File management for healthcare providers
File management for healthcare organizations involves restricting access to patient records only to those who need to work with them, separating administrative and medical documents, and tracking who accessed the document. For clinics, polyclinics, and laboratories, SmartFiles consolidates administrative and patient records into clearly defined areas with strict permission boundaries.
What file issues do healthcare organisations face?
- "Administrative staff can access patient recordsWhen patient records are stored on the same drive as administrative documents, accounting or advisory staff can also access them. The mere possibility of access is a risk in itself.
- "Who downloaded which document is unknownDownload and deletion operations are not recorded. In case of a complaint or audit, events are reconstructed based on memory.
- "Documents are downloaded to personal computers Every report downloaded for reading leaves a new copy on a disk outside the organisation. These copies remain in place when permission is revoked.
- "Sessions remain open on shared computersA session left open on a computer in a consultation room or nurse’s station allows the next person to access documents.
Why should access to patient records be additionally restricted?
Article 6 of Law No. 6698 on the Protection of Personal Data classifies health data as special category personal data and subjects their processing to stricter conditions. For a clinic, this means patient records should only be viewed by those concerned with that patient or required to process that record.
Patient documents often reside in the same location as administrative documents on a shared drive. An accounting employee searching for invoices might access patient reports, while a consultant looking at appointment lists might access test results. Most of these accesses are not malicious, but the mere possibility of access is a risk. This section is for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice; consult your legal advisor regarding your organization's obligations.
How are administrative and medical documents separated?
The first step is to separate documents according to access needs. Administrative documents (supplier contracts, invoices, personnel files, licences and permits) form one group, while patient records (consent forms, reports from external institutions, referral letters) form another. When these two groups are kept in separate areas, administrative staff are granted no permissions in the patient records area, and that area does not appear on their screen at all.
Differentiation may also be required within the patient records area: in a polyclinic, records for each specialty might be accessible only to that specialty's doctors and nurses. The quality and patient rights unit accesses them with read-only permission when necessary.
How to track who accessed the document?
It is important not only to restrict access but also to see how limited access is used. It must be recorded who downloaded, deleted, or moved a document, and when permissions in an area changed. This record relies on documentation rather than memory regarding what happened and when, in case of a complaint or internal audit.
Reducing download counts also lowers risk. Reading documents by previewing them in the browser without downloading prevents new copies from being created on external disks. Closing open sessions on shared computers is another simple yet effective measure.
How is AI usage restricted in healthcare organisations?
AI-based document summarisation saves significant time in administrative paperwork (supplier contracts, tender specifications, legislation). For patient records, usage should be decided based on the organisation’s own policies and legal counsel’s advice. The ability to enable or disable AI per area allows it to be used in administrative areas while remaining disabled in patient record areas.
What would an example area layout look like for a clinic?
- "Administration: contracts, invoices, licences and permits. Admin team and management; AI enabled.
- "Human Resources: personnel files, certificates. Accessible only by HR and management.
- "Patient Records – Specialty A: consent forms, external reports, referral letters. Only the specialty's doctors and nurses; deletion permission held by a single responsible person.
- "Quality and Patient Rights: procedures, internal audit records. Written by the quality unit; read by relevant units.
How does SmartFiles solve this?
In SmartFiles, a separate storage area is created for each unit or department. In each area, eight independent permissions (Read, Write, Edit, Delete, Folder, AI, History, Note) are granted to persons or departments. Persons without read permission do not see the area in the sidebar; documents from that area are also not shown in search, note streams, or file links.
The responsible user with history permission can see downloads, moves, deletions, and permission changes in the area activity log, along with the person and time involved. PDFs, images, and text documents are previewed in the browser without downloading; Office previews open only with the organisation administrator’s approval. Each user can view their active sessions and close sessions on other devices with a single click.
AI permission is granted at the area level with AI capability; the organisation administrator can also disable AI entirely. Transfer between browser and server is done over an encrypted connection.
Documents containing personal data are automatically detected: SmartFiles scans every readable document for Turkish ID numbers, phone numbers, email addresses, and IBANs, flagging documents mentioning health information as potentially sensitive personal data. Values are not stored, only counts are kept; organisation administrators can view these documents and those exposed to external sharing in a single list.
Area-based authorisationReview activity in storage areasView and close my open sessionsFinding documents containing personal data (KVKK)