title: Creating and managing a paperless health information management department.
abstract: Over the last 10 to 15 years, the health care industry has experienced dramatic changes in health care delivery, consumer needs, and demands. The medical record, a recapitulation of the care patients receive, continues to be one of the most vital components of the health care delivery system. It serves as a crucial administrative, clinical, financial, and research tool. Health information managers, striving to meet ever-changing requirements, have turned to electronic record processing to meet these changes. The following article describes one hospital's journey from a cumbersome paper environment to an electronic environment that not only resulted in improved customer service but also provided employees with renewed job satisfaction and increased skill levels.
authors.affiliation: Health Information Department, Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network, Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Zelda B
authors.initials: ZB
authors.lastname: Greene
mesh_terms: D003195:Computer Communication Networks; D003363:Cost Control / Q000639:trends; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D001330:Electronic Data Processing; D006751:Hospital Information Systems / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008500:Medical Records Department, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010414:Pennsylvania; D012985:Software Design; D016526:Workload / Q000706:statistics & numerical data