Record Keeping

I visited this Eye hospital recently for my annual eye checkup .. Nothing new . Everyone does this … I have had good experiences with this institution all along and even more this year. Just as background , I have my file with this Institution ever since 1984. My visits were intense in initial years till 1989 and then a hiatus and then regular annual checkups from 2005 . What was been impressive is the way that they had made use of technology to make the visits pleasant and also improve the way the information is stored but still keeping the good old hard copies in a file ( which was started when probably we did not have the right technology to store ). Mind you , you are visiting as a patient but the effort to make you feel good and comfortable is so evident as the years have gone by. This year , they really upped the ante. First , when I booked my appointment , I got a SMS confirmation with time of the appointment and the Doctor that I needed to see One day prior to the appointment , there was a “ reminder “ call about the appointment and timing and my confirmation was taken I reached little ahead of the scheduled time ( nothing unusual about it ), was quickly checked in ( Gosh—started using hospitality industry terms ) and was guided to start the process. My file was there—just as I have seen it year over year for the past years.. Clean , no smudges , neatly referenced with my name and my unique number. I was really surprised to see that file in such good shape. I was amazed as to how this Institution can maintain the file so well . Always traceable when needed . I just could not help comparing this to the files that I had at home. Most of them at home are maintained for Bank statements , Insurance receipts , Property related Etc.,. I must admit they are used often but their shape and structure are not in their original form. It must be noted that the institution deals with patient all over India and from outside of the country as well. So they do deal with numbers in terms of the patients. For them to keep the files in such a manner and to have a super retrieval mechanism is amazing. The other improvement that I saw was in the review process. The files have only reference of the review ( one page ). Everything else is entered in the database as the appointment takes place. Have to talk to the right person in this place just to understand. And , the institution is an Non-Profit Organisation.. maybe that explains it ! Another thing is the Doctor that I see has not moved from 1994 ( Retention mechanism for people must be good as well ). PS : I have seen other places , where files / tracking is just up to the patient. They give you everything and a file to put your records in !