Numerical Presentation: Advantages and Disadvantages of Direct Numerical and Terminal Digit Methods
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Numerical Presentation: Advantages and Disadvantages of Direct Numerical and Terminal Digit Methods

In an organized filing system, the folders are arranged in some kind of order (we hope so!). Some commonly used methods include: alphabetic, direct numeric, terminating digit numeric, or by some category. Subcategories can also be added to the above methods. Knowing the advantages and disadvantages of the various systems in advance will allow you to make an informed decision based on your particular needs.

This article discusses numerical presentation. Alphabetic display was covered in the e-zine article “Alphabetic Display, Advantages and Disadvantages”

Before you put the files in numerical order, you must decide what number will be used to designate each folder. Some commonly used numbers are: medical record number, account number, billing number, assigned number, etc. The number of digits that make up the chosen number will help determine which system to use. The next three decisions to make are how long the records will be kept in the system, what will determine when they will be purged, and will they be color coded?

Straight Numerical Filing System

Direct numerical filing consists of sorting the folders from the lowest number to the highest number. This works fine with smaller file systems. Because almost everyone knows how to count from the lowest number to the highest number, training is minimal. If the records are numbered in numerical order and ongoing activity is not a factor, debugging is easier. You can often delete sections of folders at once. But this comes with the disadvantage that you will have to change all the records to make room for the new numbers. Another drawback can be trying to work with large numbers and keeping them in numerical order.

If you decide to color code, you’ll want to choose digits to color that will have the same number long enough to form a pattern. If the same color section is too large, the color coding is ineffective. For example, color coding the last digit of a number means it changes every record, the nest to last digit changes every 10 records, the third to last digit changes every 100 folders, and the fourth every 1000 records. Depending on the size of the file room, you can color the numbers 1000 and 100.

I would not recommend color coding all digits as this defeats the purpose of color coding by creating a rainbow of colors and making it difficult to detect bad files. Also, color-coding a digit that changes infrequently will not help detect bad files. Why spend money on color-coded labels that won’t add to the efficiency of your filing system? Color coding is an efficient way to detect bad files, not an efficient way to number graphics.

Terminal Digit Filing System

Terminal digit filing consists of putting the records in order starting with the last two digits of the number instead of the whole number. A simple way to describe this method for a six-digit number is: last two, middle two, first two. For example, the number 137620 would be filed 20 76 13. This is a very efficient way of filing for very large filing systems (a standard in medical records departments due to the large number of records in the system and the importance of a quick and accurate access). ).

Basically, you’re taking the entire file room and dividing it into sections. Look at the last two digits first (the last two), which means that the first section in the file room contains all the numbers ending in 00 and the last section contains all the numbers ending in 99. These sections pretty much keep constants, so knowing the last two digits of the filing number means knowing the section of the file room that contains that record (a number ending in 50 will be in the middle of the file room, etc.). Now that the record is in the main section, the next digits to file in that section are the digits 1,000 and 100 (middle digits). Then you go to the next two digits (the first two with a six-digit number).

I recommend considering this archiving method if your archive room contains 10,000 or more records. Terminal digit archiving works fine when folders are randomly purged. Scrolling of records to make room for new numbers is reduced because purged records and new records will be placed evenly throughout the file room. File room staff quickly learn the location of all 100 sections, greatly speeding up archiving and retrieval. Also, by dividing the number into sections, the number becomes easier to handle, which reduces errors.

Color coding is very effective with terminal digit archiving. If you have a file room with 10,000 records and you color code the last two digits, you will have 100 records in the file room with the same two colors. Since these records will be filed side by side, it’s easy to see if someone places a record in the wrong section since the color scheme is broken. You only need to search for a missing folder in 100 files instead of 10,000. If you decide to color code all 1,000 digits, that would reduce the number of records with the same 3 colors to 10. I recommend color coding all 1,000 digits when the file contains 30,000 or more records (that is, 30 records with the same 3 colors). ). colors instead of 300 when encoding 2 colors). Again, I wouldn’t recommend color coding all digits due to the rainbow effect and unnecessary cost.

The biggest disadvantage of terminal digit presentation is the fear of people in the presentation room learning the system. This is a new way of looking at a number and it can be confusing. File room supervisors have said this is an advantage because it makes it harder for unauthorized people to gain access (doctors and lawyers are notorious for taking files and not signing them). This is also not as efficient for a file room that contains a small number of assigned numbers along with very large individual files (some law firms) and systems that contain many subfolders.

In conclusion, weighing the pros and cons of the various archiving methods before starting your system will save you a lot of headaches in the future.

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