching, and data exchange.

In this post, we’ll be going over what is data cleansing in healthcare and what every organization should know about it.

What Is Data Cleansing?

Simply put, it’s the process of repairing or removing data that’s stale, inaccurate, incorrectly formatted or structured, duplicative, or incomplete. Clean data is integral to healthcare’s ability to execute digital transformation. 

When Does Data Need Cleansing?

Several things can trigger the need for a data cleansing, including:

  • Data conversions: Moving data from one software platform to another is a good time for data cleansing. You can choose to purge stale or inaccurate data if you’re not required to keep it per medical record retention regulations. You may also find that reformatting is necessary because your new system fields are different from the previous ones.
  • Data archiving: When you move patient data to an archive, you also have the opportunity to clean it first. One of the biggest cleanses in these cases is to remove duplicates. When you do this, it’s much easier to find what you need on your archive platform. 
  • Data exchange: Different systems need to share data to support interoperability. However, you can send dirty data to the new system. Well, you could, but it would be very effective or useful. Cleaning the data before you share equates to better outcomes.

Cleansing of Data Often Pushed from Priority

Your healthcare IT team, whether internal or third-party, typically has a full plate, managing infrastructure and improving it. These IT professionals often don’t have time to cleanse data, so it’s never a priority. The problem is that when this doesn’t happen, data gets even dirtier and causes more problems. It can also cause implementations to stall because the data isn’t ready. That costs you time and money.

Outsourcing a data cleanse with companies like InfoWerks ensures that the process is timely, compliant, and accurate. We’re healthcare data experts and know all about how to take dirty data and transform it into clean data. 

Learn More About Data Cleansing Services

If you’re a healthcare entity searching for a comprehensive data clean, talk to our experts about how we can make it pain-free!

Building a Healthcare Data Archiving Strategy: 5 Steps

Posted by & filed under Healthcare.

data archiving strategy

Healthcare and data; it’s a familiar combination in a digital world. The more data you generate and collect, the harder it becomes to manage your health information system (HIS). Due to medical record retention requirements, you can’t completely purge old files. Instead, it’s critical for your organization to have a healthcare data archiving strategy. 

If you don’t have a strategy or if the one you have isn’t serving your needs, it’s time to reset and consider best practices so that you meet regulations and compliance mandates. 

By following these five steps, you can build a plan that’s practical and effective.

Step One: Define Parameters

The first step is to define the parameters for what kind of data you’ll archive. You could segment this by the age of the record, active vs. inactive patients, or types of records. You’ll need to decide what data should stay within your pharmacy or EHR software. Everything else you can archive in a way that it’s still accessible so that your current system runs smoother. 

Step Two: Determine the Process

Once you have identified what data you want to archive, you need to determine how you’ll archive. There must be a transfer of data from your current platform to an archiving platform. Will you do it one time? Or regularly, like every six months or year? It depends on the amount of data you have and how you operate. 

Step Three: Ensure Your Data Archiving Strategy Is Part of Your Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity Plan

Every organization should have a disaster recovery/business continuity plan. These plans document how you’ll proceed in case of an event that causes you to lose access to your technology. That means you must account for how you’ll backup archived data. Look for a platform that includes a backup as part of the deal so that you never “lose” your data.

data archiving strategy

Step Four: Choose an Archiving Platform

Now that you have a plan fully forming on the what and how, it’s time to select an archiving platform. There is no shortage of options on the market, but few of them are healthcare-centric, which should weigh on your decision. Healthcare data is unique compared to any other industry, so you need a solution that understands these nuances. 

What to Look For:

  • Web-based system that’s accessible from any internet connection.
  • Cloud-based so that it’s secure and has a backup.
  • HIPAA and HITRUST compliant
  • Easy to use, so your staff can learn it in a few minutes
  • Encryption methods for data while in transit and at rest.
  • Permission levels to allow some users different access.
  • Search and filtering functions to find what you need quickly.
  • Ability to handle all types of data—records, files, and images.
  • Audit reporting feature.

Step Five: Start Archiving

You now have a documented strategy and a chosen archiving platform. Now, all you need to do is begin the process. But your team doesn’t have to worry about migrating data to the archive. Your archiving partner extracts the data from your current software or a legacy system and funnels it to the archive. Depending on the types of data or images, some custom programming may be necessary, so make sure you have a vendor capable of this. 

Trust InfoWerks to Help You Build Your Data Archiving Strategy

Did you know that InfoWerks has archived over 5 billion healthcare records? That number keeps growing every day as we help pharmacies, hospitals, healthcare systems, and dentists safely and securely archive. We do it all with our affordable, user-friendly, and scalable product—ViewMaster. See how it works by watching our video then requesting a demo. 

Dental Record Storage: 7 Reasons to Use a Web-Based Archive

Posted by & filed under Dental.

dental record storage

How do you store your dental records? Regulations require the retention of these records, just like any other healthcare files. While you know you need to keep them, dental record storage may be challenging to meet compliance and ensure accessibility. 

If you don’t have a record storage solution or if the one you’re using isn’t working out, you’ll want to know about web-based archiving and why it’s the best choice.

What Do the Dental Record Retention Laws Say?

According to the American Dental Association (ASA), some states have specific requirements for dental records. Others lump them into the broader healthcare record rules (HIPAA). The ADA provides a quick state and local search you can use here. 

Generally, you’ll need to keep them for at least six years, whether they are still a patient or not. State laws may expand this timeframe. These requirements can strain your software platforms if you don’t archive the data, causing it to run slow and frustrate your employees.

If you don’t need the data to be part of your platform any longer, archiving is a simple, compliant way to meet dental record retention laws.

Why Use a Web-Based Archive for Dental Record Storage

dental record storage web-based archive

There are a host of benefits your dental practice can realize by employing a web-based platform for dental patient record archiving. 

  1. Accessible from anywhere: You can access a web-based archive securely from any computer with an internet connection.
  2. Automatic backups: A web-based archive includes an automatic backup of files in case of a cybersecurity or disaster incident. 
  3. Permission levels: You can set up users to only see certain records. For example, if you have multiple practices, location-level users would only see their patients.
  4. Cloud-based means security and privacy are superior: Cloud-based platforms are more secure and private than physical on-site servers. They use layers of security to protect the data; plus, encryption occurs while data is in transit and rest.
  5. Cost-effective: When you archive, you pay one fee to migrate your data. There are no monthly fees for the use of the platform. Hosting fees on an annual basis may be apply, but there are usually nominal. This cost reduction is even more beneficial if you’re using a legacy system to store old files. 
  6. Multiple data formats are storable: Images, x-rays, patient records, and other data can all be in one central repository. 
  7. Intuitive and user-friendly: Most people understand how web-based apps work, so there’s no intensive training required. You can start using it on day one, and with features like filtering and search, you can find what you need fast. 

Dental Record Storage Is Easy with ViewMaster

ViewMaster is our web-based archiving solution. We designed to meet the regulatory requirements and workflows of healthcare. Since its launch, we’ve archived billions of healthcare records without incident. 

See how easy it is and how it works by watching the ViewMaster video!