Best Optical Character Recognition

Question: We scan all of our EOBs as a record of our work and frequently need to go back to an individual patient’s EOB to appeal. I have experimented with different optical character recognition (OCR) programs for our PDF documents but have found nothing is really getting better than about an 80 percent find rate. Do you know software that is better or an integrated solution?

Answer: According to technology expert Rosemarie Nelson, the best “find” rates come with an integrated scanning/indexing solution that is married to the practice management system. For example, IDX (now GE Centricity) has a very strong solution that indexes the EOB directly to the charge transaction on the patient’s financial record. It may also be helpful if they are applying the ERA (electronic remittance advice) as they will have detail (including dates) that will help drive to the desired info. Bottom line: try to work with the provider of your practice management system.