By Robbie Trower, healthcare sector specialist and channel sales manager at Kodak Alaris.
The pandemic has resulted in a sea change to the way the NHS delivers its services. Digital transformation (DX) is transforming operational efficiency, and digital information is increasingly driving service delivery – from statistical analysis, all the way through to e-prescribing and secure information sharing between different disciplines and healthcare settings.
Data capture is a critical building block in digital transformation. Digital processes demand digital inputs and the processing of them in an automated and intelligent way. For effective digital transformation, project leads need to shift the focus away from traditional information capture to intelligent automation.
What is intelligent automation?
Intelligent automation starts with the nature of the inputs – while there is still a significant volume of paper-based documents flowing around organisations, there are also digital inputs on top. In many cases, some of these input streams are processed manually and/or are handled in silos – this needs to change.
Digitisation used to be focused on converting a paper document into a digital image – just like converting a paper filing cabinet into a digital filing cabinet. While this is still important, intelligent automation sees the focus shift from the image to the data in the image, and the ability to extract this data so it can be used to drive efficiency across business workflows.
Moreover, digital transformation across the NHS has seen data capture no longer fall under the sole purview of the back-office. Capture is now conducted at the edge – at the point it enters the organisation, and the focus has shifted from scan to archive to scan to process. Front-office staff and clinicians’ capture requirements are impacted by a stronger need to simplify the process and a push to reduce manual steps, this is particularly important in capturing inputs, as achieving efficiencies here has far-reaching consequences for the automation of the entire process.
The path forward to a simplified process starts with intelligent automation. Once captured, digital documents enable critical information to be extracted, indexed and automatically routed to EMRs or other systems – ensuring the right information is accessible to the people that need it, when they need it.
A specialist in data capture
One obstacle the NHS faces is a lack of experience in data capture, which is why many NHS trusts have chosen to partner with Kodak Alaris.
From electronic patient records to streamlined administrative processes, solutions from Kodak Alaris pave the way for a more efficient, secure, and patient-centred care environment.
Scanners and intelligent document processing (IDP) software solutions from Kodak Alaris help cut unnecessary costs and save valuable time, allowing healthcare organisations to dramatically improve patient engagement with quicker access to health records, reduced wait times, and more accurate diagnostics.
Implementing the right solution requires careful consideration of several factors, including the complexity of workflows and integration with other applications. Solutions and professional service specialists at Kodak Alaris guide customers through the process and leverage their expertise to align a client’s unique environment and workflows with established best practices.
The starting point is to identify document processing requirements, this includes evaluating the types of documents that need to be processed, the volumes, and the average processing time involved. Kodak Alaris will then propose a solution that includes the best hardware and software solutions combined with professional services support, to ensure seamless deployment and first-class results.
Superior scanners and integrated software
Superior networked scanners from Kodak Alaris are designed to streamline business processes, making scanning and digitising high-volume projects, capturing quality images at top speed, and protecting original documents as easy as possible.
Scanners from Kodak Alaris are renowned for reliability and image quality. As a case in point, concerns raised by clinicians at Aintree University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust that finding casenotes often took too long, delaying important information needed for patient consultations, prompted the trust to create a records management system that would provide easier and faster access to patient notes to help clinicians deliver the best possible care.
The trust outsourced the task of back-scanning patient files to Capita TDS, who selected high performance scanners from Kodak Alaris to keep up with the system’s heavy workload. As the Capita TDS Operations Manager said: ” Scanners from Kodak Alaris are workhorses and the best choice for our demanding environment. They can handle large volumes and are extremely robust.”
MISL, a bureau and BPO provider selected scanners from Kodak Alaris to deliver a five-year, £4.5 million contract to provide document scanning services to The Royal Free, one of the most famous medical centres in the UK. Powered by five high-volume production KODAK i5600 Scanners and six KODAK i5800 Scanners, along with KODAK Capture Pro Software, MISL digitised The Royal Free Hospital’s medical files in record time, completing the project two years ahead of schedule.
KODAK Capture Pro Software quickly and accurately converts large volumes of paper documents into high quality images and eliminates manual data entry. Capture Pro has integration into some of the leading document management, ECM and workflow solutions on the market, is easy to use and quickly transforms data in documents into actionable digital information.
Innovative technology
Scanners from Kodak Alaris include several innovative technologies (model specific) that ensure the most reliable and accurate data capture and the smoothest scanning experience, ensuring clients get the most out of their scanning investment.
Highlights include:
- Perfect Page Technology. Perfect Page Technology uses advanced image scanning and innovative paper handling to enhance and deliver the highest-quality scanning jobs. Features such as auto-cropping, auto-orientation, colour sharpening and smoothing and streak removal ensure accurate capture at the point of data origination, providing peace of mind that onward systems are receiving the right information.
- Active Feed Technology. Active Feed Technology reduces errors and the amount of manual preparation for scanning large jobs with multiple papers. Pages don’t have to be perfectly aligned when placed in the scanner’s document feeder, Active Feed Technology jogs the pages to align them for error-free scanning, reducing the need to rescan due to misfeeds caused by poor alignment.
- Intelligent Document Protection. Intelligent Document Protection monitors the condition of paper being scanned using ultrasonic sensors to ‘listen’ for problems and alert the user before jams or misfeeds occur.
- Embedded Image Processing. Embedded Image Processing on the KODAK S2000 Scanner Series removes dependence on a high-powered PC, with powerful built in processors that handle image processing at the scanner rather than the desktop. This allows the scanners to run at rated speed without any slowdown or need for host processing.
Intelligent document processing
KODAK Info Input Solution is an IDP software that automates and simplifies the journey from document arrival to usage in business processes – quickly, accurately, and reliably. Built around Kodak Alaris’ unique Open Intelligence design, in which pre-built models that understand documents are immediately deployed within a workflow process, KODAK Info Input Solution integrates with industry-leading artificial intelligence tools to deliver remarkable accuracy and makes it significantly easier to extract data in a fully automated way using machine learning.
By bringing together decades of image science expertise, superior capture technology, sophisticated software and professional services, Kodak Alaris is well-positioned to help healthcare organisations digitise paper-based information and drive internal efficiencies to enhance patient care.
To find out more please visit https://bit.ly/KAHealthcare
