Case Study

Affordable Document Management: Medical Supply Company Chooses ViewWise®

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by Greg Rapport

PRN Medical is different from most companies who install a document management system. They weren’t even looking for one. PRN Medical had accepted their lot as a paper intensive company and all they wanted to buy was a new copy machine. Then, almost by accident, they learned about the ViewWise Document Management solution from Computhink, Inc, and their company was changed forever.

The Paper Really Didn’t Bother Them

PRN Medical is a medical equipment company that directly serves consumers. It was established in 1994 and specialized in selling Urological supplies. After 10 years of constant growth, PRN expanded to include Respiratory and Home Medical Equipment. By 2006, they added Nutritional Products and Custom Power Wheelchairs (including rehab of high end wheelchairs).

As far as paper volume is concerned, PRN is exactly like many other companies. They have tons of paper files. Orders come from hospitals or doctors and are accompanied by a full scope of medical records. Each account has 10-60 pages of documentation.

Occasionally, they are called upon to retrieve a file or a document within a file. Most of the time, they can manually look for a file in their office. Retrieval is especially unpleasant if they have to go into the warehoused boxes of archived files and “fight the spiders” to get a paper file.

The warehoused boxes contain the files of closed accounts. Legally, PRN has to retain them for seven years. At any time, PRN could receive a request from a medical provider or legal firm and have to produce documents from the file of an account that has been closed.

In recent years, PRN’s significant growth rendered their office space too small to accommodate their needs. Their expansion plan called for them to move to larger space, so they weren’t worried when they needed more room for their paper files because they needed more room for everything! Their new 24,000 sq ft headquarters accommodates stockrooms, technicians’ workspaces and office space, as well as extra room for paper files.

In fact, their new filing system utilized rolling files so they could store exponentially more paper than they could have stored in their previous location. They did notice, however, that even the rolling files had limits. Soon, it became apparent that in the next couple of years, they would need an electronic document management solution.

Space was not the only reason to consider implementing document management. There were other signals that the days of paper files may end. Nothing too specific with a timetable, but rumors that doctors would soon transition to electronic prescribing. This development would require medical equipment supply companies to implement electronic systems compatible with the systems physicians would use.

Still, PRN didn’t panic. They felt they had plenty of time. Additionally, when they had done some casual research on document management software, they found the price to be exorbitant with substantial upfront charges. PRN simply wasn’t ready to make that level of commitment.

“We Just Needed a Copier”

PRN used their copy machines regularly in their work process, and one day, they needed a new copy machine. Samantha Lund, PRN Medical’s Office Manager, called a local copy machine manufacturer’s representative. What she didn’t know was that the company was also a reseller for ViewWise.

A representative met with Lund to discuss a copy machine. The discussion evolved into how a networked copy machine could be a component in an overall electronic document management solution. Lund was mildly impressed, but certainly not ready to spring into action. She politely waited, anticipating that the discussion would eventually lead to the astronomical upfront charges she had come to associate with electronic document management.

The irony is that all this time, PRN already had document management capability, they just couldn’t use it. The software they were already using in other departments came with an option for them to tell the software manufacturer to initiate document management. The problem was that it would have been prohibitively expensive due to the volume of PRN’s backlog. The software company wanted 5 cents per page to scan and store the backlog, and Lund knew PRN had about 5 million documents (from 6,000 patient accounts) in the backlog and were expecting an additional 2 million documents every year. They also had 40-50 warehoused boxes of documents of closed accounts. Multiply all that paper times 5 cents per copy and it presents a non-viable solution.

More document management discussions ensued between Lund and the reseller. Lund played along, reviewing the features and benefits of ViewWise while considering what would be the most important features for PRN. Says Lund, “We needed something smart enough to handle the complexity of multifaceted files, and simple enough for end users to enjoy using.” “But honestly, I was waiting for the big up front cost.”

Still, not convinced that they needed a document management system, PRN bought new copy machines in February, 2008. It was later that the reseller did two things that practically forced PRN to give serious consideration to installing ViewWise.

First, the reseller offered PRN a free system analysis. Says Lund, “We had no intention of buying.” In the system analysis they took actual PRN documents and created electronic files to demonstrate all the processes of storage and retrieval that PRN could use. Says Lund, “We thought the system worked great! Then we thought, oh no…here it comes. Here comes the price.” But that’s not what happened. In fact, there was no up-front payment at all. Zero.

No up front costs certainly made the deal attractive, but the question then became how much PRN would have to pay on the back end. Again, Lund found herself pleasantly surprised. When they compared the cost they were already paying to lease multiple copy machines, they found that they could make virtually the same monthly payment and cover the cost of ViewWise.

“We were so pleasantly surprised, that we just had to have it,” says Lund. Here’s how it works. PRN pays a monthly fee similar to what they were paying when they were leasing just the copiers. In fact, Lund says, “ViewWise (including a copier, two scanners and 24/7 remote monitoring) ended up costing approximately the same as we previously paid for leases on copiers! That made it a no-brainer.”

“The decision-making took us 2 months, but that was mainly because it seemed too good to be true. Another company wanted almost $¼ million just to get started and they didn’t have anything more to offer than ViewWise,” says Lund.

It took two weeks to get the software designed to PRN’s specifications. Then, it took a day to install. Ever since, PRN has been feeding the system by hiring people to work all day to scan the backlog of 5 million pieces. They estimate it will take about a year to scan the backlog, but they are using the system now. All new paper orders are scanned into ViewWise every day.

From the front end to the back end, PRN employees find ViewWise easy to use. Each day they process 800 new documents so time is of the essence. To speed up the workflow, they utilize a ViewWise feature that enables them to scan documents using a smart reader, which automatically places documents directly into the correct files without having to type in a lot of indexing. “That’s everyone’s favorite feature, “ says Lund, “because it saves a lot of time.”

“The other favorite feature of ViewWise is its retrieval capability, because it is very easy to use,” says Lund. “If people make filing mistakes, the system lets you search inside documents using a text search. You can always find what you need. In the old paper system, one misfiling and the document could be lost forever.” Additionally, Lund and the PRN staff appreciate having the ability to fax or email directly from ViewWise.

Says Lund, “ViewWise has helped us streamline the operation to the point where it freed an entire person. So, now we have two receptionists instead of one, and customers are never kept waiting.”

When describing ViewWise, Lund always comes back to the value. “We feel we got the best possible value. We’ve upgraded our entire system to ViewWise at virtually the same cost we used to spend leasing copy machines. You simply can’t beat the value of ViewWise.”

About Computhink

Computhink provides best-in-class ECM solutions for secure information sharing and compliance, targeting small and medium size organizations. Using state-of-the-art technology Computhink solutions operate on a wide range of platforms, including Windows, LINUX and Novell. The ViewWise Product line includes Email Archiving Solutions for Microsoft Exchange and Novell GroupWise. Founded in 1994, Computhink has thousands of worldwide customers in government, financial services, education, healthcare, manufacturing and utility organizations.