Medical claims processing involves scanning and analyzing a countless number of documents everyday, with each document containing numerous fields and thus, thousands of characters. The task is further complicated by the many formats in which the data arrives in the system. As a result, capturing and recording this data accurately continues to be a challenge for healthcare payers, impeding their ability to implement reliable workflow decision-making.

OCR comes as a much-welcome solution to this data capture process dilemma.

Coming to the aid of businesses that rely on accurate data for their processes are Optical Character Recognition (OCR) tools. These have been around for many decades, having first been introduced in the early 1990s. OCR software can convert different types of documents, such as PDFs, hand-filled forms, or images, into editable and readable text formats, making them easier to decipher for various corporate tasks. Today, the industry has several OCR scanners that can decipher many languages and symbols, thus making life simpler for many businesses.

OCR data capture works by scanning files, identifying individual characters, and forming words and sentences that can be searched, indexed and retrieved when required. The technology digitizes images or text from a physical document, a scanned file or a photograph and converts it into characters for further classification.

However, this tool that relied on OCR data capture software could only partially automate the process. Employees were still required to spend precious hours checking for errors and correcting the final result. This raised the possibility of human error, leading to high inaccuracies, added costs with no visible value, slow processes and lower quality, and considerable wastage of workforce.

What is Intelligent data capture in healthcare and how does it work?

Intelligent data capture software has entered the corporate world and completely revolutionized how businesses capture, store and retrieve critical data. This type of software can not only help extract information from invoices, records, bills, and other paper documents, but it can also assist in the further analysis as required by the business.

• Data and document capture: Includes standard document scanning, mobile scanning, and data capture from emails, network folders, and other sources.
• Document classification: Intelligent recognition and classification of document types (invoices, loan applications, contracts, etc.) based on preset classification technologies.
• Data extraction: Smart identification and automatic data extraction using recognition technologies such as OCR and barcode.
• Data validation: Extracted data is verified against existing data within the system for data accuracy and for minimizing processing errors.
• Data management, storage, and archiving: Automatic recognition, classification, and extraction of data ensures it is assigned to the right workflows, processes, and mail routes and stored accurately in the centralized data repository.
• Seamless integration: A single system enables harmonious file sharing and collaboration among other enterprise processes.

Business benefits of intelligent data capture solutions in healthcare

By switching from manual data capture and entry to Intelligent Data Capture solutions, organizations can benefit from numerous advantages, such as:

• Lower overheads and improved efficiency: Your valuable resources formerly used for manual data input and processing can now be directed to other critical business tasks.
• An enhanced collaboration between remote workers: Remote teams and geographically distant employees can all benefit from a shared data repository accessible to everyone all the time.
• Augmented security: Stringent security measures are put in place to ensure individuals can access only specific data that they have clearance for. This helps prevent security breaches and safeguards against the leak of valuable data.
• Simplified compliance: A single accurate data repository makes it easier to ensure compliance with government regulations for medical records and other sensitive data.

Importance of intelligent data capture in healthcare

How does the healthcare industry benefit from intelligent OCR?

The healthcare payer industry sees massive paper traffic every day. While many organizations have transitioned to digital claims and processing, paper documents still find use in the business and are likely to continue to do so in the foreseeable future.

Processing paper documents is fraught with wastage of manhours, inaccuracies, and inefficiency that can be costly to a business. However, the data contained within these documents is critical to the system, and healthcare businesses must find ways to deal with this challenge.

By deploying Intelligent Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology, payer and other healthcare businesses can transition data, handwritten or printed, from paper to digital format safely, efficiently, and accurately while saving resources.

At MDI NetworX, our proprietary Intelligent Data Capture will capture, extract, process, and direct all data into the correct directory, ready for access at a moment’s notice. This will help speed up your workflows and keep your insurance claim process on schedule, resulting in greater customer satisfaction and significant resource savings.