Request Form Scanning Boon or Burden

1
Request Form Scanning - Boon or Burden?

• Colin Fletcher
• Biochemistry Department
• Stobhill Hospital
• Glasgow G21 3UW

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Biochemistry North Glasgow

• WORKLOAD
• 1.2M samples/annum, 12M analysis/annum
• SITES
• Glasgow Royal Infirmary 40
• Gartnavel General Hospital 30
• Stobhill Hospital - 21
• Western Infirmary 9

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Biochemistry North Glasgow

• OVERALL STRATEGY
• Common Analytical Platforms, QC, Standards etc
• Common SOPs
• Common Computer systems
• Samples interchangeable between sites
• Centralised Routine Reporting
• Specialist work centralised on one site

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Centralised Routine Reporting

• REQUIREMENTS
• Form Scanning
• Telephone answering system
• Common SOPs
• Adequate secretarial support

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Scanning - Advantages

• Image of request form available on all sites no
  matter where request booked in.
• No filing of request forms which is time
  consuming and requires considerable filing space
• Request forms instantly available
• Request forms available for ever

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Possible Options

• Commercial Package
• 15-20K/ site
• Proven system
• Standalone system

• In-House Solution
• 5-6K/ site
• Unproven system
• Integrated with Laboratory system

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Requirements

• Scanner
• Bar Code Recognition Software
• Storage Medium
• Filing Software
• Retrieval Viewing Software

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Scanner/Bar Code Recognition Software

• Investigated a number of scanners, typically
  scanning 40 50 forms/minute.
• Opted for Cannon only company offering free bar
  code recognition software with the scanner.
• Other companies were wanting 5-6K/ scanner
  adding 20K to the project

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Filing Software

• Initially major problem, scanner produced
  individual files for each form but each batch of
  forms sent to new directory
• Cannon unable to resolve this. Eventually,
  in-house visual basic program written to transfer
  images to one directory

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Storage Medium

• Each image requires 25K. A months storage for
  North Glasgow requires approximately 2GB.
• Considered purchasing PC. However, redundant
  server in GRI Biochemistry available -already on
  NHSGGC network. Ex GRI Biochemistry system
  plenty of storage, plenty of capacity - Osprey

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Retrieval Viewing Software

• POWERTERM
• Terminal Emulator software which gives
  quasi-Windows functionality (point click, copy
  paste, etc) to an essentially character system.
• TelePath have used the facilities in PowerTerm to
  enhance their product. One gives the ability to
  link a particular image held on a remote server
  with a particular laboratory number.
• Allows a message to be passed when accessing a
  particular Laboratory number which calls up the
  viewing software and gives the name and location
  of the image to be accessed.

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Retrieval Viewing Software

• I-VIEW
• Actual viewing software, free on the InterNet,
  loaded onto every PC. Loaded by instructions from
  PowerTerm/TelePath and then calls up the required
  image, again under instruction from
  PowerTerm/TelePath

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Telepath

• Small program which creates a link between every
  Laboratory number and its corresponding image
• IMAGE("N,06.0062500.C",1)Request
  FormO\BIO_REQUESTS\0062500.TIF

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Request Form Scanning

• Overall Picture

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Specimen Enquiry

• North Glasgow Blood Science Laboratories
• Specimen Enquiry. Screen 1 / Select specimen
• Specimen Number N,06.0201999.S
  Collected 16.10.06
• Report Comment ...................................
  ..... Received 1550 16.10.06
• Specimen Type Specimen............ Anal'cal
  category Routine.........
• Comment .................................
  ..
• Reg. Surname Forename
  Init Age \ DoB Sex
• 10459903H XXXX YYYYYY
  11.04.79 F
• Current Location AUCHINAIRN MP............
  G.P.\Cons. R M RAEBURN..........
• Loc't at request AUCHINAIRN MP............
  Hosp ..........................
• Sets Requested -
• 1) RELU ..R 171006
• F'ther\W'sht\spc N'pad\Xpress soft\xpress Enq\set
  num\Image\Opts ...

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Scanned Form
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Problems

• Scanning Problems
• System Errors

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Scanning Problems

• Not selecting correct directory
• Not cleaning scanner heads
• Not cancelling extra bar codes

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Not separating two part forms
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Forms in upside down
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Requests from external hospitals
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System Errors

• Scanner Crashing
• After images scanned and sent to Osprey scanner
  sometimes crashes. Thought it was caused by
  images being removed from Osprey before scanner
  was totally finished its processes. Tried to
  duplicate problem without success. Pragmatic
  approach reduce frequency of transfer program.

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Scanning - boon or burden?

• Secretarial Staff probably a burden
• Still retaining cards for 2-3 days
• Extra step of scanning, but will probably do away
  with entering diagnosis at request entry
• Frustration of system dying
• Extra work involved in requests from outside
  hospitals

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Scanning - boon or burden

• BMS staff
• Neither major advantage or disadvantage

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Scanning - boon or burden?

• Biochemists - major advantage
• Can instantly check if request details are
  correctly entered into the Laboratory system
• Can instantly check clinical diagnosis if too
  long to enter into Laboratory system.
• Very useful audit tool

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Scanning - boon or burden

• North Glasgow Biochemistry
• Major plank in allowing us to reach our goal of a
  centralised reporting rota however still one
  laboratory to set up on the system

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Summary

• Described an in house request form scanning
  system integrated with our lab system
• Still some issues to resolve in terms of overall
  performance
• Overall, the system is a major advantage in
  saving of Biochemist time and allowing the
  Department to reach one of its major goals

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Acknowledgement

• Stephen Balmer