5 Hidden Costs of Manual Patient Chart Review and How RannsCCR Solves Them

Managing patient records on paper has been something healthcare teams have done and followed for decades. But behind that familiarity lie costs that aren’t always obvious. From mistakes that get overlooked to delays in patient care, manual patient chart review affects practices in ways staff and physicians often don’t realize until it’s too late. However, with new AI tools emerging, what once took hours can be achieved in seconds. RannsCCR, Rannsolve’s Cognitive Patient Chart Reader, is a Veradigm-certified AI tool that uses advanced technology to help healthcare facilities automate patient chart review with greater accuracy.

Let’s take a look at the 5 hidden costs of manual patient chart review and how RannsCCR helps overcome each one of them.

1. Errors that get overlooked

Varied handwriting, abbreviations, and notes written in a rush can later pave the way for mistakes. In paper records, these errors can go unnoticed for days or even weeks, affecting patient care. Misinterpretation isn’t just limited to mistakes in treatment. Rather, even a simple misunderstanding of a patient’s allergy or medication history can lead to serious consequences.

The AI-powered patient chart reader, RannsCCR, bridges these gaps by digitizing charts accurately. Handwritten notes are converted into clear, readable records using Optical Character Recognition (OCR), ensuring that every piece of patient information is consistent and reliable. RannsCCR can match synonyms and recognize abbreviations and acronyms. Which means, staff and physicians can trust that the data they see is correct, reducing the likelihood of errors that can cost time, money, and compromise patient safety.

2. Time lost to inefficiency

Reviewing physical patient charts is intensive. Staff spend hours locating old records, interpreting handwriting, entering information into different forms, and duplicating efforts across departments. If a physician were to request last year’s lab results, it could trigger a frantic search through file cabinets. This way, physicians lose valuable time that could be spent with patients, while administrative staff get drowned in repetitive tasks.

RannsCCR, a powerful medical chart reader (as we discussed above), seamlessly integrates with an existing EHR and streamlines this process without affecting the current workflow. Patient charts are available instantly, fully organized, and searchable in an AI-powered custom dashboard. Physicians gain access to comprehensive patient histories and AI summaries using the Automatic chart reader, which helps them improve efficiency by 50% and save hours of manual work.

3. Security vulnerabilities

Paper records are vulnerable to fires, floods, or even simple misplacement, which can destroy years of documentation. Beyond natural disasters, physical files are easy to steal or tamper with. Anyone with access to a filing cabinet could compromise patient privacy, potentially exposing sensitive health and financial information. The consequences can be legally and financially serious.

The AI patient chart reader follows the highest standards of data security and privacy and is HIPAA-compliant. It makes sure that the access is controlled and tracked, and digital storage is protected against physical damage and unauthorized access.

4. No audit trails or version history

In a paper-based system, tracking changes is nearly impossible. If a record is updated or corrected, there’s no reliable way to know who made the change or when. This lack of transparency can hinder decision-making and make it harder to provide accurate, timely care. Sharing records between departments becomes cumbersome, creating delays that affect patients.

The medical chart reader, RannsCCR, comes with a search history and data preview feature that automatically maintains complete histories of all chart changes. Every update is recorded, and older versions remain accessible for reference. When using the automatic chart reader, physicians and staff can review changes quickly, which helps providers make informed decisions.

5. Burdened patient care and accessibility challenges

Manual charting slows down patient care in ways that aren’t always obvious. When it takes extra time to find records, review histories, or verify information, the patient experience suffers. Physicians may spend less time interacting with patients and more time on administrative work. Critical decisions can be delayed, and follow-up care might not happen as efficiently as it should.

The medical chart reader makes patient information accessible anytime it’s needed. Physicians can see full medication histories, previous diagnoses, and lab results in one place with an AI-powered dashboard. This visibility in the automatic chart readers supports faster, smarter decisions, allowing healthcare providers to focus on the patient rather than the paperwork. At the same time, patients also benefit from shorter waiting times and care that reflects a complete understanding of their history.