Medical healthcare providers and GP practices are increasingly turning from paper storage to digitalisation. This helps to increase efficiency, avoid unnecessary delays, and improve services for patients. However, it isn't always possible or desirable to dispose of paper documentation altogether and in which case, you're faced with a storage problem: devote valuable space to little-used, dusty archive rooms on-premises or store your physical records offsite. Offsite storage has a strong record of success but it's important to choose an appropriate partner. Here's why offsite storage works.
Storing your medical records on-site adds costs that you don't need. Many GP surgeries, especially in urban and suburban locations, have restricted space available. This makes it harder for you to store records safely without getting in the way of staff and patients alike. With offsite storage in CAS warehouses, you can be sure that your records are being stored appropriately and with high levels of security and confidentiality. CAS' warehouses are also fire-proofed to give you extra peace of mind.
Medical records contain some of the most sensitive personal information and patients understandably need to be sure that they're kept fully secure and not accessed by anyone who doesn't have a very good reason for doing so. Storing medical records offsite means you can easily comply with Care Quality Commission (CQC) requirements, including NHS England's Confidentiality Policy as set out in 2014. With CAS, you'll be choosing a highly secure, completely professional document handling service that is accredited to the highest industry standards.
The days when medical records were simply stored in cabinets packed with paper files in a surgery's backroom are long gone and it's now crucially important to be able to access them digitally. Using live-file systems and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) means record storage boxes can be scanned and barcoded, allowing pinpointed tracking. Accuracy and efficiency levels greatly surpass basic barcode management, and all relevant UK and EU data protection regulations are complied with. Data can be accessed, updated, and returned by authorised personnel at any hour of the day or night.
You can't take any chances when you're dealing with something as important as patients' medical records. Make sure you choose a provider that can guarantee you a safe, well managed, and innovative approach to handling these vital documents.
CAS has been working closely with NHS Trusts as well as a wide range of corporate, private, and financial clients for more than 25 years. Our scan-on-demand and facilities management systems are based close to the city of London, and Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust chose CAS to care for over 20,000 highly confidential client files. You can trust CAS to understand the importance of maintaining the highest standards of data protection, professionalism, and quality control at all times.
To find out more, please call 0845 50 50 003, or email info@cas.ltd.