Use KIP to Store Patient Files, Documents and Photos

Patient information can come in many forms. They can be images, text documents, or even movies.

KIP allows you to store these files and associate them with a patient.

For example, you scan the patient's driver's license and save it as an image file. Now, you can store this image in KIP and have it accessible anywhere on the network. The network can even be a remote site if you have remote access set up.

You can associate any type of file with a patient. If the file can be on your computer, you can associate that file with a specific patient. When you choose to view the file, the file opens using the program associated with that file.

So, for the example above, when you want to view the patient's driver's license, it will open in the program used on that computer to view image files (most likely Preview on a Mac).

There is no limit to the number of files you can associate with a patient.

When you associate a file with a patient, that file gets copied to the server computer and it becomes available to any other user anywhere on the network. On a single user version of KIP, the file gets copied to a special local folder.

If the original file is then deleted, the copy made by KIP stays safe. Once the file becomes associated with a patient, it becomes stored on the server, so even if you delete the original file, the copied files remain.

Most files are small - JPG, PDF, TXT - and are moved to the server in an instant. If you associate a large file with a patient, it can longer to be copied. A typical high resolution photo (800K) should take less than a second to be copied on a local network, where a small movie file (500MB) may take several minutes.

KIP allows you to name these files so you can easily recognize them.

So, for every form in your office (patient information forms, exam forms, faxes received, EOBs), you can scan the form, and associate the image file with that patient. You can then shred the original form. The stored file can be opened or printed when needed.

It now becomes even more important to do daily, weekly, and off-site backups. Don't let this lax. Backing up your data is more important than ever.