A recent survey of the healthcare industry found that 44% of healthcare providers are still using paper records. The survey also found that a large number of healthcare providers and facilities still use faxing to send medical information, patient charts, and patient records. While some have made the transition to electronic fax services, many are still utilizing the old-school method of faxing. This correlates to a surplus of printed pages and printing equipment. However, faxing is an essential service in the healthcare industry so providers must find a cost-effective and efficient method to deal with it. This is a great example of why Managed Print Services can be a fantastic solution for the healthcare industry.
Managed Print Services (MPS for short) can benefit healthcare organizations by reducing the amount of paper they use, decreasing the number of printed documents, tracking what’s printed by whom, limiting the amount of color prints, enhancing efficiency, optimizing data security, and more.
Learn how a managed print solution can help your healthcare facility save money, enhance efficiency, and improve data confidentiality: #techwiseofice #officesolutions #managedprintservices Share on XHow Can MPS Help Healthcare Organizations Reduce Costs?
Managed print services can healthcare organizations with both soft cost and hard cost savings. Soft cost savings are benefits to an organization that are intangible and difficult to quantify. An example of soft cost savings would be employee morale. Hard cost savings are tangible benefits that have a direct impact on the bottom line. A well-executed MPS program can improve both of these areas by boosting employee productivity, reducing print costs, lowering paper consumption, enhancing security, and more. So precisely how does a managed print solution save healthcare organizations money?
Let’s explore three ways MPS can help reduce costs.
1. Improves Print Workflow
Experts will analyze your print environment at the beginning of any partnership with an MPS provider. Why?
Managed print providers conduct print assessments to fully understand a client’s unique print infrastructure. A print assessment evaluates the devices within a client’s inventory, the security risks, print activity, and associated costs with each device.
Each healthcare organization’s wants, needs, and goals are different. With managed print services, a team of specialists will learn about your print environment, your team’s wants and needs, your document processes and workflows, and desired outcome. This way, they can help you improve document workflows, cut out wasteful processes, and enforce better print security.
You may be asking, “but how does this reduce costs exactly?”, and that is a fair question. The answer is, by assessing your environment, the MPS provider can compile a list of outdated and expensive devices, print activity per device, the current cost per page (CPP), and the security risks per device. Once this information is compiled, the MPS provider can recommend cost-saving solutions.
For example, suppose the MPS provider assesses your environment and finds that your organization has twenty or more multifunction devices (MFDs), but only five are used with any regularity. In this case, an MPS provider may advise relocating under-utilized devices to the high-traffic areas. Another option may be to downsize and stop paying for under-utilized devices.
Another example would be to use Print Tracking and Accounting software such as Papercut. Software like this enables organizations to be more waste-conscious by offering settings like options that prompt the user not to print in color. An MPS provider can help implement this software and offer training to help you reduce paper waste and unnecessary print costs.
Managed print providers take a consultative approach in recommending suitable document and print solutions. An assessment is the first step in determining where money is going in your print environment. You may never know where your money is going if you never receive an assessment. Additionally, these assessments help clients see and understand the big picture of their document processes and the ability to get a more detailed view, when necessary.
2. Provides Document Management Software Options
With HIPPA laws and regulations, secure data sharing is imperative for the healthcare industry. MPS offers protection of confidential records and information by installing specialized software such as Papercut or uniFLOW. These types of software enable organizations to secure, track, and account for every printed, copied, or scanned page. This means they can control the costs while protecting patients’ privacy.
For example, suppose a healthcare administrator prints a document from their computer. Using the secure print release option, you can mandate that the office printer or MFP hold the data for that print job in a secure queue and not release it until that employee manually enters a code or swipes an ID at the printer. This process ensures that printed confidential documents aren’t in the wrong hands. It also provides that your healthcare organization isn’t fined for not being HIPPA compliant.
3. Stops Print Consumable Waste
Ordering the wrong print consumables, such as ink or toner, can drive up costs, especially when it’s a consistent issue. Managed print services can help reduce or eliminate this by actively monitoring your devices and setting up an auto-supply replenishment. You can think of auto-supply replenishment as the automatic ordering and replenishment of the supplies your devices need to run smoothly.
When your printing devices determine they are low on ink or toner, the correct supplies for that device will be re-ordered automatically. No more over-ordering or accidentally ordering the wrong supplies for your devices. This process can alleviate the headache of dealing with supply orders from overburdened healthcare administrators who already have enough on their plates. Managed print services can make printing practices more efficient and cost-friendly.
Is Your Business Ready to Work With a Managed Print Provider?
If your healthcare organization realizes it wants to reduce its print costs, that’s already half the battle. Inefficient print workflows and costs can be difficult to notice because most do not have a process to account for them. Managed print services can offer a long-term solution by reducing printing costs and optimizing efficiency.
If you are ready to get started, call Tech Wise Office Solutions today. One of our knowledgeable consultants will walk you through getting your organization on the right track to eliminating headaches and saving money.
