Document Management - A Healthy Integration

Indigo North Health uses tight Laserfiche-Ricoh MFD integration to boost workflows, accumulating savings and streamlining internal processes

Challenge: Document Management efficiency

Located across three campuses, Indigo North Health operates on a tight budget, balancing the provision of quality services with a streamlined yet highly efficient staff and infrastructure. Not surprisingly, internal efficiencies that contribute to improved services are a high priority for the organization’s CEO, Cameron Butler; and high on the agenda in late 2009 was document and file management.

“We rely heavily on suppliers and contractors,” Cameron says. “So it’s important for everyone that the flow of information, whether in the form of general correspondence or finance-based documents is incredibly efficient. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case; and with the business having doubled over the past five years, we were in the position of having to identify and implement a more efficient means of managing our documents and files.”

Answer: Document Management Software by LaserFiche

In partnership with Copy Print Scan (CPS) Albury, a Ricoh Business Partner, Indigo North Health sought to evaluate the suitability of a Laserfiche and Ricoh MFD (Multi-Function Device) solution. Following an extensive evaluation process, Cameron gained approval from the organisation’s board to partner with CPS on the solution’s implementation.

“The first and most important aspect of our document management on which we worked with the CPS team was our accounts payable invoice approval process,” Cameron says. “And by the first of July 2010, we had a streamlined workflow that’s nothing short of fantastic.”

Saving a day every fortnight

So where does that saving come from? Firstly, as invoices are received—either electronically or in hard copy—from suppliers and contractors, they are immediately transferred to the organisation’s Laserfiche Document Imaging Software where they are assigned to a particular cost centre. At this point, the customised workflow developed by the CPS team kicks in and an email is automatically sent through to the cost centre’s manager.

The savings realised up to then are through:

Eliminating the manual distribution of invoices.

Reducing the instances of having to request misplaced invoices from suppliers.

Removing the need to manage a large number of paper-based accounts payable files.

Next, it’s the Laserfiche-based approval process that adds even greater efficiency and savings. With the e-mail received, cost centre managers receive an embedded link to the invoice, which, when clicked, displays the invoice on their screen along with the ability to approve or deny the payment, specify an expense code and add notes for the accounts payable team if required.

Once closed, the approved or denied invoice is sent immediately through to the accounts payable team who then take the appropriate follow-up action. Again, the savings accumulate. This time, though, through:

Streamlining the invoice approval process.

Achieving instant transmission of approvals from the cost centre manager to accounts payable.

Fully eliminating instances of invoices lost in transit.

Dramatically reducing the “chasing up of approvals” by accounts payable.

A well-defined audit trail

A key enabling factor in the matching of invoices to purchase orders is the advanced and highly accurate OCR (Optical Character Recognition) capabilities of the Laserfiche’s Document Management solution. Whether invoices are scanned in at the MFD or received by fax, the solution automatically scans and translates each word on the document, then updates an integrated index database.

Document Management - Off Paper, On Course

Fure Financial is an independent, fee-based financial planning firm based in Minneapolis, MN. The company, founded in 1984, offers holistic investment advice to manage client assets with an eye toward fulfilling life goals, a successful strategy that has grown Fure—almost entirely by referrals—into the trusted advisor and wealth manager for 360 families. With its motto of “Keeping you on course… no matter which way the wind blows,” the firm has successfully navigated some choppy seas in recent years, thanks in part to implementing a Laserfiche enterprise content management (ECM) Document Management system to cut paper and storage costs; centralize information management from between its CRM, business records and archived client files; and, perhaps most importantly, to maintain its focus on clients. “Laserfiche has allowed us to spend less time managing our documents and more time working for our clients, which leads directly to higher client retention,” says Grant Meyer, Financial Consulting Assistant. “Since the majority of our business comes from referrals, excellent client service and client retention is a necessity for us.”

Implementing ahead of inclement weather

Meyer says the move toward ECM Document Management was a proactive one. “For us, it was the general idea that we could increase efficiency by saving time and money while continuing to improve client service that first got us interested in an ECM. Also, the disaster recovery aspect really attracted us.”

As both an advisor and the firm’s IT Manager, Meyer brought a unique perspective to the search for an ECM. “Naturally, being in the financial services industry, auditing, security and compliance were simply ‘must haves.’ After that, flexibility and scalability were important to us in an ECM—we wanted a system that could grow with us over time as our business evolved,” he says.

Last, but not least, Meyer adds, Laserfiche is a name synonymous with ECM Document Management Solutions in the financial services industry. “Having a tried-and-true, trusted name in document management was important to us as well,” he says. “The system was already approved by our broker dealer, Commonwealth Financial Network, which was also a plus.”

Soon, hundreds of client files dating back to 1985 were scanned into Laserfiche, eliminating the need for several bookshelves and filing cabinets. While Meyer admits it was “a paradigm shift” for some employees to move from a paper-based system to a paperless one, after they experienced how they could literally file things automatically and then find them instantly, they embraced the concept completely. The transition brought peace of mind—and cost savings.

“There’s a reassurance in knowing that all of our important documents are stored electronically and backed up off-site, ensuring access to the data even if something were to happen to our office,” Meyer says, adding, “employees now have the option of accessing documents remotely [over Fure’s secured network], so they can work from anywhere.”

A key component to true enterprise consolidation of the firm’s information was working with reseller Cities Digital to integrate Laserfiche with CRM Document Management Software Junxure. “Before Laserfiche, we used to have some digital files in the CRM, some paper documents in a large client file and some documents in different filing cabinets; it was very disjointed,” he recalls. “Now, with the two systems integrated, we have one centralized location for statements, account paperwork, estate plans, correspondence and all relevant material related to a client.”