See How Xerox Saved Allegiance Health $20,000 Per Year

Allegiance Health is a 411-bed regional health system based in south central Michigan. Like all hospitals, Allegiance Health relies on hundreds of forms to manage its operations and maintain regulatory compliance.

 

The Challenge

Over time, however, these forms began to cause major management problems. Too many forms and form versions were in distribution, so employees often didn’t know which ones to use. And some of the forms were inaccurate or outdated, which conflicts with regulatory compliance.

Allegiance Health was also wasting precious resources on printing and warehousing large quantities of forms that often became obsolete. And when new forms were needed, employees had to wait a long time — one to three weeks — before they received their orders.

After investigating the situation, the organization’s leaders realized that the solution required innovative thinking and specialized expertise. So they turned to Xerox document experts.

The Solution

The Xerox team assessed the forms management needs of the entire enterprise, then developed a comprehensive, cost-effective print-on-demand solution that included:

A full-time, on-site Document Advisor to re-design forms, manage an improved forms process and help Allegiance Health maximize its printing budget.

The management of an on-site print shop, equipped with up-to-date Xerox® digital printing technology for fast, high-quality document production.

Xerox ReqDirect Plus, an innovative, easy- to-use, web-based software application that:

• Provides a digital archive, hosted by Xerox, to house all of an organization’s forms and give management more control of the process.
• Streamlines the process for ordering forms and other printed documents.

After the project was approved, the Document Advisor went to work, re-designing more than 1,200 forms in only three months — about a third of the time usually required for a project of this scope.

The re-designed forms were stored on the ReqDirect Plus digital archive. Then employees could quickly order prints from the in-house print shop right from their PCs. Outdated and inaccurate forms were eliminated from the system and from inventory.

 

The Results

Thanks to the speed and efficiency of the print-on-demand solution, the turnaround time for printed forms was reduced from up to three weeks to a single day.

The problems and costs associated with the storage and obsolescence of large volumes of printed forms were eliminated.

Regulatory compliance was improved by storing approved forms in a centralized digital archive where they can be quickly revised to meet the latest internal and regulatory requirements.

Management control was tightened by restricting access to archive masters only to the Document Advisor, who is authorized to change the “digital originals.”

Allegiance’s brand image was improved by the Document Advisor’s development of a consistent, high-quality “look” for forms and other documentation.

In addition, the Document Advisor helped Allegiance Health maximize its printing budget, saving $20,000 on an annual basis. He also provided valuable ideas and support to the marketing department.

Allegiance Health was also able to bring state- of-the-art color and black-and-white printing capabilities in-house without a major capital outlay, because the entire outsourcing solution was funded by the annual operating budget.