Even in a largely electronic hospital, paper consents are scanned into the EHR. How should a facility coder view those scanned artifacts?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
Scanning a consent into the EHR does not make it vanish—it often becomes part of the legal record in a hybrid pattern. Peek at those artifacts when they matter for the case. “Electronic hospital” can still mean paper that got digitized.
Full Explanation
Many hospitals operate hybrid documentation patterns in which paper forms are scanned into the EHR and become part of the legal medical record. Coders should recognize scanned artifacts as potentially relevant documentation sources, not automatically discard them because they originated on paper. This distinction is central to understanding EHR types and documentation completeness for coding.