Doing more with less: The ROI of digital medical records classification

In today’s healthcare landscape, efficiency isn’t just a competitive edge — it’s essential. With rising cost pressures and increasing demands for transparency and quality, health systems must find smarter ways to operate.

Digital transformation plays a vital role in addressing these challenges. Yet despite investments in EHR systems, the classification of unstructured clinical content often remains overlooked.

The hidden costs of manual medical records classification

Most hospitals still rely on HIM teams to manually scan, classify and index medical records. These documents often arrive in various formats — from paper to fax to medical images — and require time-consuming, error-prone processing.

The result? Slowed productivity, inconsistent recordkeeping, higher labor costs and delayed access to critical patient information. In an environment where speed and costs matter, such inefficiencies are detrimental.

Intelligent medical records classification offers a clear path to doing more with less. By automating the identification, categorization and indexing of clinical documents, healthcare organizations can reduce the burden on HIM teams while increasing accuracy and speed.

For example, Hyland Healthcare’s intelligent classification solutions identify and categorize documents in as little as five seconds, up to 35 seconds faster than a human on average. Key benefits include:

• Automation of manual processes: Streamlining document intake to data export

• Improved accuracy: Reducing errors and exceptions

• Time and cost savings: Freeing up HIM staff to focus on higher-value work

• Better data consistency: Standardizing classification across the organization

• Improved clinician access: Easing navigation of patient records

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Understandably, healthcare leaders may hesitate to approve new technology purchases without clear evidence of value. That’s where a value assessment comes in.

These assessments offer a collaborative, data-driven analysis of how intelligent classification could impact a hospital’s operations. Over several weeks, the healthcare organization and Hyland experts work together to evaluate:

• Financial metrics: ROI, payback period, full-time equivalent (FTE) savings

• Operational impact: Improved workflows and productivity

• Strategic alignment: How the solution supports larger organizational goals

• Intangibles: Clinician satisfaction and patient experience

Hospitals like yours are achieving real savings with automated medical records classification. These examples show how Hyland’s value assessments help uncover efficiencies and prove ROI.

Large teaching hospital (Central U.S.)

Faced with 37,000+ annual HIM hours spent on classification; this hospital turned to Hyland for a value assessment. Findings included:

• Time savings: 78% reduction (29,000+ hours saved)

• ROI: 87% over five years

• Payback period: 20 months

• FTE impact: Equivalent of 15 FTEs freed up

Mid-sized community hospital (East Coast)

With growing document volumes and an upcoming acquisition, HIM leaders needed to ensure their team could handle more — without growing headcount.

• Time savings: Over 60% projected

• ROI: 25.1% over five years

• Payback period: 19 months

• FTE impact: Equivalent of 6 additional FTEs

Cost-driven switch (West Coast)

This hospital was dissatisfied with its existing classification vendor and sought a better ROI. After switching to Hyland:

• Time savings: 13% reduction in HIM hours

• ROI: 62.5% over five years

• Payback period: 13 months

While the time and cost savings are clear, the clinical impact of automated classification is just as compelling.

In many hospitals, external documents are lumped together under generic labels, requiring clinicians to search for them. With more granular classification, notes and reports are easier to find, improving clinical decision-making and enhancing patient care with:

• Shorter lengths of stay

• Faster treatment decisions

• Greater clinician satisfaction

• Improved patient experience

The journey to a more efficient healthcare organization doesn’t require massive overhauls — it starts with smarter processes.

Automating medical records classification offers a high-impact opportunity to reduce costs, free up staff time and enhance both the patient and clinician experience. With ROI payback typically under two years, it’s an investment that just makes sense.

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