How to use Document Management eForms to automate paperwork and cut bureaucracy

Paperwork can be costly and inefficient. For example, the average office worker in the UK uses an astonishing 10,000 sheets of paper a year. Small businesses spend around 28 hours a week on routine admin tasks and one in ten paper documents are lost or misfiled.

It doesn't have to be this way.

Digitise documents

Part of the solution is to digitise your documents and move towards becoming paper-free. But that's only the first step. The ultimate destination is digital workflows, such as e-forms, to automate processes.

Document Management software plays a vital role in both digitising documents and workflow automation. Document Management software includes essential functionality to help companies make this change, such as:

• The ability to manage large quantities of scanned documents
• Search features to help find the right information
• An easy-to-use web portal to give people access to the files they need
• Security and access control to ensure privacy, business continuity and compliance
• Integration with the tools that people use every day, such as Outlook
• E-forms and the ability to set up workflows and model processes in the software

Manage paperwork online

Deploying a Document Management system can be transformational. For example, we helped the Northumbria NHS Trust use a system to digitise the HR records of 18,000 staff and build a fully-integrated HR Case-File system.

The system includes access controls to keep records confidential and only give access to the appropriate managers, even if staff move between departments and managers. It also includes retention controls to make sure that records are kept for as long as required but no longer, for example, disposing of expired disciplinary warnings automatically.

Automate routine processes

The next step is to automate core business processes. For example, when a member of staff announces their pregnancy, the NHS has to carry out regular risk assessments. On paper, this form-based process can be time-consuming and slow. But using digital workflows and e-forms, NHS Trusts can ensure that:

• All the mandatory questions get asked.
• Managers see and approve any changes in a timely way.
• Occupational Health can collaborate ensuring all the correct advice is in the same place.
• The employee in question receives the correct information and feedback.
• The next risk assessment is scheduled at the right time.

Everything happens online so that there is no physical paperwork to lose or get stuck in someone's inbox.

Document Management makes it easy to build sophisticated workflows with approvals, access control, audit trails, email reminders and scheduling.

But it's not just for HR. Combined with Apogee's Scanning Solutions, Virtual Records Management and Digital Mailroom service, Document Management can streamline processes for finance, recruiting, contract management, CRM, patient record-keeping, and more.

Move to the Cloud

Instead of storing files in on-premise servers, which are expensive to buy and manage, forward-looking companies are moving their records to the Cloud. Apogee can help with this next step too, also using Document Management software. Although it works with traditional servers and databases, this software also lets you store your records securely in the Cloud.

This move to the cloud has many benefits including:

• Reducing the need for expensive, up-front capital expenses - no servers to buy.
• Switching to a pay-as-you-go model for the storage you actually need.
• Unlimited, elastic storage capacity.
• Secure access anywhere.
• Improved security, resilience and privacy.

Take the first step to e-form automation

To learn more about digitising your documents, automating your business processes and moving it all to the Cloud, contact us using the form below.