How Can Scanning Medical Records Improve Efficiency In Providing Healthcare?

July 27, 2021 | 6:37 am
Written by: Brandon Harris

Digitization is a global trend that encompasses all the major industries. So it’s not surprising that the need to digitize has become an important goal for medical facilities as well.

But while many of the benefits of medical document scanning and digitization are associated with improved processes, reduced costs, and overall efficiency, they can also significantly impact the level of health care that the hospital can provide for its patients. 

In this article, let’s explore the relationship between medical records scanning and improved patient care. We’ll also look at why it makes sense to hire professional medical record scanning services that can make the transition less disruptive and more effective.

More Information

A big part of treating a patient is knowing as much as possible about their medical history. But no matter how seemingly efficient a paper medical record system might be, it simply can’t compare to the possibilities offered by digital records. 

Electronic medical records can be a vital tool for tracking chronic diseases, seeing how various health tests reflect a person’s health over time, and ensuring that the doctor has every bit of information they might need to provide the best care possible to each patient.

With an electronic system, it’s possible to set up alerts for both the doctor and the patient, informing them of important dates and regular check-up needs, reducing manual work, and ensuring that patients don’t slip through the cracks.

What’s more, having a convenient way to look at data at scale enables health facilities to gain insights into the overall health of patients in various groups. This can be incredibly helpful for medical research, providing possibilities for improving treatment options and preventing various illnesses before they can develop.

Better Efficiency

Dealing with patients takes time. But unfortunately, many medical professionals end up spending most of the time filing documents instead of actually helping the patient. And that can result in worse outcomes for people who need help.

But if you use medical record scanning services, you can streamline and automate various processes involved with data entry, implementing a simpler process for compiling patient histories that takes much less time.

By being able to quickly type in information and access the entire patient history with just a few clicks, the medical professional is equipped to get to know the patient’s situation on a deeper level and consider all critical aspects in any situation. 

Because of that, the overall quality of the decisions being made is improved, which can result in significantly better outcomes for patients over the long term.

Data Security

Patient data is highly sensitive and needs to be protected at all costs. But no matter how well your paper medical record system might be working, it can never match the security and risk mitigation potential of digital records.

If you use reputable medical record scanning services, they can provide you not only with a process for digitization but also with state-of-the-art document management and security solutions, which will prevent documents from getting lost or misplaced.

When everything is in a single digital database, it’s much easier to control who has access, and there’s virtually no chance of documents getting lost. What’s more, because you can utilize modern security features, the risk of sensitive data falling into the wrong hands is minimized as well.

Reduce Costs

Finally, when you embrace medical records scanning, you can end up saving a lot of money by reducing overhead costs and simplifying the processes for managing a large paper document storage facility.

Sure, the initial investment into medical document scanning can be daunting, but if you choose a reputable provider, they can provide you with a reduced bulk scanning rate that makes it more affordable. And once the scanning process is done, you can go digital and reap significant savings that will carry over for as long as the medical facility is open. 

The storage in itself can account for significant savings, allowing you to repurpose current facilities and expand the type of care you can provide for patients and staff.

Why You Should Hire a Professional Medical Records Scanning Company

At this point, it should be clear that embracing digital records practices is the right choice for almost any medical facility. But for the process to be easy, painless, and effective, you need to find the right scanning services provider that knows the common challenges that are likely to arise and can deal with them effectively.

When you find a provider that has dealt with medical records scanning before, they can help you stay compliant with HIPAA and provide you with the best Electronic Medical Record (EMR) or Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems that will help make the transition easy and convenient for your staff.

11 Benefits of Digitizing Your Documents, Especially During the Remote Work Era

June 24, 2021 | 3:25 pm
Written by: Brandon Harris

In 2020, many business owners realized they could remain productive while allowing employees to work from home, which in turn increased employee satisfaction, mental health, and work-life balance.

For some, this was an easy transition but for others, it was trickier. Some industries had to outfit their employees’ home offices with expensive technology and supplies, while some others just had to ensure their employees had a laptop and a stable internet connection.

This seems to be the way of the future, so for many business owners, it’s time to think about how to make this a productive, long-term situation, rather than a quick fix that was born out of necessity. One way to make remote work easier for employees and managers alike is by digitizing important company documents.

Here are 11 reasons why going digital with your business documents is best for you, your employees, the environment, and honestly, for your documents as well.

 

1. It’s Easy To Do

No matter how large or small your business may be, the idea of taking all of your business documents and creating a digital copy of them can seem daunting at best. Luckily, you can enlist the help of a document scanning service to do the work for you.

Place your precious documents under the care of practiced experts who will treat your documents with the care and respect they deserve. Best of all, if you have items that can’t leave your premises, we have experts who can come to you. Precision, security, and integrity remain our priorities whether we’re operating in our space or yours.

 

2. It’s Digitally Secure

When you hire a document scanning company, research how safe and encrypted your information will be in their hands. Considering anything from technical manuals to large format blueprints can be digitized, it’s important to know that your information will be secure.

Not only does the cloud storage need to be kept encrypted, but the physical premises should be secure as well, with adequate surveillance and alarm systems.

 

3. It’s Physically Secure

Beyond being safe from uninvited eyes, having a digital backup of your documents is secure in other ways. By digitizing, you literally have a backup copy of anything you need. If something unfortunate were to happen at your physical location and you suddenly lost your database of microfilm, treasured photos, or even books and newspapers, you’d be grateful you had the foresight to create a digital backup in case of emergencies.

 

4. It Keeps Everyone Organized

While most or all of your employees are working remotely, gone are the days where one can just walk to the file cabinet to check for something. Having a digital database where employees can find what they need will make working from home far easier for them.

Additionally, if everything is stored digitally, you no longer have to worry about someone returning a document to the wrong place, or worse, not returning it at all.

 

5. It Makes Sharing Easier

For businesses that require a lot of sharing of information, digitizing your database will make life much easier. If you can cut out the need for a courier or a messenger and can share information with the click of a button, you’ll save money and your productivity will benefit greatly.

Not only can a business lose precious time in transport, but information can also be damaged or even compromised on the way to its destination. With digital versions of your documents, your recipient gets instant access to uncompromised information.

 

6. It May Open Up More Opportunities For Remote Work

If your business has yet to transition to remote work because it’s too important for employees to be close to the information they’re using, going digital may be the answer you and your employees are looking for.

Any information such as books, movies, magazines, microfiche, and plain old papers can be digitized. While remote work may not be for everyone, giving your employees the option to work from home safely, securely, and efficiently shows that you care about them and value their preferences.

 

7. It Saves You Money

Imagine a disc, and then imagine a file cabinet. A simple CD or DVD can hold the same amount of information as dozens of file cabinets. By digitizing your documents, you can save incredible amounts of valuable space. Saving space can also save you money if you currently own or are renting a property to hold these documents.

As remote work becomes the new way of life, companies will no longer need to house all of their information in an office building. Instead, the information can live on a server, a disc, or in a cloud while the business owner sells off the property and maybe even the file cabinets for a profit.

 

8. It’s Searchable

This benefit applies regardless of whether your employees are working remotely or working in the office. It’s far easier to search through digital documents than it is to search through books, old magazines, or a pile of large-format maps. This is another productivity booster, as employees will no longer need to spend hours rifling through old papers when they can simply perform a keyword search on your cloud server.

 

9. It’s Safe From Deterioration

Your company may have documents that just won’t stand the test of time. Over time, film degrades, newspapers fade and the handwriting on documents seems to disappear. By digitizing these items, you’re essentially freezing them in time.

Once they’re digitally preserved, they can be reviewed and enjoyed by generations to come. If your company has documents in its possession that could be considered antiques at this point, making a digital copy is of paramount importance. If the documents are lost to time, that important, historical information is lost as well.

 

10. It’s Environmentally Friendly

Once a company has used a document scanning service, they’re more likely to continue the digital trend moving forward. This, in turn, benefits the environment as you’re less likely to be using paper and other resources. Using copious amounts of paper is no favor to the environment, so by going digital you are greatly reducing your company’s carbon footprint. As a bonus, you’ll be saving money while you save trees!

 

11. It Keeps Everyone Happy

Remote work can have its ups and downs. One of the downsides of working from home is not having all of the resources at your fingertips that you might have at the office. On the other hand, working remotely can be difficult for leaders and managers, as they have to supply such information.

By digitizing your information, your employees benefit from access to whatever they need without having to go through various channels. This keeps employees more productive, and it even keeps managers and information keepers more productive too, as they no longer have to stop what they’re doing to track something down.ing of information, digitizing your database will make life much easier. If you can cut out the need for a courier or a messenger and can share information with the click of a button, you’ll save 

The new normal of remote work has required a lot of adaptation and compromise by companies and employees alike. Considering how important employee retention is to a company, it’s in the company’s best interest to work remotely as easily and as comfortably as possible.

By enlisting the expertise of a document scanning company, you’re allowing resources to be more easily accessed so your employees can do the best work possible.

The Role of Enterprise Document Scanning in Digital Transformation

February 16, 2021 | 5:01 am
Written by: Brandon Harris

Digital transformation is one of the hottest buzzwords in the business world today. And with the powerful benefits, it can offer, that’s not surprising.

With the help of digital transformation, companies can enjoy a massive boost in productivity, increased security, more convenience for their employees, and automation of processes that would eat up a lot of the team’s time.

And a key part of any successful digital transformation is going paperless. Storing and managing paper documents is no longer viable for mid-sized and enterprise companies in the 21st century, as the sheer amount of paper all but guarantees that the process would be highly inefficient.

But what is the exact role of document conversion services in digital transformation for enterprises? And why is it important?

Let’s explore below.

Document Storage Helps Reduce Costs

One of the most convincing arguments for switching to a digital enterprise document management system is the ability to reduce the need for storage and everything that comes with it.

Digital transformation has a lot to do with streamlining processes and figuring out more effective ways to do things. Having thousands upon thousands of documents sitting in a storage room or entire wing of your office just doesn’t align with the philosophy.

The cost of maintaining the storage facilities is simply too high and is kind of a bottomless sinkhole that keeps sucking resources month after month.

Meanwhile, once you use document conversion services and get your documents digitized, you can switch to a digital system, where your employees can instantly retrieve any document they need from any device they might be using.

Digital Documents Are More Secure

One of the biggest advantages of a digital transformation is having more control over how sensitive information and vital documents are accessed, shared, or edited.

It provides many options for tracking who accesses the documents, how they are handled, and how they are edited. This minimizes the chances of records getting lost or misplaced, especially if you use a robust enterprise document management system.

What’s more, digital documents are much harder to get to by unauthorized parties. Today’s document management solutions come with advanced security features that make gaining access without proper authorization a difficult challenge.

Going Paperless is Essential for Employee Productivity

Finally, the reason why document scanning goes hand in hand with digital transformation is that having the documents in a digital form is essential for implementing other parts of the transformation process.

If you want your team to collaborate more using modern digital tools, you need them to have access to vital documents they use every day.

And as you can imagine, having to continually scan and print documents is not a viable solution.

By digitizing your records, you will provide your team with the tools they need to accomplish tasks quicker, better, and more confidently.

Sure, document scanning at the enterprise level is a big commitment, but the benefits you can reap from it are hard to ignore, even more so because a digital transformation wouldn’t even be possible without it.

How to Get Started with Document Management and Scanning?

January 26, 2021 | 4:45 am
Written by: Michael Harris

Going paperless is one of the biggest trends in today’s business world. Fueled by the need for companies to become more environmentally conscious, it’s the logical next step in reducing the carbon footprint and becoming more eco-friendly.

However, when you’ve used paper documents for decades, making the switch isn’t easy.

Scanning the documents is one thing, but you also have to figure out how to set up an effective document management system for all of the digital records.

You will also need to determine if you’ll take on the project yourself or whether it makes more sense to outsource the process to a bulk document scanning services provider.

With that in mind, let’s look at some of the most important aspects of the entire process.

Figure Out the Scope of the Project

Before you take on the task of digitizing your documents, you will need to figure out exactly what you’ll need to scan. Doing an inventory of your current document storage will help you get a better idea of how big the project might be and how to best approach it.

For instance, if you don’t have a large document storage facility, you might be able to get by with doing the scanning yourself. However, most offices have thousands upon thousands of documents, taking the time and effort required not worth the investment in equipment and labour. Therefore, hiring a professional document scanning company is usually the best option.

Choose the Right Scanning Company

Now that we’ve determined that opting for professional services is the smart choice, we need to look at how to choose the right bulk document scanning services provider for your needs.

For one thing, there are many companies that offer scanning services, but not all of them are suitable for the needs of every business.

You’ll want to find a company with the right equipment, the human resources, and the expertise to handle large scanning projects quickly and effectively. While there are many companies that scan standard paper documents, not all companies have the equipment to scan other document formats such as blueprints, maps, microfilm, microfiche, photographs, etc. 

Security is also an important factor to consider. Make sure the company you choose has security measures and procedures in place to effectively handle sensitive materials according to applicable regulations. For example, medical records need to be processed and handled in a manner that is HIPAA compliant.

You might even want to consider a provider that can perform the entire scan on-site, bringing their own equipment, and minimizing the disruption to your day-to-day operations.

Consult About the Best Document Management System

One of the biggest perks of hiring a professional document scanning company is the know-how they can bring to the table.

Instead of having to figure everything out on your own, you can rely on their guidance to ensure that the process goes smoothly and that the digital documents are more convenient than the old way of using paper.

For instance, your large format scanning service might be able to help you pick the best document management solution for your needs. 

What’s more, they can also help you set everything up, offering an effective system for tagging and sorting the documents so that your employees can access them in a few seconds.

One of the biggest advantages of going digital is having the opportunity to retrieve any document in seconds, so make sure you choose a solution that can allow you to take advantage of what today’s technology can offer.

3 Important Aspects to Consider Before Choosing a Document Management Solution

August 29, 2019 | 10:49 am
Written by: Michael Harris

Almost every office is full of files and folders that demand maintenance on daily basis. Many companies are working to create a paperless working environment to reduce the hassle of managing massive amounts of paper files.   

A document management system is specialized software that manages, stores and tracks electronic documents throughout an organization. A good document management system will also feature document workflow software, which gives you the ability to automate tasks and manual processes. Tasks in a workflow may include approvals, onboarding, distributing documents or forms, adding information or transferring data.

If you are looking for ways to introduce a paperless culture in your office, then here are three things you need to consider before choosing a document management solution:

Integration of Document Management Solution

If you want your productivity levels to increase and your ROI to be strong, then you should invest in a document management system, which is integrated with an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP).

Here you need to understand that there are different types of integrations available. The most common one is the synchronization of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and document management solutions. This way, you can easily view documents and index them using the application.

If you want to streamline the process, do not install a system that requires you to do indexing manually. This kind of software does not provide you the option to digitize documents beforehand.

Three important things that you need to consider are:

  • Is it actually helping you in streamlining the process? (Most software only let you file your documents after the procedure is complete)
  • Will you be able to index the documents automatically so that you can retrieve then in the future?
  • Will you be able to easily and quickly access your documents?

Scalability

The document management solution proves to be beneficial in the long run only if it is scalable and extensible. It is important that the system that you choose grows with your organization. This growth is not only related to document management but also to the number of users your system can support.

A good document management solution allows you to buy the functionality that you need at the moment and to expand it later when your usage of software increases.

 Specifications of the Software

The last and most important step is to know everything that you need for document management solution. Here are a few things to check before you invest in a document management solution:

  • Your DMS must be able to recognize all file formats
  • Your DMS should automatically recognize Metadata
  • Your DMS can easily link all business processes to your records

In all 3 cases, you need to determine which documents need to be saved and which need to be archived. A good document management solution will provide immediate access to data and improve overall efficiency of your company.

3 Essential Things to Keep in Mind Before Choosing a Document Scanning Service

February 18, 2019 | 8:25 am
Written by: Michael Harris

When you’re in a hurry, it’s only natural to pick the first option that shows up. This is true even when you’re looking for professional document scanning solutions. Many people don’t understand the fine details and possible complications until they start working with one. By that time, they’ve already exposed themselves and could be at risk for trouble.

Don’t think that picking the right professional for document scanning services needs to be given much thought? Think again. To make your task easier, we’re listing down some of the most essential things you need to keep in mind before you choose a document scanning company.

1. Privacy Concerns

Always make sure that the professionals you are working with respect your privacy and confidentiality concerns. This is especially important when you’re getting documents with sensitive information scanned. These can include official records, employee records and even consumer data. Theft, misplacement and accidental vandalization of the document could cause you a huge loss.

Make sure that the document scanning service you are working with not only understands your privacy concerns but also has measures in place to only give access to authorized users. If unauthorized parties get private information, or if that information is lost, it could mean serious legal problems and fees for your business. The good news here is that reputable scanning service providers understand this aspect and also limit access to sensitive information.  

Be sure to find out what security policies the document scanning company you are considering has in place. Features to look out for include video surveillance, traceable keycards for employees and sign-in sheets for visitors, employee background checks, compliance certifications and valuable records insurance coverage to name a few.

2. Scanning Technology Available

Different types of document formats may require various specialized scanning equipment. Pages up to 11” x 17” can be scanned on high speed paper scanners, but blueprints or engineering drawings larger than that need to be scanned on large format or wide body scanners. Microfilm scanning requires a microfilm scanner, photo scanning requires a photo scanner, aperture card scanning requires an aperture card scanner, etc.

If you have various types of document formats, you’ll want to choose a document scanning company that has the necessary equipment and experience to suit all of your digital conversion needs. Having one company perform the scanning of your entire project as opposed to 2 or 3 will be much more convenient and will generally result in better consistency and integration with your document management system.

3.  Reputation and Capabilities

When getting document scanning solutions, another thing you need to consider is the overall capability of those professionals. When looking for document scanning solutions, it’s recommended to choose a vendor with a good reputation and capabilities to meet your project’s needs. Past experience is generally a good indicator of future performance. If you have 500 boxes of financial records, for example, make sure the document scanning company you choose has successfully completed similarly sized projects for organizations within your industry, and in accordance with regulatory compliance. Checking references and testimonials is always a good practice.

Another good way to gauge a company’s capabilities is to have them do a scanning sample for you. Be sure to check the scanned images for legibility and clarity. Also, make sure the folder structure and indexing requirements are correct. If you plan on using the files in an electronic document management system, ensure that the images and index data are formatted correctly for compatibility within your system.

Paying attention to the above points could mean the difference between a successful conversion or a disaster when it comes to outsourcing document scanning services.

Best Practices for Confidential Document Shredding and Secure Disposal

October 23, 2018 | 9:41 am
Written by: Michael Harris

While destroying documents that are no longer needed may not seem like the most pressing issue for a business, serious repercussions await if it isn’t given the attention that it needs. Without a reliable process for destroying documents, your business is all but guaranteed to become over cluttered with old records, which can disrupt the day-to-day workflow.

What’s more, not having a process for getting rid of documents that contain sensitive information can leave your company in danger of running into legal problems or losing critical information to the competitors.

So, what can you do to make sure that your document shredding process is up to par with the best practices in the industry?

Well, to get you started, here are a few things that you can implement.

Have a Clear Process

The process of document shredding may seem pretty straightforward – you just shred the documents that are no longer needed and dispose of the pieces of paper, right?

Well, in practice it’s a bit more complicated than that.

When you have to deal with hundreds or even thousands of documents on a regular basis, you need an established system for ensuring that all the materials that need to be destroyed go through the shredder and not one piece of sensitive data gets lost.

You should establish a regular shredding schedule and should strongly consider implementing a shred-all policy which ensures that every document that’s no longer in use get destroyed.

Make Sure You Do it Securely

Security is a major concern when shredding documents – while the main goal is disposing of the excess paper documents, you still need to ensure that the information contained in those documents doesn’t fall in the wrong hands.

Once the documents are shredded, they must be disposed of in a way that ensures that no documents (or even pieces of documents) will fall in the wrong hands.

Today, simply throwing the paper pieces in the recycling bin is not enough, so to guarantee that the documents are not used for ill purposes, you should know exactly where the disposed of documents go when they leave your facility.

Find a Professional Shredding Services Provider

As you’ve probably gathered, document shredding is much more complicated than it may seem initially, so if you want to be sure that your document shredding goes smoothly, it’s a good idea to find someone who specializes in document management.

Hiring a document shredding services provider can help you get ahead of any potential issues and develop a document shredding process that’s secure as well as efficient.

A competent and experienced document shredding services provider will not only be able to ensure that your shredded documents are handled with care, but can help you establish more eco-friendly practices that minimize the waste that your office produces.

And if you find a document scanning company that can take over your document management, they can also help you digitize the documents that you want to preserve and help you reduce your storage needs, developing a more efficient strategy for handling your records in the process.

Electronic Document Management Overview

September 21, 2017 | 9:51 am
Written by: Michael Harris

Introduction

Organizations of all sizes and industries can benefit from the backfile conversion of paper documents to digital documents. Whether you choose to scan documents in house or outsource to a company specializing in document scanning services, your organization will see positive results. By utilizing an electronic document management system (EDMS), you can expect to save time, money, and space. Scanning documents also offers improved security, data protection and industry compliance.

Employees typically spend 20% – 40% of their time manually searching for paper documents. This equates to thousands of dollars lost each year due to poor document management and search-ability. It also represents countless hours of lost productivity and valuable time not being spent on more important tasks. While this may be a troubling statistic, your company doesn’t have to succumb to it. 

By scanning documents and taking advantage of EDMS, you can expect your organization to run more efficiently. In turn, this offers you the ability to increase profit margins, boost productivity, improve customer service, become compliant, and save time & money. 

Throughout this article we will cover the following topics:

  • What is electronic document management?
  • Benefits of utilizing an electronic document management system
  • The document scanning process and steps involved in a high volume scanning project.
  • Industries and departments that benefit from document scanning and EDMS
  • Should you scan documents in-house or outsource to a scanning service bureau?
  • What to look for in a document scanning service company
  • How can Smooth Solutions, Inc. help your organization?

What is Electronic Document Management? 

Referring to both paper and electronic documents, document management encompasses the policies that dictate how documents are created, stored, shared, and discarded throughout a business. Systematically, this refers to a software used to store, manage, and track electronic documents.  

Electronic Document Management Systems (EDMS) refer to actual integrated software programs that allow you to implement policies with regards to managing electronic documents. The primary function of an EDMS is to organize and manage electronic records and associated metadata. This results in easy retrieval, searching, distribution, reproduction, and more. 

Improper document management will cause your business or agency to waste valuable resources like time and money due to poor productivity. In fact, document related challenges account for a 21.3% decrease in productivity (IDC). If you have tons of paper documents – you may also be wasting valuable office space. 

Benefits of Electronic Document Management 

Regardless of the industry you are in, converting paper documents to digital format will have a positive impact on your company. Electronic documents award you easy access and the ability to search a plethora of documents quickly and efficiently. But, this is only the beginning!

Increased Productivity 

  • Immediate Document Retrieval: Scanned documents are typically indexed with relevant identifying information, or metadata. Entering this unique information into searchable fields enables particular documents to be located immediately. Common index fields include ID number, name, date, etc.  Electronic documents can also be scanned as fully searchable PDF files utilizing OCR (optical character recognition). Being able to search all available content through properly setup DMS can increase productivity by 30% (AIIM). 
  • More Time: Manual document retrieval can take up 20% – 40% of employees’ time. Scrapping file cabinets & folders and upgrading to an EDMS will reduce the amount of time employees spend manually searching for and retrieving documents. This frees up valuable time that can be better spent on more meaningful business operations. 
  • Better Organization: Scanned files can be organized in your EDMS in a way that makes the most sense for your company. Electronic documents don’t have to be removed and therefore risk being misfiled. 
  • Distribution: Creating paper copies takes time and costs money. On top of that, you still have to distribute the information. Electronic documents can be retrieved and sent to customers or colleagues via email in a matter of moments.

Better Use of Office Space

Document scanning can transform the way your office functions. The amount of space filing cabinets take up can be quite significant. To illustrate this, a single DVD can replace up to 30 filing cabinets worth of paper documents and information. And this is just a DVD. Imagine what using flash-drives, hard-drives & cloud storage can do!

  • Re-appropriate Space: After documents are scanned and indexed, they can either be shredded or stored off-site inexpensively. Idle space that formerly housed filing cabinets can be put to more valuable use. The addition of workstations, new equipment, a meeting room or additional staff equates to increased productivity and profits. 
  • Reduce Clutter: Removing physical documents also means removing countless storage areas like cabinets, bins, folders, etc. Frequently, offices don’t have every document in its intended space leading towards piles of paper or disorganized folders. Remove the paper – remove that problem!
  • Downsize: Real Estate is expensive to rent, especially in major cities. Paper intensive organizations can benefit from document scanning by reducing the amount of space needed to operate. Depending on how much space your paper documents take up, you may be able to move to a smaller office and reduce rental costs. In this scenario, the return on investment for outsourcing to a bulk document scanning service bureau can be seen in as little as 2 years.

Secure & Integrated Document Storage

  • Disaster Recovery: An organization’s records are the glue that holds it’s inner workings together. Paper documents can easily be misplaced, thrown out or even stolen. They can also be damaged or completely destroyed in the event of a disaster. How would your company be affected if all of it’s documentation and records were lost tomorrow because of a fire or flood in your building? Without a data protection plan in place it could be irreparable. Digital images can be backed up in multiple places such as hard drives, tape, remote servers or cloud. This way, day to day operations can continue smoothly after a disaster.
  • No Degradation: Paper documents will degrade over time whether they rip, wrinkle or fade – it will happen. Digital documents eliminate this problem entirely! 
  • Remote Access: 77% of business owners want to be able to access documents remotely (Intuit). Remote access allows for immediate viewing, distribution & sharing of documents from anywhere in the world. Never worry about forgetting important files at home or the office again! Efficiency can also be improved by 20% -25% by allowing employees remote access to company documents (AIIM).
  • Document Security: Regulatory compliance protocols determine which members of an organization are permitted access to certain information. Enforcing these practices in a paper world is extremely difficult. An EDMS provides the ability limit or grant access to sensitive information by assigning user roles or through password protection. In order to keep track of who, when and from where a particular file has been viewed or edited, an audit trail functionality can be put in place.

Industries That Benefit From Electronic Document Management 

Any industry the requires documentation can benefit from document scanning and management. Industries we have personally worked with include: 

  • Corporations
  • Educational Institutions
  • Federal Government
  • Financial Institutions
  • Historical Agencies
  • HR/Personnel Departments
  • Insurance Agencies
  • Law Firms & Legal Departments
  • Libraries & Museums
  • Local & State Government 
  • Media & Publishing Companies 
  • Medical Practices & Hospitals
  • Pharmaceutical Companies
  • Real Estate & Title Agencies 
  • Utility Companies 

The Document Scanning Process

While document scanning may seem like an easy process, there is a lot more than meets the eye. It is a very detail oriented process which requires a lot of planning, expertise & equipment to complete properly. Especially if you want it done quickly & want to do it right!

Below is an outline of best practices involved in a document scanning workflow.

Project Planning

Whether you plan to digitize and index documents yourself or use a document scanning service company – here are some essential questions that need be answered before getting started.

  • What is the organizational structure of the way your paper documents are currently filed?
  • Will you maintain this structure electronically or can it be improved?
  • Are files broken up into different sections or document types?
  • Should documents be indexed at the folder level, section level or page level?
  • Will documents need to be scanned in color, black & white or greyscale?
  • Do you have an Electronic Document Management System in place or do you need one?
  • What will you do with the physical paper documents after they are scanned?

Document Preparation

After a plan is in place, the next step is preparing the paper documents for going through a high speed scanner. This involves removing documents from their folders and carefully taking out staples, paperclips and other fasteners. Folded pages need to be unfolded and wrinkled pages flattened. Only straight, flat paper should be going through a high speed scanner. Anything else will cause jams or damage to the equipment and slow down the conversion process.

Over-sized or irregular pages or film should be taken out so those documents can be scanned on a specialized scanner. A placeholder sheet is to be inserted where the removed documents are taken out. This way they can be put back in their original place both digitally and physically.

The proper use of intelligent bar-coded separator sheets is what takes high volume document scanning to the next level of speed and efficiency. They are colored sheets of paper with two dimensional bar-codes printed on them, which are inserted as cover sheets for each individual document. This allows multiple documents to be neatly stacked and placed in the scanner.

Every time a separator sheet is scanned, the information contained in the bar-code tells the scanning software to perform a desired action. Bar-code sheets can be configured create a new folder, document or document type, which automatically sets up the folder structure. They can even be used to auto-index metadata for the documents, eliminating the need for manual data entry. 

Document Scanning

This is where the paper documents are converted to electronic files. Specialized equipment and software is required in order to handle the needs of a large back-file conversion. The scanner chosen must be versatile and able to meet the required specifications of the project including resolution, color, file format and the ability to feed documents of varying size and thickness. 

There are also certain functions of professional scanning software that can be used to automate additional processes such as automatic blank page deletion, auto-rotation and de-skewing. Dual Stream Scanning allows for pages to be scanned in both black & white and color simultaneously so the best image can be used for the final output. The scanning technician views each scanned image on the monitor to check for quality and consistency.

Quality Control

This step involves checking the scanned images to ensure perfection. 100% Quality Control means that each and every individual image is checked for overall quality and clarity. Poor quality or inconsistent images are flagged by the QC specialist. Flagged images are checked against the originals and re-scanned as necessary.  

If dual stream scanning was utilized then poor quality black and white images can be replace with color versions. Stray blank pages and separator sheets not automatically removed can be done so at this time as well. Of course, quality assurance procedures and policies should be in place for every step of the document conversion process.

Indexing

This is where the appropriate information is attached to the scanned documents as metadata so they can be retrieved and worked with. Data captured from the intelligent bar-code separator sheets is compiled and formatted. 

Additional index values are manually entered by data entry personnel for each folder, document set and/or document type. This step ensures your data is properly organized and therefore easily searchable.

Formatting & Processing

This is where everything finally gets tied together!

  • Images are cropped and rotated to the proper orientation
  • Electronic files are converted to the appropriate file type – PDF, TIFF, etc.
  • Bookmarks are created. Images and index data are linked and formatted
  • Images are OCR’d for fully searchable text
  • Folder and file structures are configured according to specifications
  • All information is formatted for proper import into the EDMS of choice.

Post-Production

This is where you choose what to do with the original physical documents after the digital conversion project is successfully complete. From here documents can be certifiably shredded or put into inexpensive off-site document storage. Your options will largely depend on your industry’s regulatory compliance policies with regards to document storage.

Should You Scan Documents In-house or Outsource?

Now that you’ve seen the document scanning process – the big question you need to ask is should you scan your documents yourself or should you hire a company to do it for you? 

The questions you need to ask yourself are:

  • Do you have only a couple of boxes to scan? Or do you have thousands or millions of pages to scan?
  • What kind of scanning equipment does your company have? Will you need to purchase or rent any equipment?
  • Do you have an employee(s) who can dedicate time to the scanning project without taking away from their regular work?
  • How much money will you spend labor to do the scanning in salary, benefits, and other overhead?
  • Do you have the time or resources to hire and train employees to perform the work efficiently in-house?
  • What is the time frame for completion of your document scanning project?
  • Will it be more cost effective to outsource to a document scanning service company?

Choose in-house scanning if:

  • There are only a small amount of documents to be converted to digital
  • The prepping, indexing and technical processing requirements are minimal
  • You have the staff or can easily hire and train staff to perform the work
  • You own the necessary equipment and software to scan the types of documents you have
  • Your office has the required space available for scanning workstations
  • There is no set deadline for completion of the document conversion project

Choose a document scanning service company if:

  • Thousands or millions of pages need to be scanned for a large backfile conversion project
  • You have minimal scanning equipment and/or limited man power
  • There is no available key staff member who is well versed in the information presented above that can oversee the project.
  • The prepping, indexing and technical requirements are intermediate to complex
  • Taking on a document conversion project would hinder the day to day operations of your department
  • The transition to a paperless office needs to be complete within a certain time frame. 

Conclusion

High volume document scanning is a very meticulous, time consuming and labor intensive process. Digitizing a small quantity of documents and day forward scanning might make sense for some organizations to perform themselves. However, the aforementioned steps involved often prove to be overwhelming for most.

When you consider the staffing, equipment, time, space and learning curve needed to successfully transition to a paperless office, outsourcing to a professional scanning company is the best choice for most organizations. Outsourcing to an experienced service bureau is less stressful, more convenient, quicker and results in a more efficient, higher quality digital conversion with significantly less errors. 9 times out of 10, the overall cost to outsource to a competent document imaging company is significantly less than what it would cost to perform the project in-house.  

What To Look For In A Document Scanning Company

When choosing a company that provides high volume scanning services, there are a number of things to consider. 

Reputation

How long has document scanning company been in business? What kinds of companies and agencies have used them in the past and do they have references? These are just a couple of questions that attribute to the reputation of a company. If you want the job done right, make sure to use a document scanning firm who has a proven reputation in the industry. 

Experience

Does the scanning company have experience scanning similar documents to what you have? Have they successfully completed projects for clients related to your industry? What was their biggest scanning project? Make sure the firm you choose has experience completing projects of a similar size and scope to yours.

Security

Many industries have sensitive data that needs to be digitized.  It is important that confidential information remain so and that original documents are kept safe. What security measures does the scanning company have in place? Do they have a state of the art facility? Do they perform background checks on employees before hiring? These are important questions to have answered in order to make sure your data is secure and protected.

Equipment & Capabilities

Different types of documents require different equipment. Loose pages, bound books, blueprints, microfilm, etc. all need to be scanned on specialized scanners. Make sure the company you choose has all of the necessary equipment to complete your job timely and effectively. Is the equipment up to date and maintained properly?

On-Site Capabilities

Many reputable companies have on-site capabilities. This typically alludes to the company having an army of scanning equipment, tight procedures that are followed to a T, and the ability to work carefully with sensitive information.

Companies that have a good track record with on-site scanning can often be trusted due to the fact that they will work directly in front of their clients – because there is nothing to hide! Not to mention this allows clients of any industry, with any regulations to hire a document scanning firm. 

Productivity 

Last, but not least productivity and turn-around time are very important to consider when hiring a scanning firm. You want to get the most for your money and you want to receive your documents as quickly as possible so you can start utilizing your DMS. Make sure the scanning firm you hire has the capability to complete your job done within the time frame needed. They will need to have all necessary equipment and the man power ready for you.  

Why Choose Smooth Solutions?

With over 25 years in the document scanning industry, Smooth Solutions has a proven track record across a plethora of industries. Our long company history has given us the time and experience to adapt and perfect all of our scanning processes.

Document Scanning Solutions

As a full service document scanning firm, we have the equipment to scan all types and sizes of documents and film you can imagine. We scan paper files, technical manuals, rare books, magazines, engineering drawings, microfilm, aperture cards & more. We also have tonnes of experience with different systems integration and EDMS. For a full list of our document scanning services click here!

Industries We’ve Worked With 

Throughout our history we have worked with companies spanning across various different industries. We have scanned documents for the US Army & Navy, NYU, Harvard Medical School, Con Edison, the NFL & more. To see more industries & clients we’ve worked with click here!

Facilities & Security 

Smooth Solutions has worked tirelessly to train and cultivate a team of document conversion experts. We utilize and maintain the best commercial equipment available. Our proprietary document scanning and project workflow software tracks every document throughout the entire conversion process. We follow strict procedures to guarantee all scanned documents are of the highest possible quality and accuracy. 

Our secure facility in Lodi, NJ is fully equipped with fire & theft alarms, 24-hour video surveillance and requires a tracked key card for entry. All of our employees are bonded and bound by blanket non-disclosure agreements. Client data is stored on secure Raid Level 5 servers with mirroring as well as backed up to magnetic tape subsystems. Our valuable paper & records insurance and data breach insurance coverage offers further protection of vital information.

Fun Facts About Smooth Solutions

  • We have over 40 state-of-the-art scanners in production
  • We’ve performed scanning jobs in excess of 30 million different images
  • In the last 5 years alone we’ve completed over 50 on-site scanning projects

Summary

If you are looking for a company with a full range of document scanning solutions, our reputation and track record speak for itself. We have hundreds of satisfied and repeat customers who have experienced and benefited from our expertise. Let Smooth Solutions help your company too in providing document imaging solutions!