Adventist Health improves document access with single supplier solution

Situation Adventist Health System upgraded to an electronic medical records system to improve access to patient charts. Objective Input documentation into electronic medical records system quickly and efficiently—within 24 hours of patient discharge. Find one vendor able to deliver bestof-breed scanning technology for low- to high-volume scanning. Gain ability to continuously scan long paper formats and multiple thicknesses. Solution KODAK i1440, i610, i260, i280, i65 and i40 Scanners, EMC2 ApplicationXtender software, Kofax Ascent Capture software. Currently testing KODAK i1220 Scanners for implementation in 2008.

Martin Murphy’s jaw dropped when, in the middle of an Adventist Health System Information Systems team meeting, the door flew open and a folder was abruptly dropped in front of a physician. After the interruption, the physician explained he had requested the patient chart four hours earlier and—even though it was an emergency—it had taken the records department 240 minutes to locate and deliver the folder.
“I realized then that our upgrade to an electronic medical records system couldn’t come too soon!” says Murphy, Clinical Data Technical Manager, Adventist Health System. “With our new scanning and information management solution, that doctor would have reviewed the patient chart on his computer long before the meeting even started.”
One ideal supplier and scanner manufacturer
Until 2003, Adventist Health System—headquartered in Orlando, FL—relied on a paper-based filing system to manage medical records. The not-for-profit healthcare system, with over 45,000 employees, wanted to improve access to patient records at all of its 40 hospitals in 10 states. And when they transitioned to an electronic medical records system, the organization wanted to work with the best one-vendor solution for scanners.
“In my 20 years of experience with scanning, Kodak has always been tops in the highvolume scanner market. When we compared high-, mid- and low-volume document  scanners, Kodak turned out to be the best of breed in all categories,” notes Murphy.
Adventist Health System’s Information Systems team knew they would get a price break if they purchased all their scanners from one vendor. But beyond cost, the team wanted the benefit of a single source for service and support.
“It’s more convenient to work with one vendor,” says Murphy. “I only have one contact number and one contact person. And Kodak is such a large company that even in rural areas, the Kodak Service & Support technicians are less than 30 minutes away.”
“I have a great vendor relationship with our sales representative at Kodak,” adds Murphy. “Whether I’m in the suburbs of Chicago, or Kileen, Texas, or Orlando, I work with the same sales representative—Nancy Sherman—and she is great people.”
Departments improve customer service
After a year of planning, Adventist Health System’s Information Systems team deployed KODAK i40 Scanners in its Registration and Scheduling Departments, and KODAK i65, i260, i280, i610 and now i1440 Scanners in its Health Information Management (Medical Records) Departments.
The Registration and Scheduling Departments use i40 Scanners to scan physician orders, insurance cards, and driver’s licenses when patients register for service at the hospitals.
Before installing the KODAK i40 Scanners, an Adventist Health System representative would take the patient’s document and make a copy. Now the representative stays in front of the patient and scans the information at the desktop. This small change has greatly improved patient satisfaction at the point of registration.
Because all of the information is scanned at once at registration, including doctors’ orders, lab orders, service requests, and financial data, it is online and available to providers right away. Patients no longer walk around the hospital with slips requesting certain blood tests or imaging services. As a result, fewer orders are lost, and no one is wasting time searching for and re-entering orders.
Departments become more efficient
As patients are discharged from all areas of the hospital, their charts are brought to the Health Information Management Departments and scanned into the electronic records system.
KOFAX Ascent Capture software batches and indexes the documents and performs quality control checks that automatically correct orientation, delete blank pages, and ensure images are readable.
From there, EMC2 ApplicationXtender Software integrates the data into Adventist Health System’s Medical Records Image Engine for permanent storage.
All information in one place, available to all providers
“Today, all discreet information and paper documents—lab results, nursing documentation, physicians’ notes, progress reports—are in one place,” says Murphy.
“The efficiency improvement is huge for both doctors and patients. Now doctors can review and sign documents electronically online. Before, we had to find and pull the paper file from a folder, copy the page, and track down the physician to obtain a key signature.”
All charts are online, so doctors can have instant access without asking a third party to pull the documents. This reduces the opportunity for human error and provides information quickly.
Even better, more than one provider can view the information concurrently. For example, the Primary Care Physician on the first floor could be viewing a patient’s records online at the same time as the specialist on the fifth floor.
No more lost revenue
“Coding for billing is now done online right off physician orders,” Murphy notes. “Papers are no longer being passed from hand to hand, which means we minimize lost or mislaid records. We charge patients based on service, and now our Billing Department knows exactly how much to charge, so we aren’t losing revenue either.”
High quality, continuous feed, and multiple thicknesses
At Adventist Health System, operators scan approximately 100,000 pages per day of variable legibility, size, and shape. So they need the highest image quality possible. The scanned documents include thick driver’s licenses, scribbled physicians’ orders, complex ultrasounds, even 20-foot long fetal monitor strips.
“In Registration, our KODAK i40 Scanners allow us to scan documents with different thicknesses, like laminated driver’s licenses and insurance cards,” says Murphy. “In Health Information Management, we’re now replacing older model scanners with KODAK i1440 Scanners, which feature continuous feed scanning that allows us to scan fetal monitor strips up to 20 feet in length,” says Murphy. “Before, we would tape the pages together to create a fetal monitor strip, and then rip the strip apart a page at a time to store it in the patient’s file.”
Now, thanks to their i1440 Scanner, ripping, taping and other hassles are a thing of the past.

Shands Jacksonville Medical Center Finds The Right Tools For Contract Management

Debbie Monseratt, Contracts Administrator for Shands Jacksonville Medical Center, Inc. likens her new hardware/software solution for contract management to having the right equipment to build a house. “You can’t do the job properly without the best tools, although we did it for years with a paper-based system. It is so much better when you use the correct tools,” says Monseratt. “Before, it was incredibly timeconsuming and difficult to manage.”
“Now, the combination of our KODAK i30 Scanners and PaperTracer Software from Health Asset Management, Inc. (HAMi) gives us the power to do it far more efficiently, saving time and money.”

Handling contracts by the thousandsMonseratt’s department at Shands, which is affiliated with the University of Florida, handles a wide variety of contracts. Everything from lease agreements to sales and purchasing contracts, for services ranging from high-tech diagnostic equipment for the hospital to software purchase agreements. “We have a somewhat unique system at Shands,” she notes. “There are 150 responsible managers using the system at this time. These managers deal with various vendors, then submit the appropriate paperwork—including contracts, agreements and so on—to our department. We then route these documents to our legal, finance, and other departments for review and approval.”
In the past, Monseratt routed everything in paper form, often by faxing or traditional mail. E-mail with a Microsoft Word document attached was eventually added to the mix. But even e-mail did not provide a means to overcome the biggest issues to routing productivity. “People were constantly dealing with different versions,” she says. “There might be a change from our attorneys, who are in Gainesville. Yet the finance folks could be looking at a previous version. It was very hard to make sure everyone was on the same page, so to speak, and it was incredibly time-consuming. Reconciling all the changes and gaining final approval could drag on and on.”

Discovering a better solutionThe Contracts Administration department began its search for a more streamlined, productive electronic solution in October, 2003. They purchased the PaperTracer Software and two KODAK i30 Scanners in July 2004, following an exhaustive research and review process. The new system went live in January, 2005. “Almost all the software products we looked at wanted us to adapt to the way that they were designed to work,” Monseratt recalls. “We learned that to create a new database—or significantly alter templates—we would have to contact the company and give them the time to write the changes we needed. With HAMi and PaperTracer, they adapted to the way we needed to do business. With a brief training session, HAMi showed me how to create departments and I designed the templates myself. Because the templates are dynamic, I can create a new database or alter an existing one in minutes. Instead of making us fit our square peg into their round hole, they allowed us to create a variety and many variations of square pegs which provide the flexibility we want.”

At the front end of the system are two KODAK i30 Scanners, recommended by Michael Tarpley, CEO of HAMi Software Development. HAMi works with Kodak as an Independent Software Vendor. “Michael suggested the Kodak Scanners and we’ve been delighted with them,” says Monseratt. “We also have an older highervolume scanner from another manufacturer which is very, very large. The Kodak Scanners sit right on our desktops and work directly with our PaperTracer Software and PCs. They’re very compact, seem highly reliable, and more than fast enough for our use.”
Empowered to create a better way of doing businessToday, Monseratt claims the difference between the “old days” of paper and the new system is remarkable. “Someone will stop in with a contract and I’ll put it in the Kodak Scanner and hand it back to them in an instant,” she says. “No more running to the copy room or faxing, everything is done electronically from my desktop. The many managers appreciate the increased efficiency—having contracts at their fingertips available in the HAMi system—and the much quicker turnover for the review and approval process. Now, rather than manually sending contracts for review, the PaperTracer Software electronically routes to all concerned parties with an e-mail notification and link to the file.” Within the program is a comment and review module, designed by Shands, where those reviewing are always in the loop. Now, everyone is really on the same page!
Monseratt has established various, differing databases for several departments within Shands. “Each area collects different data, and the beauty of the PaperTracer Software is that it’s so easily customizable,” she notes. “It also allows us to restrict and allow access to our databases, too. We can easily establish levels of security and close off some databases.”
Her department has even streamlined their information universe by creating a database for closed files and supplying a reference database with example templates and forms, a user’s manual, articles on contract negotiation, checklists of mandatory items, and other useful background material.
“One of the things I love is that there is no waiting for our IT department or a vendor,” Monseratt says. “I’m the administrator and we do all the programming here. I actually showed our IT manager how easy it was to set up a database and she was using it within a short time to store IT contracts. Having this autonomy is completely empowering and it takes a burden off our IT people, while allowing us to achieve much greater productivity.”
“When you combine the Kodak Scanners and PaperTracer Software, we’ve eliminated so much paper, inefficiency, and wasted time. I am extremely happy with the combined solution of HAMi and Kodak Products in our contract management process. I would never want to return to the old way of doing things.”
Monseratt hopes all the research she did before arriving at this solution will help others in similar roles working with contract administration and management. “While I wish that someone had done this before me and I could have benefited from their knowledge, I know that this is a wonderful answer. I’m always happy to recommend the KODAK i30 Scanners and PaperTracer Software as a life- and work-changing experience with amazingly positive benefits.”

Drowning Under Paper…

How recruitment consultancy Spring Personnel slashed paperwork by 90% using Fujitsu desktop scanner, ScanSnap!

Spring Personnel is one of the UK’s leading recruitment and workforce management companies. They are part of the Spring Group who have more than 1,200 employees across 53 locations in the UK, Netherlands and Germany and who place over 4,000 individuals in permanent positions per year and has over 7,500 contract and temporary professionals working for its clients every day.
Getting to the source of the problem
Staff at Spring Personnel’s Chiswick branch deal with hundreds of CVs, job descriptions, memos, timesheets, business cards and invoices per week. As one of the leading recruitment companies in the area, Spring Personnel has more than 400 clients and 150 candidates locally on its books at any one time. It needed to find a way of simplifying and speeding up its administration process so that its consultants could concentrate on its core business of matching employees to employers.
Lucy Taylor, Branch Co-ordinator at Spring Personnel, explains: “The recruitment industry is notorious for its high level of administration. Every day we receive a huge amount of information from a variety of different sources - clients, candidates and suppliers. All this needs to be filed away, so the whole team can find information easily. Then, at the end of the week, we have to fax or post timesheets to all of our candidates, so that we can arrange invoicing and payment.”
Spring Personnel decided to re-vamp their system, so that CVs, job descriptions and other documents could be stored on the network.
Lucy continues: “We needed to find a scanner that would quickly and easily convert paper-based documents into electronic files. Most of our desks have a PC, printers and a stack of filing trays, so we needed a solution that wouldn’t take up too much space. We also have a steady stream of clients and candidates visiting the office, so our environment has to be smart.”
Instant results
Installing the scanner took just a few minutes – and the benefits of using the device were visible almost as quickly.
Lucy said: “The Fujitsu ScanSnap! really changed our lives – at least our working lives! At a rough estimate, I’d say that it has managed to cut down the level of paper filed in the office by 90 per cent. Instead of spending hours sorting through documents and then filing the information or passing it to colleagues to deal with, we can scan documents into PDF format and store them into on our central system within seconds.
“At the end of the week, instead of faxing out timesheets to all our candidates – or worse still, posting them, now we simply email them. This is so much quicker and it means we have a record of our activity too, which can come in very useful if there are any queries.”
One of the key criteria in selecting a desktop scanner was the inclusion of a duplex function.
Lucy continued: “The majority of documents we deal with are double sided, such as contracts that have terms and conditions on the reverse, or business cards. Before we got an electronic system – we would have to painstakingly type contact details from business cards onto a central database. Now we can easily scan them in and save them on the system so that all staff in the office can easily find the information.”
Lucy concludes: “I highly recommend Fujitsu’s ScanSnap! – it’s slashed our admin time, speeded up processes, is easy to use and very compact. Put simply, we don’t feel as if we’re drowning in paper any more – not bad for a couple of seconds a day."

Columbus State University improves security, strengthens productivity and enhances student satisfaction with new printer.

Challenge
Students know that handing in work on time is important. That timeliness is important in other
areas of college life as well. That’s why waiting two or three days for ID card support was the
straw that broke the back of Rick Cravens, Director of Campus Recreation at Columbus State
University in Columbus, Georgia. Cravens, who is responsible for issuing ID cards to the 7,500
students on campus, was also the person who set up the ID card program at the university
several years ago. He knew it was time for a change.
Columbus State University is a comprehensive university offering strong academic programs, a
diverse and dynamic student body, a committed and dedicated faculty and staff, a beautiful
landscaped campus, a variety of athletic and student activity programs, and an exceptional level
of community support. It needed a more responsive ID card program.
The use of ID cards has evolved naturally at the university. “We have used ID cards in the library
the longest,” said Cravens. “Computer labs came next about five or six years ago, followed by the
fitness center. It has been a natural progression.”
As most of Columbus’ students live off campus, administrators were first concerned with
controlling access. “There has to be a way to regulate who can go where,” said Cravens. “This
has become more important in the last four or five years. It’s easier to identify and control people
with ID cards.”

Solution Found
In 2005, Cravens upgraded to a Fargo DTC400e Direct-to-Card Printer/Encoder at the suggestion
of Gary Levinsohn of ID Services, Inc., a Columbus-based Fargo solutions provider. Cravens’
primary reason was to improve responsiveness, but he soon found added benefits, including
ease of use and a high quality product. Direct-to-Card technology uses dye-sublimation printing,
which applies heat to a dye-based ribbon that is divided into four main colors. During printing, a
printhead passes over the ribbon, heating the dyes on the ribbon, which then applies colors to a
blank card. By combining colors and varying the heat, the printer can produce up to 16.7 million
colors.
Today, student ID cards are issued from the student center. Administrators print cards directly
from the student enrollment database, eliminating the possibility of error and making changes
easy. Using Asure ID Exchange badge design and database software, those printing the cards just
have to add a photo. To prevent someone from printing a card from a non-enrolled student, the
software prints a large “NO” across the front of the screen if the correct data isn’t found. To add
another layer of security, Cravens recently moved the printing station from an open counter to a
closed room and had an access window cut into the wall.
“Fargo printers, specifically the DTC400 series, are extremely easy to use,” said Levinsohn. “That’s
an important factor, because Columbus State University has several different students who work
in the student center during the course of a week, and there is always turnover. Training students
on the Fargo printer has been easy.”
While Cravens’ staff prints student ID cards, Human Resources’ personnel print those for faculty
and staff. “We used to print them all,” said Cravens, who admits to wearing a number of hats at
the university, “but it became difficult to maintain two databases, so Human Resources took over
the faculty and staff ID cards.” Human Resources also chose a Fargo DTC400 printer and Asure
ID software for its ID system.
In addition to cards for students, faculty and staff, Columbus State University issues a number
of different ID cards. Students in the teaching program have their own ID card for access into
elementary schools. The nursing program also provides separate ID cards so nurses can practice
at different hospitals. “We print seven or eight different IDs from our machine,” said Cravens,”
including some for the university police and retirees.”
In 2005, Columbus State University also initiated a debit card program for students, collaborating
with Higher One, which provides refund management services to colleges and universities. Debit
cards not only provide a student benefit, but they also can help universities reduce administrative
costs and simplify business processes.

Results
The reaction of students to the debit cards has been “very, very, very, very good,” said Cravens.
“I was kind of surprised, because many of the students and staff have never had a debit card
before. It has been a learning and growing experience for them. They can use the card on and off
campus. It was a good change for us.” Students who lose their cards can go online and request
a new card from Higher One. Because this takes about a week, students can have the university
print a temporary card, which is good for two weeks while the bank creates a new debit card.
Many colleges struggle with the issue of how much technology to include in an ID card. With
dramatic advancements in ID card technology, there are many options today, and administrators
are wise to look into the future as they consider their ID card program. ID cards on the Columbus
State University campus today just use a bar code, but Cravens said he plans to add a magnetic
stripe in the next couple of years. “The printer has that capability,” he said, “so we don’t need to
upgrade. That’s one of the reasons we selected the Fargo DTC400. We also may add card access
to dorms, vending machines and copy machines on campus.”
ID Services, Inc. has a yearly consulting plan with Columbus State University, which involves
Levinsohn in decisions early in the process. Not only does this save the college a full-time
employee, but it also anticipates issues before they become problems. “I work closely with
Rick to make sure he is up to date on new technology and made aware of any potential security
problems with ID card issuance,” said Levinsohn. Prime examples include the upgrade in printers
and software, as well as moving the ID desk to an enclosed secure space. The best part is that
instead of waiting two or three days for ID card support, Cravens can count on Levinsohn to be
there within hours, if needed.
Schools today are finding a wide variety of options to keep students and faculty safe, and in the
process, they are enhancing convenience, efficiency and productivity. Columbus State University
is no different. Here, every student receives an ID card that he or she can use to access a variety
of amenities, including the fitness center, library, cafeteria, athletic events and computer labs.
The housing administrators also use ID cards for dorm access and meal plans.
Experts in school safety have long known that a photo ID program is a proven tool in maintaining
security. Administrators such as Cravens know that it also helps to strengthen a school’s
productivity and student satisfaction.