Focus and Experience: Choose the service provider with the most experience, and look for companies for which document scanning is their primary focus. You can purchase copiers elsewhere; you want a document imaging provider that has built its reputation on providing quality document scanning, document indexing, and document management services.

Make sure your potential document scanning provider offers strong references from firms in your industry or from firms using their services for similar applications. For example, if your company will be incorporating document scanning and electronic document management in the accounts payable department, do they have a reference from another firm doing the same?

Flexibility of Services: Does the service provider offer several solutions for your document imaging and management needs? Steer clear of companies that require your firm to change its processes to fit their solutions. A top-notch document scanning firm works with every client to provide the services that best fit their current and future requirements. This means having the ability to seamlessly incorporate additional projects and people.

On-Site and Outsourcing Options: One of the ways a professional document management company meets every client's needs is by offering both on-site and outsourced scanning options. Whether your documents must remain on-site, can be processed at an off-site document scanning facility, or a combination of both, your document imaging supplier should be able to meet your requirements. Additionally, document management software for the storage, retrieval and distribution of your documents should be available as a web-based repository, or as an in-house solution running on your internal infrastructure.

Reliability: Whether you choose an in-house or outsourced solution, does the service provider deliver what it promises? A professional document imaging company should provide quick turnaround on document scanning, meet the deadlines set by clients, provide 99.9% uptime or better on its web-based document management repository, and be responsive to both service issues and additional needs.

Local Offices: Look for a company within a 50-100 mile radius of yours to avoid interruption in your key business processes. Easily accessible production facilities and customer service teams promote peace of mind when you're handing over control of mission-critical documents. You should also visit the document scanning facility before you award a project to observe the integrity of their operations, quality control procedures and production process.

Client-Focused Services: Scanning and indexing a document are only the beginning of a solution; look for a company that understands how your business works and the role that the document management solution will play in improving your business processes and bottom line. Client-focused services such as on-site staff training are standard when working with a professional document management company. Beyond training, there should be a single point of contact ensuring your complete satisfaction with the quality, accuracy and timeliness of every project.

Great Value: While cost should not be the only factor when selecting a document imaging provider, a company worth your business will offer cost-sensitive, expandable services that won't destroy your bottom line. Be wary of high-cost add-ons and vague promises of affordable services as you grow. A great document scanning company will spell out projected costs up-front, stand behind its commitments and show you a quick Return on Investment.

Document scanning can increase staff productivity, lower overall costs and position your company for expansion without growing pains. By carefully weighing service providers against the guidelines above, you're assured of a document management solution that best fits your business plan and bottom line.

There are several document imaging companies and hence choosing the right company is not an easy task.

Given here are a few things that you should consider while hiring a document imaging company.

What Type Of Services The Company Provides?
Some companies provide only document scanning service, while there are some that offer complete document management services. You should first list down your requirements and then find a company that meets them.

Whether You Want A Standard Package Or A Custom-Built Package?
Since, all companies do not offer both standard and custom made packages; your choice of the service provider will depend on what type of document management services you want. If you want to avail of services strictly as per your requirements then you should get a customized package, otherwise a standard package will also do. Custom made package is costlier than the standard ones.

What Is The Uptime Of The Company?
If you want to use the document hosting service of the company, you should check its uptime. The company's uptime should be at least 99 per cent. That will ensure that your documents are available to you most of the time.

Where The Company Will Scan The Document?
This is a very important question. If your documents are very sensitive and confidential, then you might prefer to hire a company that scans the documents on-site. Otherwise, a company that offers document imaging facility only at its premises will also do. Depending upon what you prefer, you should choose an appropriate document imaging company.

What The Company Does To Ensure The Safety And Security Of The Documents?
Security is one of the biggest concerns of the firms while hiring a document imaging firm. Before hiring the firm, you should check what type of steps the company takes to ensure the security of the documents. It is best to hire a firm that is HIPPA compliant.

What Type Of Scanning Facility The Company Provides?
Nowadays, people prefer OCR scanning, as it has several benefits like quick search and easy editing. Check, if the document imaging firm offers this service.

What Are The Costs Of The Services?
You should compare the rates of a few firms. This will help you to know the prevailing rates of the services you want to avail. The rates are dependent on the type and quality of services provided by the firm and its reputation. Never compromise on quality for price. You should look for a firm that provides value for money services.

Where The Company Is Located?
If you are planning to hire a firm that scans documents at its premises, then it is better to hire one that is close to your office. This would ensure speedy work. Even if the company offers on-site scanning, it is good if it has a local office close to you.

Our solutions help companies save money by better managing, accessing, and maintaining their electronic and paper based documents through our document imaging, data capture and document storage and retrieval capabilities.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Maureen_Larson
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Choose-a-Document-Imaging-Service-Provider&id=3553861

We can perform professional document scanning services for

• Tampa Medical and Chiropractic offices
• Clearwater Medical and Chiropractic offices
• Clearwater Hospitals
• Tampa Hospitals
• Dentists in Clearwater and Tampa
• Health Insurance record keeping office applications
• and just about any healthcare application in Tampa and surrounding areas.

We  convert the healthcare records of your Tampa Office or Clearwater Office into electronic for, right there on site, fully under your control.

Digitizing all health related documents can expedite patient care, improve the quality of care, enhances records management to facilitate regulatory compliance and can yield significant cost savings.

Healthcare Applications:

• Patient records management
• Admission & registration
• Clinical data repositories
• Medical orders
• Consent forms
• Back office
  
  • Claims processing
  • Explanation of benefits (EOBs)
  • Accounts payable
  • Accounts receivable

Benefits of Scanning:

• Scanned documents enable simultaneous access and collaboration
• Eliminates the costs and risks of lost documents
• Reduce labor and material costs associated with paper-based records
• Reduce potential errors and improve patient care through accurate document storage and retrieval
• Scan to PDF for easier file sharing
• Substantially reduce physical storage requirements
• Secure access mitigates risks
• Expedite and enhance patient service
• Achieve regulatory compliance by enabling better recordkeeping through scanning
• Estalibhs a foundation for on-going process improvement

Our document scanning services: Your prescription for healthcare paperwork

With an intelligent application of document imaging technologies, healthcare organizations can reap enormous returns in cost savings, and efficiency improvement. Vital information that previously took hours to retrieve can now be accessed within seconds, eliminating potential errors and improving overall patient care. In addition, healthcare organizations also eliminate significant paper storage costs, including off-site facility rental and couriers, folders and labels, multi-part forms, microfilm and microfiche, and transport carts and bins. Hospitals, physician practices, pharmacies, dentists, insurance payers, and small clinics can all benefit from smart document imaging solutions.

One thing that makes our job easier is to use the best equipment for large volume scanning jobs.

Who has been voted the market leader in document imaging scanners and services? Fujitsu, the very brand we use and recommend.

Sunnyvale, CA, January 5, 2010 — Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc., the market leader in document imaging scanners and services, today announced that it has been recognized by Business Solutions Magazine as a Best Channel Vendor for 2010, the second straight year the company has received this honor. Through an exhaustive survey completed by over 1,354 verified BSM reseller subscribers and totaling over 12,000 votes, Fujitsu ranked at the top of the ECM Hardware category among a long list of companies for its strong product innovation, comprehensive channel program, advanced service and support offering, and the company’s overall working relationship with its Value Added Resellers (VARs).

What makes the Fujitsu scanners so good? It is a combination of features that result in an optimal dot matrix of the black-and-white scanned image so that legibility and optical character recognition are of top quality.

Are your offices in Tampa or Clearwater and surroundings? Call us for your document scanning and imaging job.

Historical Records

What are historical records?

Identifying your historical records

Acquiring historical records

Making historical records accessible

Reference services

Promoting access

Preservation and conservation

Funding a program

What are historical records?

Historical records, also called archival records, are records you keep permanently because of their long-term research use. The State Archives provides services for both government and non-government historical records programs. Historical records, regardless of who creates them, can exist on paper, parchment, magnetic tape, film, or a variety of other media.

Identifying historical records

Historical records are those you need or choose to keep forever. The process of determining which of your records are historical is called appraisal. For a general understanding of how to appraise records effectively, see Publication #50, Appraisal of Local Government Records for Historical Value.

In New York State, historical records in local governments and state agencies are those that are designated as permanent in a State Archives’ records retention and disposition schedule. They are also materials you decide to keep beyond the legal retention period because they have continuing administrative or legal value, or because they document a significant event, person, or decision.

If you work for historical societies and other organizations that collect non-government records, develop a collecting policy that outlines in detail the geographical, chronological, and topical scope of your collection. Use the criteria in your collecting policy to appraise records before accepting or refusing them. For more information on developing a collecting policy, see our publication, Strengthening New York’s Historical Records Programs: A Self-Study Guide.

The State Archives appraises records of state agencies; records are not accepted in the State Archives without prior consultation and approval. For information about the appraisal of state agency records, contact us at (518) 474-6026 or via e-mail. To learn more about records appraisal in a non-government repository, attend the Documentary Heritage Program (DHP) workshop, An Introduction to Appraisal and Selection of Historical Records, or contact your DHP Regional Archivist.

Acquiring historical records

Documentation is the process of locating, identifying, and acquiring unique, historical records that are not yet in a historical records repository. For a detailed guide, see Publication #79, Documentation Basics: A Guide to Planning and Managing Documentation Projects. Also attend the Documentary Heritage Program workshop, Documentation Basics: How to Plan and Manage Documentation Projects.

Making historical records accessible

To make historical records accessible, you must organize and create information about them. Archivists call this process arrangement and description. For basic guidance, see:

• Guidelines for Arrangement and Description of Archives and Manuscripts: A Manual for Historical Records Programs in New York State

• Organizing Your Historical Records, a workshop primarily for local governments

• Arrangement and Description of Historical Records, a workshop for nonprofit historical records repositories

Descriptive tools such as finding aids and catalog records help researchers know whether your records will answer their questions. The DHP program at the Central New York Library Resource Council has developed a pamphlet on finding aids titled How to Create Finding Aids.

Reference services

Providing access to your historical records collection while protecting records from damage or loss can be a challenge. All historical records repositories should have clearly stated rules on the use of records. The publication, Strengthening New York’s Historical Records Programs: A Self- Study Guide, and our new workshop, Providing Access to Your Records, has information about providing reference services.

If you don’t have enough staff to provide access to your historical records, consider

• distributing microfilm copies of your records to public libraries or other repositories

• providing digitized copies of your records on your or a host website

The State Archives offers several publications and workshops on micrographics and digital imaging.

Promoting access

To increase use of your historical records, provide information on them to the widest possible audience. One way is to submit series descriptions to the State Archives for inclusion in the Historical Documents Inventory (HDI). The HDI is accessible through the State Archives’ catalog.

Preservation and conservation

Preservation means working to prevent the deterioration of your historical records as a whole by using appropriate archival quality supplies and having optimum environmental conditions for storage. For a thorough overview, attend our Preservation of Historical Records workshop and refer to our storage and preservation page.

Conservation is the repair of damage that has already occurred using minimal, non-invasive techniques. Conservation work should always be done by a professional.  To help you decide what records require conservation measures, see Publication #60, Criteria for Selecting Records for Conservation Treatment, and our list of conservation consultants.

Funding a program

Grant funding for many of the historical records activities described above is available through two programs of the New York State Archives: the Documentary Heritage Program (DHP), serving non-government nonprofit organizations, and the Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund (LGRMIF), available for local government historical records programs.

Less is better

Reduce as much as possible the number of duplicate copies of a single record. You need to maintain only one copy: the official or record copy. By doing so, you will not waste space. If you are from a state agency or local government, regularly dispose of obsolete records according to a State Archives records schedule.

Consider microfilming or scanning your records. Microfilming is a still good way to reduce storage requirements and preserve historical records. Imaging is better for improving access to records. For more information about micrographics and imaging, especially when each is an appropriate solution, refer to our Publication #77, Managing Imaging and Micrographics Projects.

Onsite storage or offsite storage

Once you no longer actively use records, it’s best to transfer them from busy, crowded office areas to alternative storage. You can use commercial or remote records storage facilities if onsite space is at a premium. For more guidance on storing records offsite, see our Publication #42, Offsite Storage of Inactive Local Government Records. The Archives maintains a list of vendors who store micrographic records. If you are from a state agency, you can store records at the New York State Archives Records Center on the State Office Campus in Albany.

Proper storage environment

Choose a clean, secure, and stable environment. Ideal conditions for most types of record formats include:

• Temperature between 65-70º F, with fluctuations of no more than 2 degrees
• Relative humidity at 35-45%, with fluctuations of no more than 5%
• Protection from ultraviolet (UV) light, air pollutants, and vermin
• Protection from damage, disaster (i.e., water, fire), and theft

Limit access to storage areas, have secure locks, and install fire suppression and security systems. To assess how vulnerable the areas where you store records are to disasters, conduct a site assessment (see guidelines and form in our Publication #82, Managing Records Disasters).

Electronic records

Keep in mind that electronic media, including optical discs and computer tape, are not permanent storage media. You will periodically need to test media to ensure that no data has been lost, refresh or copy records onto new media, and ensure that you have the required equipment to access the records. Refer to our electronic records page.

Transferring archival state agency records to the State Archives

State agency records that State Archives staff have appraised as permanent may be transferred to the Archives. For more information about transferring state agency records, call (518) 474-6926. The State Archives will not accept state agency records without prior consultation and approval.

Preservation vs. conservation

Preservation means working to prevent the deterioration of your historical records as a whole: use appropriate archival quality supplies and optimum environmental conditions for storage. For a thorough overview, attend our Preservation of Historical Records and Preservation of Electronic Records workshops.

Conservation involves hiring professional conservator to repair damage that has already occurred using minimal, non-invasive techniques. To help you decide what records are appropriate for conservation measures, see our Publication #60, Criteria for Selecting Records for Conservation Treatment and our list of conservation consultants.

Funding

The State Archives offers a grant program for local governments to implement many of the storage and preservation activities described above. To learn more about our Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund grant program, contact the State Archives at (518)474-6926 or via e-mail, or contact your Regional Advisory Officer.

Electronic Records

FAQs

Inventory

Organizing

Security

Preservation

Funding

Computers and other electronic devices create many of the new records we use today.  These records, although electronic in format, are the same as records in other formats.  Electronic records show how you conduct business, make decisions, and carry out your work. They are evidence of decisions and actions.  Fundamental records management principles apply to electronic records and all other record formats.

The technical nature of electronic records makes managing them a challenge. There are a variety of electronic records: e-mail, voicemail, geographic information systems (GIS), webpages, word-processed documents, spreadsheets, databases, digital images, and video and audio files. They can be stored on optical discs, magnetic tape, diskettes, and an increasing number of other media. Electronic records are under constant threat from technological obsolescence – the rapid advancement of computer technology that can render records inaccessible due to lack of planning.

Learn the basics about the care of electronic records at our Managing Electronic Records workshop.

Inventory

Conducting a records inventory is the first step towards starting an electronic records management program. An inventory requires collecting pertinent data on all records, including electronic records systems, to analyze and use for planning. See Publication #76, Inventory and Planning: The First Steps in Records Management for instructions on inventorying electronic records.

Electronic records inventories should include only major records systems; avoid inventorying files on individual hard drives. Use the inventory data to develop an electronic records needs assessment and program plan. If you don’t have the necessary expertise, staff, or time, see our Electronic Records Management Consultant list to find someone who can assist you.

Organizing

The most effective approach to organizing your electronic records is to have a filing system that mirrors your paper files. Create a series of electronic folders and subfolders on a server, arranged hierarchically from the general to the specific in a series of directories.

For easy retrieval, develop naming conventions that are logical, consistent, and allow sensible sorting. For example, if you create town board minutes electronically, use the name of the records series followed by the year and month, indicated numerically so that the files sort in chronological sequence: “Minutes 2005_07.”

Security

In addition to fire, flood, and vandalism, computer users must contend with viruses, hackers and hard drive crashes. You can increase the physical security of computers by locking doors and installing intruder, fire, and water detection systems. In addition, implement and update virus protection software and firewalls, make frequent backups and store them offsite, and use a system of passwords to protect your information.

To help you assess whether your electronic systems are secure and develop preventive measures in case of disasters, see Publication #82, Managing Records Disasters.

For more advice on securing your electronic records, refer to the Office of Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Coordination’s (CSCIC) Information Security Policy.

Preservation

The most challenging task in managing electronic records is long-term preservation. Magnetic tape can develop read-errors and optical storage media can fail completely after only a few years, especially if they are not stored in the proper environment. To avoid data loss, refresh media by copying data to a fresh tape or disk every three to five years.

There are a few strategies to anticipate technical obsolescence. One is to copy electronic records to an eye-readable media such as microfilm or paper. This works best when the functionality of the electronic record is no longer needed.

Another strategy is to maintain data in a standard or non-proprietary format. These are not likely to change over time so the information should remain readable.

An effective but labor-intensive and costly solution is to migrate data periodically to a new software version or system, usually every three to five years. Migration should include the records and their associated metadata (system-generated information about the records). To learn more about preserving electronic records, attend our Preservation of Electronic Records workshop.

Funding

The State Archives administers the Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund (LGRMIF) to help local governments manage their records, including their electronic recordkeeping systems. To learn more, contact the State Archives at (518) 474-6926 or via e-mail, or contact your Regional Advisory Officer.

University of Heidelberg, Department of Medical Informatics, Germany.

The large number of inpatients and outpatients in university hospitals leads to high costs of medical documentation and to an increasing number of medical documents. Due to legal regulations, these medical records have to be stored for 30 years. This implies spatial, organizational, and economical problems. At present, conventional archiving in hospitals often does not satisfy the need to make medical records available for health-care professionals in a systematic and timely manner. From 1989 to 1993 a pilot study on “digital optical archiving of medical records” was carried out at Heidelberg University Hospital. The study has shown the feasibility of digital optical archiving in hospital s if done under certain conditions. In 1995, Heidelberg University Hospital adopted a procedure for “digital optical archiving of medical records”. The digital optical archive will first be filled with the medical records of the department of neurosurgery and the endoscopic and echographic images and reports of the department of internal medicine. It is to be expected that this procedure will gradually lead to an integrated functionality on health-care professional workstations, to a hospital-wide use of an electronic patient record, and to media-independent document management systems. The paper focuses on the potentials of digital optical archiving as an integral part of hospital information systems, and on the requirements for the systematic managements of hospital information systems with respect to digital optical archives.

Department of Information Technology, University Hospitals Leuven, Belgium. erwin.bellon@uzleuven.be

We made the decision in our hospital to radically eliminate the paper archive by bulk scanning over a million medical records. This reorganization goes together with installation of new workflows for injecting information that is still captured on paper as automatically as feasible into the electronic medical record. In this article we describe our organizational and technical approach and we highlight principles which our experience suggests to be useful.