In our latest interview series we focus on electronic document record management and ask Vijay Magon, CEO, CCube Solutions some questions and his advice for organisations looking to benefit from EDRM.
What is the biggest achievement of your organisation?
We have been working closely with a number of NHS Trusts and Health Boards over the years, helping them to achieve their digital transformation objectives. As they near their goals, they recognise the changes within their respective organisations – in terms of productivity, patient safety, and (of course) significant cost savings. We feel very proud to be associated with such achievements which reflect the partnership approach we have adopted with our customers – its not about the best technology, its more about careful implementation of available and affordable technology to solve specific problems, and then building on these solutions to maximise RoI.
What’s next for EDRM?
EDRM has always taken a back-seat, ie. it manages and serves a compound document repository which can be accessible, integrated and used anywhere. We realised that over 20 years ago and started using our own EDRM suite as an underlying technology to design and deliver solutions in the Public and Private sectors, focussing on the NHS over the last 16 years. Its all about mapping EDRM into defined business processes rather than installing EDRM out-of-the-box.
Documents contain unstructured data; both structured and un-structured content has grown astronomically over the last 10 years and continues to rise. EDRM has matured accordingly and is now established as a “content server” – not just documents but any kind of content including multi-media.
However its no longer sufficient to capture, manage, and serve content. Given the huge volumes involved and the rise in Machine Learning, exciting possibilities are being realised to focus computing resources on the huge volumes of content held in EDRM solutions, to understand content and present information & knowledge to those who need to make decisions quickly.
This offers massive benefits in patient care where practioners can be presented with pertinent information to assist with clinical decisions instead of spending time trawling through content looking for that information.
EDRM is no longer a passive content server – it is certainly on its way to delivering rich information & knowledge capabilities.
What’s the biggest technology challenge at the moment?
Computing Resource! The volumes of data held in EDRM is astronomical. It takes a while to process and analyse this content. Advances in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence are certainly helping, but its early days as such technologies need huge volumes of data to learn from.
What’s key to a successful implementation?
A partnership arrangement between the client and supplier, one which recognises that giving up paper is a huge ask and simply installing technology is nowhere close to a solution which must embrace massive transformational changes. Technology should be applied to agreed processes, not just to replace paper but to improve, streamline and automate processes.
What should any organisation considering EDRM consider?
To have a clear view of its business objectives, high-level (Board-level) drive/intent to deliver the objectives, user representation across all business areas, and sufficient funding.
What advice would you give to other organisations or professionals?
I recently wrote an opinion piece for HTN which focused on my tips for a successful implementation and my advice for organisations looking to realise the benefits of EDRM. You can read the article here.
Can you tell me about some of your key projects?
First there is St Helens & Knowsley Teaching Hospitals who removed its paper medical documents to ensure they were available when and where healthcare professionals needed them. The projected utilised CCube Solutions EDRM to digitise 155,000 medical records. This meant the organisation stopped 7,000 letters being hand delivered each week. They opted for a scan on demand model so they only scanned what was needed. Over a staged roll-out of over 22 months the organisation reported £1.4 million in savings.
Second, Aintree University Hospital looked to EDRM to digitise however taking a different route to St Helens & Knowsley. The Trust considered creating its own scanning bureau but then decided to outsource to a third-party scanning service provider. CCube Solutions software was installed. Aintree became the first trust to use forms recognition technology to automate the recognition and classification of pre-printed medical forms. The Trust has digitised 282,000 letters and generated £1 million annual savings. The solution means that healthcare professionals within a few clicks can access the information they need.
And thirdly Aneurin Bevan University Health Board digitised its child growth records utilising the CCube technology, where staff can now have instant access to this information.
