Healthcare - Document Management

The Healthcare sector includes a wide and diverse range of business areas: healthcare trusts, GPs/dental/local providers, central NHS, healthcare outsourcers, healthcare insurers, nursing homes and home care providers, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and scientific services companies. Each business area has its own particular challenges but all consistently need to capture patient (or customer) information and appropriately share this along a chain of care.

The delivery of healthcare services from primary care to secondary and tertiary levels of care is the most visible part of any healthcare system. Care delivery locations are changing and may increasingly be in the home, community, workplace, specialist health facilities or even abroad.

At icon^uk, we believe that how organisations manage their client communications is key to caring for patients in a modern society. It also attracts new business. Customer Communications Management (CCM), including appropriate document management and electronic signing software, is an increasingly critical element of a comprehensive personalised user information strategy. We enable the delivery of cost-effective integrated paperless and paperlite workflow services across organisations.

Healthcare - Document Management Benefits

The benefits of a comprehensive, responsive and properly implemented Customer Communications Management strategy with appropriate document management software are clear:

Enhanced Market Share - differentiate your propositions ahead of competitors. Bring all customer information together at the point of use. Produce immediate, relevant and accurate medical information, quotes and contracts, delivered through internet, print, SMS or other relevant channels. Make it quick and easy to electronically sign documents whether for new customers or existing patients across all locations.

Increased Customer Retention - customers expect to be able to access their records, quickly and easily, when needed using their preferred technology and media. These expectations go beyond accurate and complete records; self-service, call centre and face-to-face transactions all require appropriate information access to consistently meet ‘omni-channel’ customer service expectations and maintain high satisfaction ratings.

Improved Staff Satisfaction ­ care workers, health specialists,  service and administrative staff need accurate, consistent, 360⁰ views of customer information so they can respond to customer needs. Providing staff with better means of responding to patients - without compromising legal, compliance, branding or process constraints - increases staff satisfaction and productivity. Paperless transactions that remove repetition, increase speed and enhance productivity are just the start.

Reduced Costs ­ remove paper from processes requiring signatures for immediate benefits. Use the savings to rationalise document management (creation and output systems) across the organisation to give direct cost savings in IT hardware, software, facilities, document-related staff, paper and postage. Then exploit new capabilities through enabled simplification of processes, generating further large savings.

The efficiency of healthcare and administrative processes - and the importance of social, mobile and e-media technologies - require a close integration of all document management processes within the organisation. Key benefits include a strong return on investment, enhanced customer engagement, increased revenues and reduced risk. icon^uk document management workflow and Customer Communications Management solutions can deliver these benefits - and more.

Healthcare - Uses

The Healthcare sector faces greater challenges than many when it comes to sharing of data and opportunities for re-use efficiencies. A typical hospital has many departments and specialty areas, all focused on patient care. Likewise, most healthcare IT environments have a variety of billing, ambulatory, ER, pharmacy and other applications. But all too often these can be islands of information.

They have a common thread: patient-specific information captured in document form. icon^uk partners with leading healthcare application providers to provide a seamless platform for delivering any document from any system - to any destination in your environment.

Like other businesses, medical institutions and providers face intense pressure to increase efficiency and continually improve their outcomes. However, due to the vital nature of the healing arts, failures in Healthcare IT systems bring risks and consequences far beyond those in most other industries. Our document creation, output management and e-signature solutions bring greater reliability and control to document-driven processes within hospitals and other healthcare environments. Timely, secure delivery of medical information helps healthcare organisations gain the improvements they need.

The application of such Document Management tools is wide ranging. Common use types include:

• Paperless electronic signing of consents, NHS treatment claims, personal information, prescriptions, quality control, etc provides for end-to-end integrated workflows, with biometric real-time validation of the signer as optional
• Structured monthly, quarterly or annual statements, health checks, invoices and other scheduled materials that are usually automatically produced in batch mode.
• Interactive applications that can be used by call centre agents, administrative staff and field medical or care staff alike in dealing with patients (such as letters, forms, notes)
• Self-Serve uses include on-demand applications where customers interact via web portals and kiosks to obtain status information, health information and details about drugs and care advice.   
• A full 360⁰ view of all information, structured and unstructured, relevant to a particular situation, with access for use by call centre agents, administrative staff and field staff alike.

Examples include:

• immediate confirmation of an out-patient appointment details, with key points issued via SMS and automatic further detailed instructions via email or web portal
• online portal for personalised feedback on treatments received
• complete correspondence for positive screening and improved outcomes
• creation of patient lists and treatment types for research purposes
• letters to patient advisor entities that contain all relevant details and references past correspondence, side letters, emails and conversations that together form a complete picture of each case
• fast and accurate billing and payments.

The focus on smarter processes and integrated enabling technologies enables unbiased advice, convenience and service excellence. The provision of appropriate personalised communications greatly assists client trust and relationship management. The prize is reduced operational costs, optimal use of existing capacity and increased efficiencies -­ all assisting healthcare budgets.

Our solutions are available either directly, via our Partners, or through various Government Frameworks including G-Cloud.