Everyone seems to be talking about how to cut costs in healthcare. Whether it’s a debate over efficiencies or an effort to limit lawsuits, there are plenty of opinions floating around.

The nation’s hospitals are pledging to crack down on spending. The American Hospital Association, the Catholic Health Association, the Federation of Americans Hospitals and others have all agreed to cut costs by $155 billion over the next decade.

Yet there are already many ways for hospitals, physician offices and clinics to enhance efficiencies and reduce costs. One of the easiest is to simply become and remain compliant with accurate medical records.

Healthcare facilities that cannot produce accurate medical records in a reasonable time and don’t provide proper safekeeping of these records may find themselves out of compliance with such government agencies as CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services), HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), or the non-profit Joint Commission.

That could mean fines, lost productivity, lawsuits and other woes.

Organizations that are not compliant must redirect valuable labor to correct mistakes, eliminate duplicates or re-file records. It’s estimated the healthcare industry spends millions of dollars each year – that’s wasted money – on the problem.

By investing instead in ways to organize and safeguard medical records, providers can be sure their staff are doing what they do best – delivering patient care, not dealing with record problems.