Assessing the Opportunities for Document Services Outsourcing in the Healthcare Industry
The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 articulates the over-arching goal for health IT spending is to facilitate the adoption of an electronic health record (EHR) for every US citizen by 2014. Long term, this should cut back on the volumes of paper produced as part of the healthcare process. Document services, especially those related to print, mail and related outbound patient and client communications, represent a costly and labor-intensive operational area in any healthcare organization. Despite the growth of electronic communications, the healthcare "paperless office" remains aspirational. Additionally, healthcare organizations face burdens and complexities related to managing documents due to the highly regulated and sensitive nature of many of their communications. Given the trend towards more restrictive and comprehensive regulatory environments, these standards will continue to grow. As with any paper-based and labor-intensive process, there are outsourcing options that healthcare organizations should evaluate as a potential means to reduce cost, improve process performance and provide a stepping stone for electronic health records management.
