Unlocking what’s possible:Transforming patient records into a vital clinical advantage
Customer Success Stories
Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals (NNUH) is a major medical institution managing nearly one million patient appointments and admissions annually. To accelerate their digital strategy and eliminate high storage costs, the Trust partnered with Iron Mountain to transition from physical record-keeping to a streamlined, "day-forward" digital workflow.
The Challenge: Escaping the "Paper Trap"
While NNUH had already begun digitising legacy records, they faced several critical hurdles:
- High Infrastructure Costs: The Trust was spending millions of pounds annually to rent nine industrial units for 1.25 million live records.
- Manual Bottlenecks: Creating new information required physical files to be retrieved, updated, and replaced, a labor-intensive process.
- Lease Deadlines: The Trust needed a rapid, secure transition to exit their storage lease and reduce financial obligations.
The Solution: A Unified Digital Foundation
Iron Mountain implemented a fully managed day-forward scanning service, ensuring that new patient information is digitised and accessible immediately.
- Seamless EDRMS Integration: Records are sent to Iron Mountain’s Lutterworth facility, scanned, and uploaded directly to the Trust’s Electronic Document and Records Management System (EDRMS).
- Optimised High-Volume Processing: The solution manages approximately 1.4 million assets monthly, creating a unified process for all clinical departments.
- Expert Governance: A dedicated team with specialist medical record experience ensured a secure chain of custody during the rapid transition.
- Urgent Access Safeguards: For critical care needs, the agreement includes a 4-hour response time for urgent scan requests.
The Results: Clinical Intelligence at Scale
The transition has turned static information into active clinical intelligence, providing a reliable foundation for the Trust's upcoming Electronic Patient Record (EPR) implementation.
- Multi-Million Pound Savings: By exiting the storage facility lease early, the Trust realised significant financial recovery.
- Improved Clinician Experience: Mislaid records have almost completely disappeared, allowing clinicians to search comprehensive patient history in a timely manner.
- Operational Reliability: The service is described as "running like clockwork," meeting strict Service Level Agreements (SLAs) without the need for constant oversight.
- Bridging Care Gaps: Patient records are now visible and secure across both remote clinics and the main hospital hub.
I would single out the day-forward scanning service as an example of a service that is so reliable we don't have to worry... we are just confident the SLAs will be met.