If the simple task of identifying and copying files to another directory could be performed to sort and copy reports generated by Dr. Mears, then it could just as easily be performed for the 150 other doctors who have been assigned author identification numbers on the hospital's digital dictation system.
- First, one would need to create a subdirectory or folder for each doctor (named using the same four-digit author identification number the doctoru ses on the digital dictation system).
- Then someone would have to write a "batch file" (a series of commands) which would instruct the computer to copy the files containing each doctor's respective author identification number in their file names from a main directory to each doctor's personalized subdirectory or folder.
- The computer could then be programmed to run this batch file at some time in the wee hours of the morning (3:30 a.m.), when such an intensive file-management chore would not disrupt the office routine.
The task of sorting report copies for dictating physicians would thus have been automated. What about copies for additional doctors mentioned in each report?This is a task that can be done by someone sitting at a computer terminal who, using a word-processing program, calls each report up onto the screen, identifies each doctor other than the dictating physician who must receive a copy of the report, and saves a copy of the report to the special subdirectory for that physician.
The only reports that would need to be printed in hard copy would be those that had to be mailed to a physician who did not have access to the digital dictation system.
So far, we have managed to automate 75-90% of the distribution work. The remainder of the work can be performed on screen, rather than spreading paper all over the place, trying to manually sort out the reports, and then having to hand deliver reports to each physician's mailbox for hard copy (paper).
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