August, 1996 Healthcare document management and workflow The solutions are here By Bryan Foertsch, Founder and Managing Principal The Omni Group After we produced our last white paper on automated data capture, we received many calls asking us for healthcare-related solutions. As we researched the market, we discovered two very interesting facts: 1. The healthcare community has invested billions in medical equipment and data processing systems, and--while healthcare has improved substantially as a result--the process of managing the business of healthcare has not kept up with the demands that are being placed upon its systems. 2. There exists a substantial number of mature, highly robust solutions addressing everything from patient accounting to on-demand X-ray viewing systems. We are pleased to present the industry's finest solution providers focused upon healthcare applications. Each of these companies was carefully chosen to bring a different perspective to solving today's document management and workflow problems. The challenge for today's healthcare management is to provide a continuing higher level of service, while reducing the cost of providing that service. The skyrocketing costs in the past have placed an incredible burden on the industry, which is now being required to do more with less. One of the organizations we spoke to during our research stated that their budgets were being slashed by up to 25%, while their patient load was increasing. This dilemma is causing them to rethink how they perform every task, process by process. In such a personnel-intensive and highly professional industry, downsizing (while it may temporarily reduce cost burdens) increases the burden in the long run. Therefore, the only real solution in bringing down these costs is to operate more efficiently. While cost efficiency is important, we cannot lose sight of the need to serve the customer extremely well. Healthcare has become a very competitive field--the organization which provides the best customer service builds the most loyal customers and grows its business. The solutions described in this paper provide a road map to providing better customer service. Quick access to historical information has always been an issue, but it is of greater importance than ever before. With the types of imaging and workflow solutions our sponsors are describing, an entire new level of customer service can be developed and provided. Whether you are in the business office, the physician's office or the operating room, access to timely and accurate information is essential to performing the job at top efficiency. Imaging and workflow technologies have been employed throughout the business community, with thousands of highly productive solutions. These same technologies have been expanded and customized to meet the demanding needs of healthcare: They scan documents, reports and other items such as X-rays; they store them in appropriate and accessible medium. They automatically read pertinent data from complex forms, and route data and image to the individual(s) who must take action or need access the information in a timely manner. When so many individuals are involved in assuring excellent care for the patient, it is easy to misplace paper documents or film. These systems are designed to keep track of all parts of the healthcare record, and make it available to many individuals simultaneously. In this paper, you will find 13 of the finest companies in the industry which have focused their resources upon solving the problems in healthcare document processing. Each brings a different and distinct capability to the industry. Several focus on the input side of the equation and some on the workflow process. Others combine several technologies to bring a specific solution to bear. We have asked each sponsor of this paper to focus on an educational perspective, providing information on a specific problem that they are in the business to solve. In our view, they have all done an excellent job. My personal thanks to all of the sponsors for their time and effort in creating such interesting papers. To the reader: I hope you find this paper provides valuable information to assist you in running your business. Bryan Foertsch is the founder and managing principal of The Omni Group. He has held several top level management positions including president & CEO of SDIS, and VP at GE, Octel Communications and AshtonTate. The Omni Group is a management consulting organization that provides industry information to the user community, and strategic management direction in mergers and acquisitions. The Omni Group can be reached at 408-395-5751, or e-mail, bryanf007@ aol.com
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