OCR toolkit extends ‘data-based coding’ in hospitals 

3M, the global science company, has announced that it is integrating OCR technology from ABBYY, one of the leading global providers of document recognition and conversion solutions, into its health information systems (HIS). Alongside existing services, the module for computer-data-based codingof the 3M 360 Encompass software suite now includes text recognition for scanned documents.

The coding function of the 3M 360 Encompass software uses the digital data of electronic patient files for coding and classification of diagnostic reports and procedures. Structured text files in electronic form, such as surgery reports, doctors’ letters or discharge documents can then be analysed within the 3M Health Information Systems.

By integrating text recognition technology from ABBYY, 3M’s Health Information Systems now have the ability to transform written language for printed documents, such as doctor’s letters, clinical findings and treatments into the appropriate codes that match up with invoice payments, thereby streamlining processes.

Access to analogue data sources

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) opens up access to various analogue data sources piped in from paper admission documents, hospital information management systems or documents from a clinic’s archiving system. With the integrated text recognition extension, data from these documents and files can be exported into the 3M 360 Encompass software. ABBYY’s OCR technology is known for its high levels of recognition accuracy and with the integration of medical terminology and knowledge database of 3M, it has improved further.

Pilot phase in preparation 

The pilot phase for OCR integration into the module for computer-assisted coding of 3M 360 Encompass is currently in preparation. The project is launching in German-speaking countries first, followed by a pan-European roll-out.