Features

Are Digital Records Better Than Paper?

At it’s simplest, digital record-keeping could simply mean a Word doc, Excel sheet or PDF that you’ve saved on your computer, tablet, phone, thumb drive or other type of digital storage device. There are advantages to digital record-keeping even at this elementary level. For example, with digital records, you no longer have to contend with bulging filing cabinets, finding adequate long-term storage, or shredding – all of which are factors with paper health records. Additionally, it’s relatively easy to make backup copies of digital files to guard against some type of disaster, whereas making copies of paper records is costly, both in terms of time and money and also, effectively doubles the number of filing cabinets or other physical storage space you need.

Types of EHRs: The Shared Chart Model

At it’s simplest, digital record-keeping could simply mean a Word doc, Excel sheet or PDF that you’ve saved on your computer, tablet, phone, thumb drive or other type of digital storage device. There are advantages to digital record-keeping even at this elementary level. For example, with digital records, you no longer have to contend with bulging filing cabinets, finding adequate long-term storage, or shredding – all of which are factors with paper health records. Additionally, it’s relatively easy to make backup copies of digital files to guard against some type of disaster, whereas making copies of paper records is costly, both in terms of time and money and also, effectively doubles the number of filing cabinets or other physical storage space you need.

Are Web-Based EHRs Safe?

The most common reason people give for being reluctant to switch to a web-based EHR is safety. When we’re charged with protecting something – in this case, our clients’ records – most of us intuitively feel safer with something we can see and touch; something physical within our own office where we can maintain control of security ourselves. However, despite this subjective sense of safety, Hurricane Katrina taught us all a valuable lesson about the danger of keeping client records on paper. Floods, tornadoes, fires and other types of disasters can destroy paper records in a heartbeat. If you do maintain paper records, at the very least, you should have backup copies of everything – and those copies should be stored at a completely different location – preferably far away from where your paper records are stored.

Your Personal File Storage

In addition to being able to store files for each client, you can also upload and store your own digital records in an area set aside just for you. It’s important to note that files are maintained separately. Client files are stored in their charts – separate from all other clients and also separate from your personal files. This is one of the ways PSYBooks adheres to HIPAA/HITECH guidelines.

File Storage for Each Client

Each of your charts in PSYBooks has a Files tab where you can upload files specifically to that client’s chart. For example, initially you might want to upload scanned copies of their intake forms, insurance cards and/or driver’s license. Later on, you may want to upload copies of releases and consents, EOBs, reports or testing results. If you want, you can also keep copies of routine things you generate such as statements, insurance claims or receipts. Should your client request a PHI report, you can also upload that to their chart so you’ll have a record of what you gave them. There are several advantage to storing these kinds of documents in PSYBooks:

New Features

We love coming up with new features for PSYBooks. It’s probably the most fun thing we do. When we release a new feature, your account will automatically get the update. If it’s a substantial release, we’ll email you and/or notify you next time you sign in to give you a brief description of the new feature and what it does.

Automatic Updates

PSYBooks is updated frequently. Most updates are small such as a minor bug or misspelled word which we fix and then refresh all instances of the application to reflect the change. Those kinds of updates are considered routine maintenance and most likely, unless you happened to notice the problem to begin with, you won’t even realize anything changed. This is one of the beauties of the Web. Unlike print material or software that you download, we can make updates and improvements as often as needed and deliver them to you right away.