EMR and Regulatory Changes Have Costly Consequences for the In-House Print Center

This article, the third in a series of four, is designed to provide you with an overview of the issues and costs associated with enterprise document management. 

Each year, US companies spend $50 billion annually to manage their in-house print centers or reprographics departments.  Hospitals are aware of this rising expense.  Nonetheless, the centralized print shop or reprographics center has played a significant role in the inner-workings of most hospitals.   With moderate volume print and finishing capabilities, it has been a convenient source of materials for training and educational programs as well as a wide array of patient charting documents.

A Convenient, Central Resource
Walk-up windows or counters have made it easy for administrative and clinical staff members to submit their print requests.  Depending on their complexity, forms may be delivered or ready for pickup within a day, if not hours. 

Recognizing that many of these documents are central to clinical workflow, some full-service, in-house printing centers maintain inventories with little regard for the cost of managing them.  They are, after all, “mission-critical.”  Besides, the economy of scale provided by the centralized print environment generally translates to a lower cost per copy, compared to desktop printing.

The operative word here is “generally.” The cost advantage gained through economies of scale erodes quickly if in-house printing equipment is under-utilized or if the current contracts are misaligned with actual usage.   Additionally, frequent changes to forms result in obsolete inventories which drive up material and handling costs.

A New Paradigm 
And that is precisely what’s happening today. Volumes are declining. EMR initiatives are reducing the number of preprinted clinical forms.  The shift in document output to the desktop is likely to drive up the cost per document and have serious implications for your internal print shop, desktop and workgroup printers, and print-related contracts.  Some healthcare providers found that they were spending 25 to 40 percent more than they needed to spend; costs differed based on the scope of their automation.

At the same time, changing requirements mandated by JCAHO and regulatory agencies make version control increasingly challenging.  Storehouses of preprinted forms are costly and simply don’t make sense.  Document magazine affirms that thinking. They report 60 percent of all company documents are obsolete.

A Fresh Look at Document Output
As hospitals implement their EMR strategies and the volume of centrally produced forms decline, they need to map a parallel strategy for enterprise print management. Only by evaluating all aspects of their print supply chain -- from desktop to centralized and external printing -- can they develop an efficient means of managing both paper and digital documents to address compliance requirements and reduce costs. 

From a centralized printing perspective, healthcare providers should look at:

•  Increasing utilization of central copy/print centers where appropriate, reducing the total cost per copy.

•  Identifying appropriate equipment sizing through analysis of ongoing user demand and renegotiating more flexible, cost-effective equipment lease and service contracts.

•  Consider merging disparate document scanning center together with centralized printing. In combining similar document services, hospitals may gain an advantage in terms of cross-training, shift coverage and redundant technology.

•  Streamline vendor relationships to afford you optimum leverage and reduce the cost of management.

The goal is to reduce the total cost of ownership while ensuring that critical documents are available when needed.   Whatever plan is developed, organizations are advised to engage user support before and during implementation.  You’ll need to provide them with adequate information and education in order to optimize the quality, availability and cost of printed documents.

Next Issue: Externally-Sourced Printing
In the next issue of Insights, this column will focus on the costs and challenges related to externally-sourced printing.   However, if you’re interested in gaining a complete picture of your enterprise print management costs and learning what steps you need to take to reduce them now, contact us today.