Problem
Lahey Clinic’s Health Information Management (HIM) Department wanted to improve efficiencies to meet its new standards, without incurring additional costs. They found that the requests for records stored off-site were ever increasing, despite the constant overcrowding in their file room. The incremental costs associated with each off-site record request and the time spent requesting and waiting for those files resulted in mounting frustrations for their staff, and expenditures for the clinic. Furthermore, the HIM Department was not satisfied with its ability to accurately track a record’s location once it left the file room.

Working with AMES Color-File
AMES Professional Services closely examined the data and trends associated with Lahey’s patient records, the size and capacity of its file room, and its off-site storage and retrieval capabilities. With minimal involvement from the clinic’s IT department, AMES Professional Services used SmartPurge® to help determine which files should be moved off-site and which files should stay on site. Additionally, AMES linked SmartPurge with the off-site storage firm’s tracking system to provide essential reporting and tracking information.

AMES Solution Benefits
AMES Color-File’s comprehensive products/services solution enabled Lahey Clinic to:

• Improve tracking of records to avoid the possibility of losing files.
• Reduce the amount of labor and costs associated with frequent requests for files stored off-site.
• Eliminate overcrowding in the medical records file rooms
• Reduce the likelihood of misfiled or lost records.
• Avoid construction of a new medical records file area.
• Cut the number of off-site record requests in half.
• Decrease off-site retrieval fees by 50%.
• Eliminate the need for massive purges.
• Increase accessibility to active files by keeping only the active files on site.
• Improve filing accuracy and the ability to track a record’s location whether it is in the records room, in off-site storage, or with a doctor.
• Immediately reconcile discrepancies of purged records with off-site storage company.