Building a Strong Document Management Backbone

Faced with a variety of legacy printers, fax machines and print management supplies and no way to control costs or improve uptime, Orthopaedic Specialists of Texas relied on Digitec for the print management therapy they needed.

When Southwest Bone and Joint merged with Houston Orthopaedic Sports Medicine to become Orthopaedic Specialists of Texas (OST), the large group practice found itself hobbled by a fractured print management system and a need to remedy it as quickly as possible. As any specialty group practice will confirm, the generation and management of patient records, medical procedure and therapy orders, surgical and diagnostic reports, even though largely electronic these days, still creates mountains of paper. Printers and fax machines hum all day long and making sure that all those diverse machines are maintained and supplied properly can be a full time job for any practice administrator.

Putting together the print management systems from two different orthopaedic practices created more of a headache than anyone at OST expected. The new group practice now had more than 30 different printers and several fax machines all of different manufacturers and under different leases and maintenance contracts. Just keeping track of the parts, paper, ink and toner supplies for the different machines was a nightmare for Debbie Alford, one of the managers at OST. And, as Alford pointed out, her print management system responsibilities was just one of several hats she wore.

“The general idea was that we would get everyone from the two practices on the same page in regards to computers, printers and other office machines,” Alford remembered. But that wasn’t going to happen easily or overnight. “I was ordering tons of different parts, toners and supplies for them, which was not a lot of fun because I’d have to remember which machine was using which supply.” Her task was complicated by the fact that parts and supplies that needed to be kept on site weren’t always in stock because someone had simply forgotten to mention that they’d just used the last one. The same was true with reporting equipment malfunctions. Sometimes she just wasn’t informed that a machine was down in a timely manner. They were also starting to think about how much all this legacy and semi-obsolete equipment was really costing them.

“We had several copiers that we owned outright and many that were leased from several different companies,” Alford related. “We looked at consolidating all our equipment with one of them, but it was far too expensive.” That’s when, quite coincidentally, Digitec requested a meeting with Alford and her fellow practice managers. Alford decided to let Digitec come in and take a look at their situation. She thought that Digitec could possibly help her get a handle on what direction they needed to go — or arm her with enough information to go somewhere else.

“The rest is history,” Alford said. “They came in and said ‘this is what we’re offering, you don’t have to do anything.’ They put all our equipment online so we could get an accurate picture of our usage counts and even track how much toner and supplies to keep on hand. All we had to do was call them, tell them the machine ID# and they knew exactly what to send.” What really sealed the deal for Digitec was when Alford gave them a run-down on her costs to maintain, repair and supply all the equipment. They returned with a cost analysis of what the practice had been paying for print management services over the years and then showed them what they could be saving.

First, Digitec replaced all of OST’s ink jet and low-end laser printers with business class Kyocera laser printers and equipment that offered low total cost of ownership. Printers were consolidated in some areas, while key practice administrators retained individual desktop printers. The printing supplies were semi-automated and onsite IT support was provided. Even training was effortless. According to Alford, Digitec simply gathered the practice’s various user groups (Registration, Billing, Rehab, etc.) around the equipment in each area and did hands-on demonstrations of how to use the equipment and change the paper, inks and toners.

“They set up all the defaults for us, so there wasn’t really much to learn,” Alford said. But best of all, within a short period of time after full installation they saw improvements in efficiency and productivity due to a significant reduction in downtime, and within six weeks they were saving as much as 30% on their total cost of printing. Alford also remembered that Digitec’s print management solution made her professional life a whole lot easier, too. A little over a year after signing on with Digitec, OST joined The Methodist Hospital System. Today known as MOST, the group practice is happy to continue their legacy business relationship with Digitec as their document management company.

To date, MOST is extremely happy with their Digitec solution. Instead of Alford being the single point of customer contact, the equipment users within the practice are encouraged to call the phone numbers posted on the equipment so they can directly report or describe the problem they’ve encountered.

“They come right out and fix it, or if it needs a part, they’ll get it by the next day because we can make do with one less machine for a 24-hour period,” Alford explained. “But if it’s a fax machine or if it looks like it will take longer to fix, they just bring us a loaner so we don’t miss a step.” It doesn’t hurt that cost savings continue, productivity and uptime is increased because the equipment is well maintained and not breaking down, MOST now has a print management system that hums like a well-oiled machine. But for Alford, the biggest benefits of Digitec’s solution are that it’s one less hat for her to wear and the peace of mind that comes with it.

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About Digitec

Digitec offers customers a single source for their imaging and information technology needs, including copier products, digital imaging solutions, and enhanced document workflow and management technology. The company provides a balance of technical expertise, professional approach, quality service and consultation to help customers better negotiate the future. Digitec prides itself on its customer-centric focus and delivery of the best and most appropriate solutions possible, backed by knowledgeable service-minded customer representatives. Digitec serves the greater Houston metropolitan area from its offices in Sugar Land, Texas. For more information about document management and printing solutions for the legal market, please contact us today.

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About MOST

Methodist Orthopaedic Specialists of Texas is one of the largest groups of board-certified and fellowship trained orthopaedic surgeons in Sugar Land, Texas. The practice focuses on general orthopaedic surgery and sub-specialties such as sports medicine arthroscopic surgery, total joint replacements, cartilage transplants, diseases and deformities of the spine and treatment of hand, upper extremity, foot and ankle problems.