Medical Record Storage for GP and Hospital and Dental Practices

Posted on May 18th, 2012 in News

Medical Record Storage Solutions for GP and Hospital and Dental Practices

Let’s take a more detailed look at the options available for GP Surgeries and Dental Practices:

If we start from the storage solutions for GP records, any information generated at this primary point of contact within the NHS is stored in either an A4 File or a Lloyd George manila wallet, usually in alphabetical order, which is in turn stored in a heavy duty secure storage filing cabinet designed specifically for purpose. More recently, GP records are electronically stored but still retain a hard copy paper back up.

For archiving purposes the Lloyd George wallets are stored in a Lloyd George filing tray. The trays themselves are stored within a secure metal filing cabinet, usually comprising of 7 trays per 1 meter shelf. A typical GP practice will need to hold approximately 9,000 patient records and case notes.

For larger archives of Lloyd George envelopes, medical notes, doctor’s records, surgery records, opticians and dentist’s records and case notes, high density mobile storage offers a more efficient alternative to traditional drawer type cabinets. For Lloyd George wallets, mobile storage can offer up to 60% additional capacity than drawer’s for the same space.

Mobile storage systems for medical records can be either manually or electrically operated aisle shelving or sideways mobiles. This specialised moveable filing shelving is mounted on a track-way fitted to the floor, designed to offer increased capacity for a given footprint over traditional filing cabinets.

Modern modular designs give greater functionality providing high visual accessibility to files and faster retrieval of records, together with the flexibility to add, expand or relocate the system. Typical benefits of using Mobile Storage Systems are as follows:

Increased Capacity: – You can get up to 300% more storage space from your existing floor area; or if you need to, you can free up to 50% of your current storage space to giving you room to expand your business.
• Expandability: - Mobile systems have a modular base that offers industry leading load transfer that can literally move anything and is ideal for your high density, high activity applications. It is easily extended, modified or relocated to keep up with your company’s growth, future proofing your investment.
• Innovative Design Service: - After a detailed application review, reputable companies will design your new system to integrate into your office layout and maximise your available space. From the drawings we provide, you will be able to see that your bespoke design gives you the height, depth and width of shelving to exactly fit your storage needs and get the very best out of your space.
• Improved Document Access: - You will be better organised with everything stored in one place instead of being stored elsewhere. This will enable you to speed up document retrieval, improve efficiency and have more time for your other activities.
• Accessories: - You can tailor storage systems to include, Hanging Rails for Computer Tapes, Computer Tape Racks, CD and DVD Racks, Video Tape Racks, Archive Boxes, Lateral Filing Supports, Lever Arch and Box File Shelving, Shelf Dividing Rods, Pull Out Cradles, Uniform/Clothes Hangers, X-ray Film, Suspended Filing, Book Supports, Lloyd George Medical Record Boxes and many more applications.
• Choice of Finishes: - You can choose from a range of solid, perforated or mesh steel powdered coated end panels and laminated or veneer finishes in colours and textures to match your existing environment. Colour coding of bays can also greatly increase document retrieval rates.
• Colour Coding Documents: - It is also an advantage to use colour coding to differentiate products or individual sections for quick identification and faster access. It has been shown that colour coding assists in document retrieval and re-filling of file folders and can save between 40% and 60% of operative’s time over a similar system without colour coding.
• Improved Resource Management: - A place for everything and everything in its place. Productivity improves by making the best use of your time; with all your documents functionally laid out in one archive, you will enjoy faster retrieval times and speed up stock check times. Workflow processes can be really enhanced with effective document management systems, providing more operative productivity and work team effectiveness.
• Protection: -The ability to close and lock securely all bays gives your medical record documents greater protection from dust and u.v.light, that can cause your documents to fade or deteriorate; ensuring your archive’s integrity.
• Security: - Mobile Medical Storage Systems is engineered to prevent tilting and have ultra low friction gearing giving user friendly hand wheel operation for ease of movement. There are a range of lighting and locking options to ensure operator safety and to prevent access to sensitive documents. You can secure a whole system or sub-divide into secure or open access sections to suit your needs to increase record accessibility and regulatory compliance.
• Antibacterial Coatings: - Storage systems used within a medical environment can be coated with an anti-microbial coating that inhibits the growth of micro-organisms. This reduces the risk of cross contamination and helps maintain a hygienic storage environment for patient’s records.

The management of medical records is a real challenge to administrators in today’s high pressure working environment and the need to locate and retrieve high volumes of patient and medical documents is vital to the efficient running of the NHS and medical departments.

Misfiling medical documents cost much more than you would think; valuable personnel time is wasted searching for misfiled medical records and expensive GP time is wasted when action or critical decisions are held up until misplaced documentation is located. This makes misfiled searches an expensive problem. Research shows that up to 5% of all records are misfiled; further evidence reveals that up to 5% of all information is missing when needed because it has been misfiled.

When you consider that the average document gets copied about 19 times, 7.5% of all documents get lost and up to 3% get misfiled and 90% of records are still saved as a paper documents, it’s clear to see why good Medical Record Storage can be such major factor in improving NHS efficiency. Any investment in a mobile medical records management system can easily be justified.

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