Overview¶

PrecisionOCR (OCR) gives you the tool to transform your faxes and scanned paper records into structured FHIR data. All data is stored in LifeOmic’s Precision Health Cloud (PHC).

For answers to common questions about OCR, see the OCR FAQs. For additional information on the benefits of OCR, see the datasheet: Unlock the knowledge in faxes & scanned documents with PrecisionOCR.

Initial OCR Setup¶

OCR requires you to accept an invitation and create a PHC project before you upload a document. It is also recommended to configure an OCR layout for the subject view before you import documents.

Accept Invite and Create Project¶

1. In the You've been invited to a PHC group! email you receive, click Signup or login to launch PHC in your browser.
   Note: If you did not receive an invitation email, contact your PHC admin.
2. Log into PHC or create a new account if needed.
3. You need to connect OCR to a PHC project, which is a dataset of subjects.
   1. To create a new project, complete the How to create a new Project procedure.
   2. To connect to an existing project, click the drop-down menu on the upper left of the screen, click See All, and click the project name.

Create an OCR Layout for a Subject¶

To view the OCR documents by subject, you need to create an OCR layout and assign it to a subject. Setting this up also allows you to upload documents directly to a subject. If you want to set this up at a later time, you can go directly to Upload Your Files to PHC.

1. On the left side of the menu, click Subjects.
2. Click a subject name or click Create Subject and enter and save a first and last name if you do not have an existing subject.
   
3. On the Subject page, click the Create Layout button.
4. On the Manage Layouts page, click the plus icon .
5. On the Add a Layout page, click the Create a New Layout tab, enter a name, and click the Create Layout button.
6. On the Manage Layouts page, click the Done button.
7. On the page for the subject, click the Edit Layout icon .
8. On the lower right of the Layout Edit screen, click the plus icon .
9. On the Add a Module screen, click the plus icon by the OCR Documents module and click the X icon to close the screen and return to the subject screen.
10. On the subject screen that now displays the OCR Documents module, click the Save Changes icon .
    

Upload Your Documents to OCR¶

OCR allows you to upload documents as PDFs, PNGs, or JPGs. A patient's medical history and other medical records are usually stored as PDFs on a fax server, in an EMR, or in online storage. With a paper record, you need to scan the documents to create the files.

The PDF, JPG, or file from a fax or scanned record is an image file and is not usable data. It is similar to the file you create when you take a picture of a letter with your phone. After you upload the file, OCR denoises the source document and extracts the text with proprietary optical character recognition technology. The information in the document is transformed into searchable data that is usable by the PHC. OCR also automatically rotates documents that were scanned upside down or sideways.

In addition to the PHC web interface covered in these procedures, advanced users can also use the command line interface (CLI) or API available with PHC to upload OCR documents. For more information on the using OCR with the CLI, see the OCR CLI. For more information on the API, see the OCR API.

Upload Your Files to a Specific Subject in PHC (Recommended)¶

1. Click the Subject tab.
2. Click Upload Files for Subject and navigate to your files either on your PC or a networked file location.
3. Select the file or files and click Open.

Upload Your Files to PHC¶

1. Click the OCR tab.
2. Click Upload Files and navigate to your files either on your PC or a networked file location.
3. Select the file or files and click Open.

Compare the Source Document and the Extracted Text¶

You can always compare the original source document with the extracted text:

1. Click on the document in the Processed documents list.
2. On the upper left of the screen, click Source Document.
3. Click Original or Extracted Text.