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Chesapeake Document Services uses KODAK Capture Pro Software to streamline records capture and indexing for two hospitals

Before Chesapeake Document Services (CDS) began using KODAK Capture Pro Software, they entered data the old-fashioned way: via eight operators keyboarding hour after long hour. And, of course, entry by hand always introduced the possibility of errors, necessitating additional QC steps. Today, CDS uses KODAK Capture Pro Software to capture patient records for two Maryland-area hospitals. CDS has reduced their data entry staff, while speeding turnaround times dramatically. The hospitals receive data access more quickly, and CDS has slashed overhead and increased customer satisfaction. “We’ve cut data entry time, probably by 50%,” says Lee Stalnaker, CDS’ Director of Operations. “In the past, we’d key in data twice to ensure accuracy, but thanks to Capture Pro Software’s database lookup feature, we’re now able to automatically populate all required index fields.”

Evolving along with KODAK Capture Pro Software

CDS—located in Waldorf, MD—is a document and information management company that provides outsourcing of imaging services, along with implementing complete in-house solutions for clients in fields ranging from finance to government, healthcare to insurance and beyond. Long an advocate of KODAK Scanners, CDS served as a beta site for KODAK Capture Pro Software, and provided valuable feedback and input about the product as it was developed.

“We began with the non-database version of KODAK Capture Software years ago, moved up to the database version, and were beta testers of—and strong proponents for—Capture Pro Software with the database lookup feature,” Stalnaker notes. Today, for one hospital, CDS scans the bar code on each document; and Capture Pro Software goes to the database and pulls the patient name, date of birth, and other key data to auto-populate all relevant index fields. For their other medical facility client, no bar code is available, so CDS utilizes the drag-and-drop OCR feature on a key piece of data to initiate the database lookup. (Capture Pro Software can validate or populate index fields from Open Database Connectivity-compliant [ODBC] sources.)

For one facility, CDS began with current records (processing 1.5–2 million documents monthly), then worked on legacy files in about 2,000 boxes, with each carton containing approximately 3,000 pages. “We can now easily process each box of files in one pass; and our workflow is very efficient from prep, to scan, to QC, to data entry,” says Stalnaker. “We upload their files in PDF or TIFF format to our Global Repository System (GRS) that offers secure, online, Web-based access to the files for the hospital.” This is a very streamlined, efficient process, as no additional processing is required to get files ready for uploading.

Combining KODAK Scanners with Capture Pro Software for maximum productivity

CDS not only recommends Kodak Scanners to their clients, they use them in their own facility on projects such as data capture for these two hospitals. “We have a KODAK i1860 Scanner and a KODAK i780 Scanner, and we scan at 300 dpi in bitonal mode, as that’s ideal for OCR,” says Stalnaker. “To enhance scanning speed, we work in landscape with the i1860 Scanner, and we can complete an entire box of records in about 45 minutes.”

CDS also appreciates the ability of the i780 Scanner to scan at full rated speed, even at 300 dpi. “If we have a job such as mortgage files, we use the i780 Scanner and save a great deal of time.” CDS employs a staff of 12 scanner operators who work on an array of KODAK Scanners, ranging from desktop models up to the i1860 Scanner.

One of the aspects of Capture Pro Software that CDS’ operators appreciate is the ability to customize the user interface. “As you walk around our facility, you’ll see different people setting up their screens in the way each prefers...some will have two images up, some four images,” Stalnaker says. “We use 24-inch monitors, and the combination of monitor and Kodak’s software gives us great flexibility along with advantages to optimize our QC process.

When working with clients who are setting up their own scanning operations, Stalnaker says the ability of Capture Pro Software to work seamlessly with a variety of other manufacturers’ scanners is a huge selling point. He notes that CDS recently won a contract because Capture Pro Software could provide one common interface for the prospect’s wide array of different scanner models from different manufacturers. “There are other key aspects that we love,” he says. “For example, thanks to Capture Pro Software’s ability to automatically output files to an FTP site, we were able to win a large government contract.” Stalnaker also cites the user interface as a selling point, thanks to its familiar look and feel, lack of complex commands to learn, and ability to receive immediate visual feedback, no matter how complex the task.

“We are definitely a company that uses, promotes, and believes in Kodak Capture Pro Software and KODAK Scanners,” Stalnaker says. “We have a very intense production environment. We’ve probably run 10–12 million scans through our i1860 Scanner in a year and a half, so durability and ongoing productivity are crucial for us, and we get that from the KODAK Scanners. And Capture Pro Software, especially thanks to database lookup and other unique advantages, becomes the perfect partner for these scanners.”

“We are definitely a company that uses, promotes, and believes in KODAK Capture Pro Software and KODAK Scanners.”