Cost-cutting and compliance continue to top the list of CIO priorities, with the electronic health record (EHR) not far behind. Yet a recent study from leading research firm IDC suggests document management is moving up the list. According to the research, organizations that focus on management of documents and information are better equipped to reduce costs, respond more quickly to changing market conditions and increase profit growth.

Since the average clinical and administrative knowledge worker in health care spends 70 percent of his or her time dealing directly with documents, it's not surprising that 81 percent of health care organizations have initiatives in place to reduce the total cost of document management. Yet more than half (53 percent) of the executives interviewed by IDC gave low marks to their organization's ability to capture, access and disseminate critical information to the right people.

Where to start
The following suggestions, based on research from Xerox and IDC, focus on achieving growth through smarter document management:

Do a document checkup. Workers spend up to 37 percent of their workday looking for information in documents. Since quality of patient care, labor costs and reimbursement revenue are dependent on accurate and available information, health care organizations can gain a competitive advantage by making that time more productive and less costly. Assess how documents are created, shared, stored and accessed throughout your organization.

Centralize. Patient care touches multiple departments. By centralizing information repositories, your organization can eliminate the document silos that result from having too many people involved in the business process. In doing so, you'll reduce redundancy in document creation, copying, printing, e-mailing, faxing, scanning and archiving.

Get compliance- and EHR-ready. Daily work within a health care organization requires the capture of information that is both structured (e.g., lab results, forms, invoices) and unstructured (e.g., medical staff notes, e-mail). As you compile the appropriate information for HIPAA and the JCAHO audit process and work toward implementing EHRs and other enterprise applications, incorporating various document types into the workflow will be key to minimizing time and labor costs and achieving return on investment (ROI).

Outsource. Evaluating document content and managing output is not typically part of a health care worker's job description. Thirty-two percent of health care firms are taking advantage of outsourcing as an opportunity to free up time for their core business -- patient care.

Bridge the digital and paper worlds. Since 73 percent of health care organizations do not indicate the workflow in document-dependent business processes is mostly digital, the goal is not to make paper obsolete, but rather to find a way to efficiently use the information. Coupled with software and services, your organization can utilize networked multifunction devices as a portal between the paper and digital worlds. Employees can distribute documents via e-mail, and print or fax from their location.

Empower the workforce. To ensure new technology is deployed most effectively, your organization should consider work habits and cultural norms, and train employees so they understand how the implementation will integrate with current work processes.

Measure ROI. Establish metrics and benchmarks for productivity improvements before making technology decisions. Measurement methodologies such as Lean Six Sigma uncover obstacles embedded in work processes that have built up over decades. With better management and control of documents and the information they contain, Xerox Global Services estimates that health care organizations can reduce overhead costs by more than 10 percent.

The survey results discussed in this article are detailed in a white paper from IDC called "Organizations Shift Focus to Information Management: The Role of Documents in Highly Effective Business Processes." To access the paper, visit www.xerox.com/globalservices and click on "White Papers."

Mr. Jones is vice president, Healthcare Industry, Xerox Global Services. You can contact him through e-mail at johnb.jones@xerox.com.

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About the Study
The Xerox/IDC study findings were obtained from telephone interviews with senior executives in the U.S., representing companies with more than 500 employees, including respondents from 41 health care organizations involved in decision-making for workflow and document management processes.