When I bought a paper-based medical practice in 1998, I began the challenging process of converting over to an EMR system. I soon discovered that with the hundreds, if not thousands, of transactional documents that needed to be included in the patient records, my staff members were continuously performing rote work—such as copying text and manually creating indexes—instead of spending time with patients and attending to their needs.

That meant I wasn’t able to provide the kind of care I wanted to, so I began searching for a better, more efficient and intuitive way to operate my practice so my team could deliver the care our patients deserved. Unfortunately, many of the EMR software packages actually created more work for my team rather than saving them time.

So, thanks to a long-time fascination with technology that began while I was studying microbiology in graduate school, I started thinking about a completely new software solution that would eliminate these repetitive indexing tasks. The goal: Create automated processes that could index all medical documents while reducing the burden on staff.

I needed a broad-based solution that could not only integrate seamlessly into the workflow of healthcare organizations, but also alleviate the burden of an (often) over-worked staff. By 2003, we had developed the process to manage this unstructured transactional data, and InDxLogic was born.

More than automation: Interpretation

What we realized, though, was that simply automating the indexing process wasn’t enough. We were determined to be different, and to do that we had to also eliminate pre-indexing activities. All other available solutions involved additional complexity such as separator sheets, labels, or other internal systems to provide the index.

If we could remove the need for pre-indexing, we could offer our customers true automation, saving them time and money while allowing them to get back to the business of caring for patients.

For physicians, automation puts necessary patient data in their hands when they need it. Information, such as the length of time in care, test results, and bloodwork reports, is now readily available to the physician, allowing him or her to have a comprehensive view of the patient and their current condition.

But if better patient care was one of our goals, there was still more to do. Sure, automating indexing based on names and birthdays was helpful, but to really give time back to physicians and their clinical staff we needed a system that could interpret the data inside the documents being indexed. We needed the ability to automatically recognize the types of documents we were indexing. With document recognition, we could build more sophisticated workflows that would notify clinical staff of preventative care or imaging needs. For example, instead of having a clinician look at, say, a mammogram result and manually setting up a reminder for a follow up a year later, our system could do so automatically.

Continuing to Innovate

Admittedly, I was in a unique position. I knew what it was like to own a practice and knew how frustrating it could be to deal with incomplete records when trying to treat a patient.

I was also comfortable and familiar enough with technology to see how it could change a practice’s operations. But I didn’t do this alone. My practice may have ignited the idea, but it took a whole team to make it a reality. And it’s that team—many of whom also bring years of experience in the medical field—that’s going to keep us pushing forward.