Top 10 Reasons to Scan Your Records

As technology continues to improve, going paperless is becoming more and more common. In some industries, like healthcare, it’s becoming a standard. Scanning records can help save money in the short term and the long term. Additionally, it helps to increase productivity levels and security right from the beginning. Overall, there are numerous reasons to scan records.

In this video or blog below, learn about the top 10 reasons to scan documents and go paperless. The benefits range from streamlining collaboration and distribution to simplifying compliance with industry laws and regulations.

Why You Should Be Scanning Records

As technology improves, scanning is becoming a more common practice.  This is because it offers a set of unique benefits that are unmatched by other document-handling methods. Scanning records opens up multiple ways to benefit, including greater efficiency and productivity, secure storage, and cost savings.

1. Prepare for a Digital Future

Scanning records from old formats and implementing digital records management increases accessibility and speed.
In healthcare, laws like HIPAA and  HITECH also legally require the meaningful use of health information technology. Therefore, it’s critical to prepare for your practice or business for the upcoming changes. These changes will produce benefits now and for years to come.

2. Boost Your Security

There are many advantages to scanning. However, one of the biggest benefits is the security aspect. Scanning records and storing them in a digital management system provides extra security in a few ways:

• • Access Controls for internal security
  • Firewalls and Antivirus for external risks
  • File Encryption in case of an external breach

3. Simplify Compliance with Disclosure Laws

A number of state and federal regulations require records to be readily available and retained for a certain amount of time (see the table below for some common examples). Most organizations must comply with the following regulations, but it’s important to confirm additional laws that may pertain.

Law / Regulation	What It Covers	Who It Applies To	Key Requirement
HIPAA & HITECH	Protected health information (PHI) — storage, transmission, and disposal	Healthcare providers, health plans, and their business associates	BAA required; breach notification within 60 days; secure EHR systems
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA)	Non-public personal financial information	Banks, insurers, wealth managers, and financial service firms	Written information security plan; vendor due diligence; safeguards rule
FACTA Disposal Rule	Consumer credit reports, scores, and related financial records	Any business that uses consumer credit information	Secure destruction of consumer financial data before disposal
Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)	Corporate financial records, audit trails, and executive disclosures	Publicly traded companies and their subsidiaries (Devon Energy, etc.)	7-year retention of financial records; strict audit trail requirements

In addition, they should be able to quickly produce in case of an audit. Using digital records management software, files are indexed and can easily be tracked down with the help of keyword search functions. This makes auditing and other legal matters easier when they arise.

4. Easy Backup and Disaster Recovery

Compared to paper, making a digital backup copy of a record inventory is faster and easier. Scanned documents can be backed up to remote servers. If all the primary copies were somehow destroyed, the backup copies can be quickly retrieved and restored.

5. Streamline Collaboration

Using a digital system to manage records centralizes information. Additionally, this makes it easier for teams to work together on the same document. For example, you can access and edit digital records at the same time. Additionally, you can access the files anywhere as long as there is an internet connection.

6. Make Distribution More Efficient

Before digital records, the time involved with paper correspondence was a major bottleneck. Using email and digital document management software reduces the time sending and receiving information. Additionally, this benefits you as well as consumers.

7. Improve Records Management Time and Efficiency

A single employee may spend just 10-15 minutes a day looking for and refiling records. However, the time and costs add up over a year. With digital records, they can be retrieved with a keyword search. Additionally, they don’t need refilling once you’re done.

8. Save Valuable Space

Millions of documents can be scanned and uploaded to a storage server. Additionally, a 3-drawer file cabinet can store fewer files and use up more space. In addition, there is a cost of the filing cabinets themselves. With scanning, you can eliminate these file cabinet costs.

9. Going Green

Paper is recyclable, but when you don’t use paper there’s no need to recycle. In addition, going paperless reduces the use of printer ink and the energy needed for climate-controlled storage. This helps tremendously towards effective green initiatives.

10. Saving Time and Money

Overall, document scanning’s greatest benefit is its cost savings. Going paperless helps save money in the long term and short term in a few ways. The initial, upfront costs of scanning can be expensive for those with thousands of documents. However, the benefits far outlay the initial costs.

In addition to convenience, there are other advantages to scanning which impact employee and company performance. In turn, this impacts wasted time which impacts costs. Some advantages include work efficiency and lower storage costs.

Start Scanning Records With Record Nations Today!

Join Amazon, Google, and other companies we’ve helped to scan records and adopt a paperless system for managing information.

We work with a nationwide network of providers to help connect you with the best scanning services to meet your budget, schedule, and other requirements. For help finding your ideal scanning option, give us a call at (866) 385-3706, use the live chat, or fill out the form to start the process today.