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August 15, 2011
Paperless synergy spreads in Erie County
In a Republic article by Valerie Myers, school districts in Pennsylvania are being commended for their goals (and active practices) to use less paper. Just by discouraging unnecessary printing, they were able to take the first step and save over $20,000 and about 4 million sheets of paper.
How about saving another $1,000 a month? A new Erie County law will provide for financial reports to be distributed by email, eliminating the costly purchase of ledger paper.
The good vibe that comes from great practices is spreading throughout the region’s schools. The article goes on to identify entirely electronic class and homework solutions. Even field trip permissions and parent notifications options are being looked at. Even if you balk at the concept of students turning in all their homework online, it’s still worth a look. While every system has bugs to work out and every parent needs to be confident in their childrens’ school system, the topic needs to be addressed.
“Teachers and students have bought into this, and being paperless is culturally acceptable,” Vieira said. “As the class of 2015 comes in, a lot of the big stuff is in place.”
Throughout the article, the references of money saved alongside dollar amounts is astounding. Both in business and government, there are many places to save time and money that are seldom ever considered. And it helps to see reports from others so that we can take a look at our own offices—chances are the same opportunities for savings exist in front of us.
August 02, 2011
Saving lives with EHR
The efficiency and cost benefits of using electronic documents are hard to miss. Also, the security enhancements of digital images over paper-based communication are clear. But oftentimes, the benefits to the actual quality of healthcare–and even the potential to save lives–are overlooked.
ALAN SCHER ZAGIER
Associated Press / TheRepublic.com
The scattering of X-rays and medical records 75 miles away from a Joplin hospital destroyed by a tornado helped illustrate the destructive power of the storm that killed 160 people in May.
But the drenched and torn documents found near Springfield weren’t another disaster. They were back-up copies kept in the hospital’s archives after St. John’s Regional Medical Center switched to electronic patient records a few weeks before.
It’s a move taking place in a growing number of hospitals and doctors’ offices, bolstered by an Obama administration initiative that offered billions of dollars in federal incentives to upgrade technology — and one that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Monday likely “saved lives” in Joplin.
The former Kansas governor joined Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon and other federal, state and local officials on a tour of the disaster site and recovery efforts.
“Think of a typical hospital waiting room, and the infamous clipboard where somebody is being asked to put together their medical history and prescription regime by memory, and add a huge traumatic incident on top of that,” Sebelius said in Associated Press interview later Monday. “There’s no question that … the availability of an electronic record may have actually saved lives. They were able to immediately go into the treatment phase and not spend a lot of energy trying to reconstruct (records).”
Roughly 20 percent of hospitals and 10 percent of doctors’ offices had converted to electronic health records before Obama’s $787 billion economic stimulus plan in the summer of 2009 offered an incentive plan that could reach $27 billion over a decade, Sebelius said. Those participation rates have since doubled, she said, and will likely double again by the next update.
The effort was initially touted as a patient-centered means to eliminate mistakes in prescribing drugs, botching surgeries or making other costly mistakes. But the Joplin tornado offered a compelling example of the ease in which hospitals miles apart can quickly and securely share patient data, said Dr. Robert Belton, trauma director at St. John’s. On May 22, outlying hospitals treating tornado victims received medical records within hours, he said.
“Everybody here is a believer,” Belton said. “This has just made the recovery of patient care that much easier.”
Kathleen Sebelius Wikipedia.org
St. John’s continues to operate a mobile medical unit while its parent company, Sisters of Mercy Health System of St. Louis, finishes plans for a new medical center. Construction is scheduled begin next week on a sturdier temporary hospital — the mobile unit is essentially a massive tent — that will allow St. John’s to make it through the next two winters. The new medical center is expected to open in two years, with its location announced next week, Belton said.
Sebelius, who spent six years as governor of Kansas before joining President Barack Obama’s cabinet in 2009, is leading the administration’s effort to move doctors and hospitals to computerized medical records. Providers who don’t comply by 2015 face cuts in Medicare payments.
She also met Monday with Joplin’s school superintendent and reviewed plans for a childhood trauma center to treat the city’s youngest tornado victims.
Also Monday, Nixon said the state will pick up the 10 percent share of tornado debris removal costs not covered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency under an expedited debris removal program that runs through next Sunday. The federal government is paying 90 percent of the cost in that area, instead of its typical 75 percent share.
June 16, 2011
Planning for “paperless,” from New York to Missouri
The wave of paperless implementation continues as companies, governments, and organizations see the benefits that can result. Amos Bridges of News-Leader.com reports that the Springfield, MO City Council is considering going paperless.
“We went and visited our counterparts in Columbia, it was one of the things they had done.”
Greg Burris
Springfield, MO City Manager
from News-Leader.com
The goal is to not print bills and legislation as it comes down the pipe, but to distribute it electronically via the wireless Internet available in the council chambers.
Echoes of the Capital Region
Chamber of the New York State Assembly | CC-BY-SA-3.0/Matt H. Wade at Wikipedia
Yesterday, the PostStar.com gave us an update on our own Jim Tedisco’s push to do the same in the NY chambers:
Tedisco said it appeared the Judiciary Committee was poised later on Wednesday to advance his bill to amend the state Constitution to allow bills to be distributed in digital format.
E-BizDocs president Howard Gross met with Assemblyman Tedisco regarding his passion for going paperless.
“Being a company in the business of helping offices use less paper, it was very exciting to talk to Mr. Tedisco about his proposed legislation,” Gross said. “We’ll be watching it closely and we look forward to seeing it become a reality.”
“Going digital is a simple and effective way to save taxpayers money and reduce the state’s carbon footprint. As I said previously, let’s move state government from birch to binary and go paperless and stop wasting tax dollars.”
Jim Tedisco
JimTedisco.com
You can see a picture of Tedisco “bill surfing” at his website or read the Legislative Online Digital Paperwork Reduction Act for yourself.
June 14, 2011
Mailboxes destroyed by fireworks
In this story posted by The Daily News, mailboxes in Castle Rock, Washington were destroyed by fireworks. While the aspects of safety and disregard for personal property are obvious, there is another perspective to consider this story from.
Namely, the fact that there’s very little you can plan on, and oftentimes, to avoid the pound of cure, you may need to utilize 15oz of prevention.
Suppose, in your home-based business, you are a dedicated paper scanner. As soon as receipts are generated, as soon as bills come in, as soon as items arrive in the mail with shipping documents attached, you scan them into your repository so that you won’t have to deal with the paper.
But there are somethings you just can’t plan for, like a neighborhood vandal blowing your mailbox up with an M80. So we see that going a step further may be necessary. You’d hate to be behind on a payment because you didn’t receive the bill. Or you did, and it got stolen. Or incinerated. Many companies now provide entirely electronic payments, and it may be worth looking into.
But in the end, what’s the best way to protect your mailbox from vandals? Maybe get a mailbox like this one that we found on boboblogger.mu.nu
Well, you vandal. . . do you feel lucky?
Have you ever lost documents to a threat you never even expected?
May 11, 2011
Pictures and Documents Found After the April Tornadoes
Pictures and Documents Found After the April Tornadoes
As the old adage goes, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” giving us a life-rule that can be applied to many varied circumstances. Applying that to the recent tornadoes that broke out in the Southern, Midwestern, and Eastern United States is a little bit harder to translate.
A violent tornado outbreak from April 25 – 28, 2011, leaving catastrophic destruction in its wake, especially across the state of Alabama. Widespread and destructive tornadoes occurred on each day of the outbreak, with April 27 being the most prolific and destructive tornado day in United States history.
Our own partner, CNG, is headquartered in Alabama.
Loss Prevention
Kodak document scanners are in continual use, converting important pictures and business documents to digital format so that they can be preserved or restored. And sites like Facebook make it easy to upload pictures to their robust network, making sure that there is always a copy of those important memories.
But due to the volume of data, oftentimes it must be approached in an incremental manner, taking the most important first, and digitizing batch by batch or, if you will, ounce by ounce.
What happens when the tornado rips through your town and wipes your home or business, and you’ve only begun to protect your documents?
A massive amount of cure
A Facebook user has set up a page to collect documents and photos which are blowing freely in the aftermath of the devastation. Uploaders are encouraged to post whatever they find along with some information on how to collect it.
What is the pound of cure, in this case? It could be looked at a number of ways. It could be the 100,000-strong group of users who “Liked” the page. It could be the nearly 3,500 images that have been uploaded. It could be the thousands of comments shared on the wall, brimming with offers to help reunite people with their belongings as well as gratitude of those who have had items returned to them.
Whatever the quantity and unit of measurement, I submit that “cure” be regarded as “care.” Even though it may require minimal effort, it takes a lot of heart to go out of your way to help another who has suffered a loss.
Moving Forward
My thoughts are with the families and victims of the tornadoes, and I hope the best for their recovery. But lastly, I appeal to them, that when order is restored and time’s healing power has had its chance to take effect, that we all take a more thorough look at what we have and how to prevent it from ever becoming entirely lost.
May 03, 2011
Procurement data woes: Public lashings probably won’t help
Today we see a great example of how a records management system–any records management system–requires diligence on the part of its users. Regardless of how robust or feature-rich the software, if employees fail to enter the data on a regular basis, the system will fail. Now “fail” is probably a bad choice of words, since the utilization wasn’t thorough. But you enter into a cyclic pattern where people don’t go to the system to find the documents because they aren’t there, while they also don’t enter documents because no one goes into the system to find them.
The following excerpt shows what’s created by partial or shoddy adoption of a good records management system: an expensive and essentially useless system:
The lashings will continue until morale improves, in a manner of speaking. That’s how some people might interpret a proposed policy to compel contracting officers at the Veterans Affairs Department to do a better job of entering procurement data into the department’s records management system.
VA officials have struggled to get acquisition employees to file the appropriate information into the system. Without that discipline, the department is left with an expensive records management system of essentially useless figures. Compare it to incomplete baseball statistics on big-league pitchers when the Cy Young Award is up for grabs.
Under the proposed policy, employees who fail to keep up would be penalized during their annual performance reviews.
Immediately upon adding a document to CNG, the user is prompted to enter data that will help you find the document later, as well as use the data in a manner that increases efficiency in your workplace and ensures accuracy in your transactions.
If you’d like to see how the filing system works in CNG, click here to request a demonstration.[hr] Source:
FCW.com
April 26, 2011
L.A. sues low-income housing developer, alleging ‘racketeering’ and ‘huge fraud’
By Jessica Garrison and David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times
April 25, 2011
City lawyers say ADI inflated its bills on more than a dozen public housing projects, costing the city an estimated $30 million to $180 million, and destroyed or falsified records. Glendale has also filed suit.
Advanced Development and Investment Inc. received $29 million in city funds to build the Mediterranean apartments on Temple Street, and 14 other buildings across the city. (Katie Falkenberg, for The Times / April 25, 2011)
Having reported a couple-hundred-thousand dollars more in cost than they actually incurred over 15 or so projects, the claim is that they misappropriated public funds.
All this was discovered when the books were being audited as the president of the company was filing for divorce, so certainly one unfortunate event begets another. But of course, the discovery of possible fraud and corruption is not a bad thing.
The city’s lawyers said ADI destroyed records and refused to turn over documents after the City Council issued 110 subpoenas seeking records of the company’s billing.
“We’ve alleged that they created false documents, made false claims, withheld documents they were required to provide, and then transferred those moneys overseas to prevent the city from recovering those funds,” said William Carter, head deputy for Trutanich.
[hr] Source:
LATimes.com
April 25, 2011
Pines police to take fingerprints digitally
Many police stations are now using digital fingerprinting technology to enhance the speed and accuracy with which they can process fingerprints. In some cases, the time is cut down by weeks, giving law enforcement officers unprecedented access to data tied to an individual unlucky enough to be arrested. [hr]
Written by Charlene Sharpe
OCEAN PINES — Ocean Pines police will no longer need to wait weeks to hear back if someone they’ve fingerprinted is wanted in another state. Thanks to a new digital fingerprinting machine, officers will know in just minutes any details surrounding prints they submit.
Through a $24,000 grant, the Ocean Pines Police Department was able to purchase and install a Live Scan digital fingerprinting machine. The machine takes fingerprints electronically, without ink, so they can be forwarded immediately to the FBI and other authorized agencies.
“It makes the job a lot easier, and the technology behind it is cool,” said Pines Lt. Greg Schoepf.
The inkless system means officers no longer have to worry about smudging prints they’re taking or using too much ink or not enough ink, he added.
“It eliminates a lot of user error,” said Schoepf, who compared the process to scanning a document on a copy machine.
Once the Live Scan scans the fingerprint, it duplicates the print on a hard copy fingerprint card so police can include a paper copy in a suspect’s file. Once the print is scanned into the machine, it can be submitted electronically to the proper agencies so police can see if there are any warrants for a suspect’s arrest or if the suspect has lied about who he or she is.
With Live Scan, officers can find that information in as little as 10 minutes. According to Chief Dave Massey, before the department had the machine, it took weeks to get fingerprint information back because once prints were taken, cards had to be mailed off.
“The process could take between six and eight weeks,” he said.
Ocean Pines General Manager Bob Thompson told the board of directors last week that in addition to making the fingerprinting process easier and faster, the Live Scan machine could be useful to the association in another way. He said because prints could now be scanned within minutes, the association was going to start fingerprinting the individuals hired to work in the community’s recreation and parks department as well as its summer camp counselors.
“We’re really pleased with this piece of equipment,” he said. “This is a huge step in making our community safer.”
Schoepf said the Live Scan machine, already in larger departments like Ocean City, was becoming more and more commonplace because of its benefits.
“It’s what everybody’s going to,” he said. “I don’t know of anybody who wouldn’t want it.” [hr]Source:
DelmarvaNow.com
April 21, 2011
Have you outlined a records retention policy?
This story illustrates how important it is to set a records retention policy at your company. Even if you’re not bound by any law with regard to your documents, as we see here, not having a policy leaves a lot of questions and opportunity for litigious attacks.
By Catherine Candisky
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Timothy Rhodes says an eastern Ohio town owes him $5 million for violating state public-records law by failing to provide 911 tapes he requested.
New Philadelphia city officials say the tapes were reused and are no longer available. They argue that Rhodes is gaming the system, trying to make a buck by requesting records he knows no longer exist.
If Rhodes wins his lawsuit against the city, “it would set off a gold rush,” John T. McLandrich, an attorney representing New Philadelphia, told the Ohio Supreme Court yesterday. Such a ruling, he explained, would encourage similar lawsuits and turn municipalities into “cash cows.”
The legal question before the justices is whether Rhodes was “aggrieved” by the city’s failure to retain the tapes, which the law requires for penalties to be imposed.
“Is injury required to be aggrieved?” Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger asked Rhodes’ attorney, Craig T. Conley, during arguments held in Cambridge, Ohio.
“All you need to demonstrate is, ‘I wanted the record,’” he replied. “It doesn’t matter why you want it.”
In 2007, Rhodes submitted public-records requests to New Philadelphia and several other Ohio towns asking for reel-to-reel audio tapes of 911 calls. Officials in each city responded that the tapes were no longer available.
But all the communities except New Philadelphia showed that the records had been destroyed in compliance with retention policies approved by the Ohio Historical Society as required by law. New Philadelphia never adopted a policy or filed it with the state.
Rhodes then filed suit against the city seeking a $1,000 civil forfeiture for each of 4,968 violations, for each call on the tape, or nearly $5 million.
Under state law, people making public-records requests do not have to explain why they want the information or show how they would be damaged if it is not provided.
Conley said New Philadelphia was negligent because it failed to set a public-records retention policy, spelling out when they can be destroyed. A committee was appointed and met once in a bar, he said.
A jury ruled in favor of the city, finding that Rhodes never wanted to review the tapes but had requested the information solely to collect penalties from the city for unlawful destruction of public records.
Does injury need to be proven?
An appeals court overturned the decision, concluding that Rhodes’ motives were irrelevant and he merely needed to show that he was denied public records that had been unlawfully destroyed.
Still, several justices indicated yesterday that they were bothered by Rhodes’ apparent motives.
“Your client requested records he knew did not exist,” said Justice Terrence O’Donnell.
“I don’t agree that is true. But if he did, I guess I’d call that a big ‘so what,’” Conley said.
“This really has some offensive nature,” said Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton.
McLandrich said Rhodes’ motives undermine his claim of injury.
“Mr. Rhodes wasn’t aggrieved,” he told the justices. “He got exactly what he wanted. He found a city that didn’t have the tapes and didn’t have a (records-retention) schedule. … This wasn’t about the records or ever accessing the content of the records. … This was about finding someone who didn’t have a schedule so (he) could get paid.”
Others, McLandrich said, have filed similar lawsuits against Ohio cities. He predicted that if the court rules in Rhodes’ favor, more will follow.
Source:
DispatchPolitics.com
April 20, 2011
The “Sonny” side of court records
THE RULING IS IN!
By BRAD GASKINS / Staff Writer
Shelby County Reporter
COLUMBIANA-The Shelby County Court System is transitioning to paperless records. In the coming months, the court will implement electronic filing in several divisions.
Court processes are en excellent place to find efficiencies. Managing these records without paper makes sense and will certainly yield great benefits.
Shelby County Presiding Circuit Judge Hewitt “Sonny” Conwill informed all attorneys practicing in the county of the changes in a letter dated April 15.
“It will be wonderful for our office,” Shelby County Court Clerk Mary Harris said. “We’ll be able to be more efficient in working with the public, because when we are not having to hunt down a court file to put a paper in it, that’s a time saver for us.”
Paper files will continue to be used for domestic relations and circuit civil cases, which normally involve the most number of pages in a file. E-filing could eventually be used in those divisions.
“It’s just that right now we’re taking baby steps,” Harris said. “We’re going in the courts that tend to have maybe 10 to 12 pieces of paper in the file.”
The clerk’s office has for several months used e-filing for small claims cases and it’s “working beautifully,” Harris said.
Now, the clerk’s office is working to scan district civil cases into the system before moving on to child support divisions.
“We’re just trying to take one division at a time,” Harris said.
Source:
ShelbyCountyReporter.com