How to Merge Medical Records

Every medical office or hospital department has its own way of maintaining patient records. When multiple offices or departments merge, so, too, the medical records must be merged as well to avoid duplications or errors in patient care. While the process of merging medical records is intricate and somewhat tedious, having an accurate records system can ensure accuracy and efficiency when completed.

Things You'll Need

• Medical records
• Medical data software (electronic filing)
• Scanner (electronic filing)
• Filing folders (paper filing)
• Document flags (paper filing)
• File storage (paper filing)
• Trained medical staff
• IT support personnel
• Paper shredder or shredding service

Show More

Instructions

Create a Plan

• 1

  Select a method of records keeping that works for your medical office. Discuss with all departments and office personnel how a merging of medical records could potentially affect each department. Ask for suggestions on what type of record keeping system would work best for your medical office (electronic, paper or a combination).

• 2

  Choose which office's records will serve as the originals, and which office's records will be merged in --- if merging more than one office or department. The original records department should be the one with the most complete information. For example, not all patients seen in a general practice are also seen by a radiology department, so the general practice would have more individual patients and more records per individual. During this step, you should also decide which patient ID numbering system is going to be used moving forward.

• 3

  Set a time frame for when the merger needs to be complete, and decide who is going to be responsible for overseeing the process within each department. Having one person from each office or department overseeing the rest of the personnel will ensure a smoother merger. When setting a time for your merger, your main objective should be to decide whether or not work will be completed during or after business hours, or if the office will be closed during the project to allow you to finish in a shorter time frame.

• 4

  Select and purchase the software you will use to maintain your medical records data once it is merged. Arrange for IT support to be on call during your merger process to help if needed. If you elect to use paper filing instead, purchase any extra supplies you might need such as file folder or storage shelves to accommodate the increase in file sizes due to the merger.

Complete Merger Process

• 5

  Train your staff according to the process you have chosen for completing the medical records merger. The best process for merging medical records is to work through one department's or office's records at a time alphabetically. Once one set of records has been entered into your system (including the patient's basic information), you can then begin to merge the rest of the records into the paper files or enter them into the system.

• 6

  Entering accurate patient information is crucial to the overall merging process.

  Begin entering patient demographic data into your new system or creating new folders (if using paper filing) for each patient based on the original set of records you chose to be your starting point in Step 2 of Section 1. As you enter each patient into the system, note the new ID number (if applicable) and make any updates to the patient's basic demographic information.

• 7

  Sort your original set of records into chronological order from most recent on top to oldest on the bottom, if they are paper copies. If your originals are in electronic format, the merging process can be slightly more difficult, depending on how the electronic files are being stored. If each chart note was saved individually all that is required is renaming the files to correspond to your new filing system. However, if your electronic files are in larger groups or one large file per department, it might be best to print them off and sort them that way.

• 8

  Begin merging your secondary files into the originals. Start with one department or office at a time and sort each patient's file into the original, again in date order. If using paper filing, you may want to consider utilizing document flags to mark the different types of medical records, i.e. doctor notes, radiology reports or operative procedures. If using electronic filing, creating a system for naming the document files will suffice.

• 9

  Switching to electronic filing may be tedious, but can be more efficient in the long run.

  Scan complete merged files into your data base or, if using paper filing, begin sorting them in alphabetical order. If you have opted for electronic storage, this process may have already been completed in Step 4, if they were saved individually in electronic format to begin with.

Post Merger Follow Up

• 10

  Review the new medical records filing system with all staff members to ensure everyone knows how to accurately use and maintain the files. It may be helpful to also write up a training manual on how to use the new system as a reference to current and future employees.

• 11

  Work out any issues with the new system as they arise. If you have opted for an electronic filing system, keep in regular contact with the software's IT service to work out any glitches or to schedule software updates.

• 12

  Continue to merge in new medical records as acquired. It may also be beneficial to implement an annual records purging procedure if you have opted to keep only a certain time frame worth of information.