Posted by Mark Brousseau
A new category of software is revolutionizing the way enterprises will work in the next decade by moving information workers themselves into the Cloud, according to new research by the Real Story Group.
Having mastered the science of hosting and processing information assets, vendors are now beginning to distribute live information professionals on a massive scale. "This is all a natural evolution," notes Real Story Group principal, Alan Pelz-Sharpe. "Enterprises have gone from outsourcing, to nearshoring, to offshoring employees...so moving them into the Cloud represents an obvious next step."
Some skeptics have raised technical challenges of hosting human beings in the Cloud. However, an Amazon spokesman played down the technical hurdles. "We digitized Edward Tufte's books, and honestly, we found human beings a lot less complicated," noted Amazon's Justin Tyme Beamme-Up.
Other observers have noted that transferring sentient beings to and from the Cloud could present substantial bandwidth bottlenecks. Real Story Group's Theresa Regli predicts particularly heavy strains on networks in North America.
The Human Cloud marketplace remains very immature, but established vendors have recently rolled out competitive offerings.
Longtime vendor Joylent has a new offering called "Joylent Green," a more eco-friendly Human Cloud service that reduces energy supply to the autonomic nervous system during non-business hours.
Another vendor, SalesForce.com, is experimenting with hosting actual salespeople. "It's great! Now I can get their loud voices and loud ties out of my office," said an executive at one satisfied beta customer.
Different types of Human Clouds have emerged, including public and private versions. "We host public clouds for your employees' faces, hands, and mouths, but we put their private parts in, well, a private cloud," said Stratto Cumulus, CMO of Rackspace, who confirmed the vendor had no plans to change its name.
Meanwhile, from Redmond comes news of the forthcoming release of Microsoft's Human Cloud offering. Microsoft's Vice-President of Information Worker Cloud Services revealed that the company's "ShareJoint 2011" offering will be released to beta during Q2 2014 under the slogan, "Where has your body gone today?"
Not every major Cloud vendor is sanguine about the human angle. For example, EMC has no near-term plans to release a Human Cloud service. "As a general rule, we don't like people," explained EMC spokesperson, Ms. Anthrope Hardisk.
Happy April Fool's Day!
Showing posts with label Brousseau. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brousseau. Show all posts
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Healthcare Standardization
Posted by Mark Brousseau
Standardization of industry practices is critical to the strength of the healthcare market. Lee Barrett, executive director of the Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC) explains:
As the healthcare industry continues to evolve to meet regulations and requirements outlined in ARRA, HITECH and HIPAA, more than ever, there’s need for standardization of industry practices and optimization of stakeholder cooperation. Coupled with the complex issues surrounding interoperability, privacy, security and access is the fact that healthcare networks, financial service firms, payer networks, e-Prescribing and other solution providers and vendors need to overtly demonstrate their readiness, competence and capability to address these issues and comply with a complex web of regulations.
When any industry goes through the process of defining the standards to which industry participants should adhere, that industry becomes stronger in its own operations and earns greater respect from affiliated and external stakeholders. This is precisely the case with the electronic healthcare transaction industry.
EHNAC, or the Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission, is focused on establishing, developing, updating and filtering the criteria that define whether organizations operating in the healthcare electronic transaction industry receive accreditation or not. Through a dialogic process, that builds on stakeholder recommendations, insights and comments, EHNAC develops and promotes criteria for best practices, which focus on simplifying administrative processes, maintaining open competition and enhancing operational integrity.
In January, EHNAC announced the finalization and adoption of program criteria for 2010. This announcement concluded a 60-day public comment period for the following programs:
1. ASPAP-EHR – Application Service Provider Accreditation Program for Electronic Health Records
2. ePAP – e-Prescribing Accreditation Program
3. FSAP EHN – Financial Services Accreditation Program for Electronic Health Networks
4. FSAP Lockbox – Financial Services Accreditation Program for Lockbox Services
5. HNAP EHN – Healthcare Network Accreditation Program for Electronic Health Networks
6. HNAP Medical Biller – Healthcare Network Accreditation Program for Medical Billers
7. HNAP TPA – Healthcare Network Accreditation Program for TPAs
8. HNAP-70 – Healthcare Network Accreditation Plus Select SAS 70© Criteria Program
9. OSAP – Outsourced Services Accreditation Program
In addition, the commission developed draft criteria for Health Information Exchange (HIE) entities. In February, this draft criteria was released for 60-day public comment and review and will be finalized during the second quarter 2010.
The issues addressed through the criteria review and approval process become increasingly complex, as the industry responds to specific provisions in the federal acts. Criteria for accreditation programs today address health data processing response times and security; privacy and confidentiality for financial service providers; and e-Prescribing timeliness and security. As regulatory guidelines become more complex, industry participants are called on to make sure their operations are simplified, secure and compliant.
Accreditation also simplifies the process of discerning between those who are adhering to industry standards, and those who are not.
Standardization of industry practices is critical to the strength of the healthcare market. Lee Barrett, executive director of the Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC) explains:
As the healthcare industry continues to evolve to meet regulations and requirements outlined in ARRA, HITECH and HIPAA, more than ever, there’s need for standardization of industry practices and optimization of stakeholder cooperation. Coupled with the complex issues surrounding interoperability, privacy, security and access is the fact that healthcare networks, financial service firms, payer networks, e-Prescribing and other solution providers and vendors need to overtly demonstrate their readiness, competence and capability to address these issues and comply with a complex web of regulations.
When any industry goes through the process of defining the standards to which industry participants should adhere, that industry becomes stronger in its own operations and earns greater respect from affiliated and external stakeholders. This is precisely the case with the electronic healthcare transaction industry.
EHNAC, or the Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission, is focused on establishing, developing, updating and filtering the criteria that define whether organizations operating in the healthcare electronic transaction industry receive accreditation or not. Through a dialogic process, that builds on stakeholder recommendations, insights and comments, EHNAC develops and promotes criteria for best practices, which focus on simplifying administrative processes, maintaining open competition and enhancing operational integrity.
In January, EHNAC announced the finalization and adoption of program criteria for 2010. This announcement concluded a 60-day public comment period for the following programs:
1. ASPAP-EHR – Application Service Provider Accreditation Program for Electronic Health Records
2. ePAP – e-Prescribing Accreditation Program
3. FSAP EHN – Financial Services Accreditation Program for Electronic Health Networks
4. FSAP Lockbox – Financial Services Accreditation Program for Lockbox Services
5. HNAP EHN – Healthcare Network Accreditation Program for Electronic Health Networks
6. HNAP Medical Biller – Healthcare Network Accreditation Program for Medical Billers
7. HNAP TPA – Healthcare Network Accreditation Program for TPAs
8. HNAP-70 – Healthcare Network Accreditation Plus Select SAS 70© Criteria Program
9. OSAP – Outsourced Services Accreditation Program
In addition, the commission developed draft criteria for Health Information Exchange (HIE) entities. In February, this draft criteria was released for 60-day public comment and review and will be finalized during the second quarter 2010.
The issues addressed through the criteria review and approval process become increasingly complex, as the industry responds to specific provisions in the federal acts. Criteria for accreditation programs today address health data processing response times and security; privacy and confidentiality for financial service providers; and e-Prescribing timeliness and security. As regulatory guidelines become more complex, industry participants are called on to make sure their operations are simplified, secure and compliant.
Accreditation also simplifies the process of discerning between those who are adhering to industry standards, and those who are not.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Safety on the Health Information Highway
Posted by Mark Brousseau
New HIE Accreditation could act as a safety signpost on the healthcare information highway. Lee Barrett, executive directory of the Electronic Healthcare Network Acceditation Commission (EHNAC) explains:
It’s almost impossible to imagine the engineers and architects behind the scenes of highway and road design and construction approaching their jobs without due concern for road-user safety. After all, building a transportation system and ensuring that its users are safe are intrinsically linked. So it is too with the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN). With the NHIN taking on more tangible form and function, the realities of enabling health information to be exchanged securely over the Internet take on new significance and dimension. More specifically, there are compelling concerns for the protection of patients whose records are disseminated throughout this electronic super-highway system.
The NHIN is built on a foundation of trust among all stakeholders in the system, so the major concerns relate to making sure that all stakeholders are equipped with the appropriate protocols in place, and that patient privacy, security and confidentiality are protected. There’s also the question of controlling stakeholder access to patient records and ensuring that the system is protected against breaches to the security of the Network. Without doubt, any breach of this system’s security would be nothing less than catastrophic, since a patient’s confidential records would become quickly available to a large population. Public trust is an intangible component of the NHIN, but it remains a fundamental priority for all stakeholders. If that trust is compromised, it’s difficult, if not impossible, to regain it.
The transmission of healthcare-related data among facilities, health information organizations (HIOs) and government standards, or Health Information Exchanges (HIEs), are integral components of the National Health Information Network. To meet national standards and requirements, HIE technology must enable reliable and secure transfer of data among diverse systems and also facilitate interoperability.
The fundamental definition of an HIE is that it exists to allow access to clinical data toward safer, timelier, more efficient and effective patient care. In effect, HIEs are the “on-ramps” to the NHIN, and like any transportations system, the safety of the entire system is a factor of the safety of these tributaries. With this in mind, HIE accreditation is essential to the success of the NHIN. In essence then, the safety of the HIE at the national level can only be ensured through an accreditation process.
The Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC), which established standard criteria for the accreditation of organizations that exchange healthcare data recognizes the broader significance of NHIN integrity and has developed a program that protects the integrity of HIEs. Designed for regional health information organizations (RHIOs), community health data/network partnerships and other groups that promote data sharing across multiple, independent stakeholders, EHNAC’s HIE accreditation program assesses the privacy policies, security measures, technical performance, business practices and organizational resources of participating entities.
In order to achieve ENHAC’s HIE accreditation, the HIE must have specific measures in place including:
... Policies for access to the exchange to ensure that those accessing the exchange are permitted users;
... Agreements to provide transparency, foster trust, and establish expectations among participants;
... Auditing and monitoring protocols to ensure that unauthorized access does not occur;
... User authentication to ensure that only the appropriate persons are accessing the exchange;
... Consumer consent policies to ensure consistent practices in obtaining consumer consent;
... Separate and distinguished databases that maintain specific information;
... Governance to oversee the activities of the HIE, and ensure that appropriate privacy and security standards are enforced;
... Private and confidential data maintenance, with appropriate measures to mitigate any potential violation or breach;
... Data is released following strict guidelines established to protect the privacy and security of the data in instances where the HIE engages in appropriate and purposeful secondary uses of data.
By having a national accreditation program for HIEs and HIO’s, stakeholders are held to high standards of accountability, efficiency, scalability and interoperability. Ultimately, this means greater assurance that patient security, privacy and confidentiality are protected and the integrity of the NHIN is preserved as the infrastructure of the electronic highway system is built.
New HIE Accreditation could act as a safety signpost on the healthcare information highway. Lee Barrett, executive directory of the Electronic Healthcare Network Acceditation Commission (EHNAC) explains:
It’s almost impossible to imagine the engineers and architects behind the scenes of highway and road design and construction approaching their jobs without due concern for road-user safety. After all, building a transportation system and ensuring that its users are safe are intrinsically linked. So it is too with the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN). With the NHIN taking on more tangible form and function, the realities of enabling health information to be exchanged securely over the Internet take on new significance and dimension. More specifically, there are compelling concerns for the protection of patients whose records are disseminated throughout this electronic super-highway system.
The NHIN is built on a foundation of trust among all stakeholders in the system, so the major concerns relate to making sure that all stakeholders are equipped with the appropriate protocols in place, and that patient privacy, security and confidentiality are protected. There’s also the question of controlling stakeholder access to patient records and ensuring that the system is protected against breaches to the security of the Network. Without doubt, any breach of this system’s security would be nothing less than catastrophic, since a patient’s confidential records would become quickly available to a large population. Public trust is an intangible component of the NHIN, but it remains a fundamental priority for all stakeholders. If that trust is compromised, it’s difficult, if not impossible, to regain it.
The transmission of healthcare-related data among facilities, health information organizations (HIOs) and government standards, or Health Information Exchanges (HIEs), are integral components of the National Health Information Network. To meet national standards and requirements, HIE technology must enable reliable and secure transfer of data among diverse systems and also facilitate interoperability.
The fundamental definition of an HIE is that it exists to allow access to clinical data toward safer, timelier, more efficient and effective patient care. In effect, HIEs are the “on-ramps” to the NHIN, and like any transportations system, the safety of the entire system is a factor of the safety of these tributaries. With this in mind, HIE accreditation is essential to the success of the NHIN. In essence then, the safety of the HIE at the national level can only be ensured through an accreditation process.
The Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC), which established standard criteria for the accreditation of organizations that exchange healthcare data recognizes the broader significance of NHIN integrity and has developed a program that protects the integrity of HIEs. Designed for regional health information organizations (RHIOs), community health data/network partnerships and other groups that promote data sharing across multiple, independent stakeholders, EHNAC’s HIE accreditation program assesses the privacy policies, security measures, technical performance, business practices and organizational resources of participating entities.
In order to achieve ENHAC’s HIE accreditation, the HIE must have specific measures in place including:
... Policies for access to the exchange to ensure that those accessing the exchange are permitted users;
... Agreements to provide transparency, foster trust, and establish expectations among participants;
... Auditing and monitoring protocols to ensure that unauthorized access does not occur;
... User authentication to ensure that only the appropriate persons are accessing the exchange;
... Consumer consent policies to ensure consistent practices in obtaining consumer consent;
... Separate and distinguished databases that maintain specific information;
... Governance to oversee the activities of the HIE, and ensure that appropriate privacy and security standards are enforced;
... Private and confidential data maintenance, with appropriate measures to mitigate any potential violation or breach;
... Data is released following strict guidelines established to protect the privacy and security of the data in instances where the HIE engages in appropriate and purposeful secondary uses of data.
By having a national accreditation program for HIEs and HIO’s, stakeholders are held to high standards of accountability, efficiency, scalability and interoperability. Ultimately, this means greater assurance that patient security, privacy and confidentiality are protected and the integrity of the NHIN is preserved as the infrastructure of the electronic highway system is built.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
A Compelling ROI for Document Management
By Mark Brousseau
Organizations hungry for productivity gains in light of the economic downturn will likely find a compelling return on investment from document capture solutions, Andrew Pery, chief marketing officer at Kofax said this morning during a keynote presentation at TAWPI’s Capture Conference.
“If document capture is looked at as part of your mission-critical business process, and you integrate that into your business applications, then the savings are quite significant and compelling,” Pery said.
One common measure of a return on investment calculation is the average total savings over three years, divided by the cost, Pery told attendees. What factors drive this return on investment?
… Breadth – “How many people will the application affect?”
… Repeatability – “How many times a day will people use it?”
… Cost – “Is this a costly task?”
… Collaboration – “Will employees need to collaborate?”
… Knowledge – “Can I reuse the information I create?”
“One of the most important metrics is the payback -- the time period needed before net savings equal initial cost,” Pery said. “Organizations tend to pay a lot of attention to this because the shorter the payback the higher the probability the project will be adopted,” Pery explained to attendees.
Key to this payback is productivity gains from reductions in cost (direct savings), expected reductions in cost, increases in worker productivity, and increases in manager productivity.
“When someone creates an ROI analysis, particularly in these tough economic times, the focus primarily is on direct savings,” Pery said. And this is a reason for the growth of document capture. “Document capture, in terms of annual growth potential, is expected to outperform virtually every other segment of the software market because users recognize the potential direct cost savings.”
For instance, the economic value of automating invoice processing is increased processing efficiencies, improved ability to audit, improved visibility across AP, and streamlined research.
The bottom line, Pery said is to choose products and services that consider document-driven process automation as a strategic investment.
What do you think? Post your comments below.
Organizations hungry for productivity gains in light of the economic downturn will likely find a compelling return on investment from document capture solutions, Andrew Pery, chief marketing officer at Kofax said this morning during a keynote presentation at TAWPI’s Capture Conference.
“If document capture is looked at as part of your mission-critical business process, and you integrate that into your business applications, then the savings are quite significant and compelling,” Pery said.
One common measure of a return on investment calculation is the average total savings over three years, divided by the cost, Pery told attendees. What factors drive this return on investment?
… Breadth – “How many people will the application affect?”
… Repeatability – “How many times a day will people use it?”
… Cost – “Is this a costly task?”
… Collaboration – “Will employees need to collaborate?”
… Knowledge – “Can I reuse the information I create?”
“One of the most important metrics is the payback -- the time period needed before net savings equal initial cost,” Pery said. “Organizations tend to pay a lot of attention to this because the shorter the payback the higher the probability the project will be adopted,” Pery explained to attendees.
Key to this payback is productivity gains from reductions in cost (direct savings), expected reductions in cost, increases in worker productivity, and increases in manager productivity.
“When someone creates an ROI analysis, particularly in these tough economic times, the focus primarily is on direct savings,” Pery said. And this is a reason for the growth of document capture. “Document capture, in terms of annual growth potential, is expected to outperform virtually every other segment of the software market because users recognize the potential direct cost savings.”
For instance, the economic value of automating invoice processing is increased processing efficiencies, improved ability to audit, improved visibility across AP, and streamlined research.
The bottom line, Pery said is to choose products and services that consider document-driven process automation as a strategic investment.
What do you think? Post your comments below.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Creating the Efficient Paperless Office
By Mark Brousseau
There’s a school of thought that the data capture and document imaging industry should have made more progress by now. “We’re talking about the same issues today that we were years ago,” Chris Preston of EMC Corporation said during a keynote presentation this morning at TAWPI’s Capture Conference in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. But the economic downturn may accelerate the pace of change.
“The technology has substantially improved, and we’re moving to the right direction, but we’re not getting the paper out of the organization entirely,” Preston told conference attendees. “The challenge is to more efficiently handle the paper once it’s in an organization.”
Preston noted that the economic downturn is driving the push to more efficiently handle paper. “What’s driving organizations are three basic things, and they will continue to drive organizations even in the recovery: reduce operating costs, better serve customers, and reduce risk,” Preston said.
“Organizations want to know how to deliver value faster, better, cheaper than before,” Preston said.
Preston pointed to a study conducted by EMC and The Economist that cited agility as the top priority for 88 percent of executives worldwide. “Agility is not just about speed, it’s about adaptability and the ability to adapt quickly,” Preston said, noting that agile companies grow revenues 30 percent faster according to the study. To improve agility, Preston said organizations must:
… Improve process efficiency (change management, outsourcing, automation and satisfaction)
… Improve knowledge management and information sharing processes
… Encourage and extend collaboration across the business and beyond
“Doing all of these things will provide a foundation for becoming a more agile company,” he said.
To this end, organizations are moving from an application approach to information-centric infrastructure, with a common, virtual pool of information that applications have access to, or contribute to. “This is what organizations are trying to aspire to,” Preston explained.
Standing in the way of this migration is information. “If you look at information, there is lots of it (1.8 zetabytes), it is mostly unstructured (95 percent), mostly unmanaged (85 percent), managed by organizations (85 percent), and becoming more regulated,” Preston said. “The consequences of not managing information are severe – everything from regulatory fines, impact on customer service.”
And the paper challenges facing organizations aren’t likely to change anytime soon. Preston noted that more than 20 millions of office paper is produced and consumed each year in the United States and Europe. “Paper is, and will continue to be, a critical component of business transactions. In order to drive efficiency you’ll have to find better ways to manage paper,” Preston told attendees.
“The opportunity is to look at document imaging and data capture to transform paper into business-ready information so the organization can do something with it,” Preston stated, adding that the greatest opportunity to reduce costs and enhance services lies in transactional content management.
What do you think? Post your comments below.
There’s a school of thought that the data capture and document imaging industry should have made more progress by now. “We’re talking about the same issues today that we were years ago,” Chris Preston of EMC Corporation said during a keynote presentation this morning at TAWPI’s Capture Conference in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. But the economic downturn may accelerate the pace of change.
“The technology has substantially improved, and we’re moving to the right direction, but we’re not getting the paper out of the organization entirely,” Preston told conference attendees. “The challenge is to more efficiently handle the paper once it’s in an organization.”
Preston noted that the economic downturn is driving the push to more efficiently handle paper. “What’s driving organizations are three basic things, and they will continue to drive organizations even in the recovery: reduce operating costs, better serve customers, and reduce risk,” Preston said.
“Organizations want to know how to deliver value faster, better, cheaper than before,” Preston said.
Preston pointed to a study conducted by EMC and The Economist that cited agility as the top priority for 88 percent of executives worldwide. “Agility is not just about speed, it’s about adaptability and the ability to adapt quickly,” Preston said, noting that agile companies grow revenues 30 percent faster according to the study. To improve agility, Preston said organizations must:
… Improve process efficiency (change management, outsourcing, automation and satisfaction)
… Improve knowledge management and information sharing processes
… Encourage and extend collaboration across the business and beyond
“Doing all of these things will provide a foundation for becoming a more agile company,” he said.
To this end, organizations are moving from an application approach to information-centric infrastructure, with a common, virtual pool of information that applications have access to, or contribute to. “This is what organizations are trying to aspire to,” Preston explained.
Standing in the way of this migration is information. “If you look at information, there is lots of it (1.8 zetabytes), it is mostly unstructured (95 percent), mostly unmanaged (85 percent), managed by organizations (85 percent), and becoming more regulated,” Preston said. “The consequences of not managing information are severe – everything from regulatory fines, impact on customer service.”
And the paper challenges facing organizations aren’t likely to change anytime soon. Preston noted that more than 20 millions of office paper is produced and consumed each year in the United States and Europe. “Paper is, and will continue to be, a critical component of business transactions. In order to drive efficiency you’ll have to find better ways to manage paper,” Preston told attendees.
“The opportunity is to look at document imaging and data capture to transform paper into business-ready information so the organization can do something with it,” Preston stated, adding that the greatest opportunity to reduce costs and enhance services lies in transactional content management.
What do you think? Post your comments below.
Slower Distributed Capture Growth?
By Mark Brousseau
Panelists at TAWPI’s Capture Conference admitted that they were surprised by the slowdown in growth of distributed capture solutions reported by TAWPI’s 2009 Document Management Study.
“When we looked at the report, we thought it was a very interesting statistic,” said Andrew Pery, chief marketing officer at Kofax, said during the panel discussion this morning in Ft. Lauderdale. “Based on our own experiences in the market, both distributed capture and remote capture are proliferating and there is increased adoption for both because of the benefits they provide.”
“The study shows that global and Fortune 500 companies are the primary users of distributed capture solutions with smaller firms using it in a more limited basis,” said Dana Showers of Capture Sage.
KeyMark CEO Jim Wanner told attendees that the recession has undoubtedly played a role in distributed capture “not taking off.” But Wanner said there is another issue within organizations that may be inhibiting growth: “There is a huge disconnect between the individuals responsible for scanning and the individuals making decisions on MFP devices. These individuals frequently don’t communicate effectively on how to solve the challenge of capture within the organization.’
The results of the TAWPI aside, the panelists saw growth ahead for distributed and remote capture.
“Distributed capture will continue to grow,” predicted Ken Kriz, manager of strategic alliances for AnyDoc Software. “But it can’t grow at its previous pace because it cannot overtake centralized scanning. Some organizations will utilize distributed capture, and some of them will not.”
“The use of Citrix has really taken off, which will help distributed processing,” Showers added.
Pery noted that despite the popularity of ATM banking, 63 percent of respondents to a recent study said they prefer to interact with a bank branch employee – illustrating that the ability to deploy remote capture solutions and multi-function devices are becoming more strategic. “We’re also seeing expanded use of capture at the fringes of the enterprise, such as with field agents,” he said.
Going forward, the panelists saw mobile phones as another remote input stream for images.
“High-production users won’t use cell phones to scan documents in the back office, but they might be one of the inputs into a high-production system,” Kriz told conference attendees.
What do you think? Post your comments below.
Panelists at TAWPI’s Capture Conference admitted that they were surprised by the slowdown in growth of distributed capture solutions reported by TAWPI’s 2009 Document Management Study.
“When we looked at the report, we thought it was a very interesting statistic,” said Andrew Pery, chief marketing officer at Kofax, said during the panel discussion this morning in Ft. Lauderdale. “Based on our own experiences in the market, both distributed capture and remote capture are proliferating and there is increased adoption for both because of the benefits they provide.”
“The study shows that global and Fortune 500 companies are the primary users of distributed capture solutions with smaller firms using it in a more limited basis,” said Dana Showers of Capture Sage.
KeyMark CEO Jim Wanner told attendees that the recession has undoubtedly played a role in distributed capture “not taking off.” But Wanner said there is another issue within organizations that may be inhibiting growth: “There is a huge disconnect between the individuals responsible for scanning and the individuals making decisions on MFP devices. These individuals frequently don’t communicate effectively on how to solve the challenge of capture within the organization.’
The results of the TAWPI aside, the panelists saw growth ahead for distributed and remote capture.
“Distributed capture will continue to grow,” predicted Ken Kriz, manager of strategic alliances for AnyDoc Software. “But it can’t grow at its previous pace because it cannot overtake centralized scanning. Some organizations will utilize distributed capture, and some of them will not.”
“The use of Citrix has really taken off, which will help distributed processing,” Showers added.
Pery noted that despite the popularity of ATM banking, 63 percent of respondents to a recent study said they prefer to interact with a bank branch employee – illustrating that the ability to deploy remote capture solutions and multi-function devices are becoming more strategic. “We’re also seeing expanded use of capture at the fringes of the enterprise, such as with field agents,” he said.
Going forward, the panelists saw mobile phones as another remote input stream for images.
“High-production users won’t use cell phones to scan documents in the back office, but they might be one of the inputs into a high-production system,” Kriz told conference attendees.
What do you think? Post your comments below.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
California Fast-Tracks Healthcare EDI
Posted by Mark Brousseau
California regulations for electronic workers' compensation billing slated for publication before end of this year are likely to see fast-tracked implementation, according to Jopari Solutions, a supplier of medical EDI connectivity and transmission for the property and casualty industry.
EBilling is a key initiative the California Insurance Commissioner and Division of Workers' Compensation officials say is essential, along with other benchmark recommendations, to streamline the state's workers' compensation system, rein in medical costs and keep employer costs down. This past week, the Commissioner rejected any recommended increase in California's workers' compensation pure premium rate.
California's eBill regulations will specify an 18-month phase-in period for workers' compensation payers to acquire the ability to process eBill transactions, after regulations get signed into law. n addition, California is adopting uniform electronic claim and remittance standards similar to those mandated in Texas and Minnesota, which are supported by national standards organizations.
Facilitating rapid transition by carriers is the fact that national and regional health care provider networks are eager to expand electronic bill submissions with payers into their California markets. A large percentage of local health care practices today also exchange electronic health insurance claims, payments and remittance, or have medical transaction ready EDI billing software. Compressed timely payment deadline for clean electronic bills under California eBill rules - fifteen days as opposed to forty-five days for uncontested paper bills - is another factor expected to put early pressure on carriers by their medical services trading partners.
As Jopari CEO JR "Steve" Stevens and veteran industry observer Peter Rousmaniere point out in a new whitepaper, The E-billing Transformation, the community of beneficiaries from the switch to electronic transmission of bills and supporting documentation, or attachments, goes beyond state agencies pushing for administrative simplification, better data and more stakeholder accountability. Stevens and Rousmaniere indicate, "Conventional transmission methods, heavily dependent on mail, faxing and scanning, impose delays and error rates which leading medical bill review firms estimate as upwards of 20 percent or more. Electronic submission largely sweeps away these defects." They explain that, "Claims payers should therefore approach e-billing not simply as a way of shaving the burdens of managing paper flow -- they should use e-billing to sweep away obstacles to improving the management of medical care."
Stevens and Rousmaniere conclude that payers undertaking early compliance initiatives will strengthen themselves competitively, both in California and nationally. Carriers slow to adopt electronic transmission methods, however, will remain burdened by antiquated workflow; unable to reduce delays and errors in the handling of medical information; and be handicapped in their attempts to control spiraling medical costs, they say.
What do you think?
California regulations for electronic workers' compensation billing slated for publication before end of this year are likely to see fast-tracked implementation, according to Jopari Solutions, a supplier of medical EDI connectivity and transmission for the property and casualty industry.
EBilling is a key initiative the California Insurance Commissioner and Division of Workers' Compensation officials say is essential, along with other benchmark recommendations, to streamline the state's workers' compensation system, rein in medical costs and keep employer costs down. This past week, the Commissioner rejected any recommended increase in California's workers' compensation pure premium rate.
California's eBill regulations will specify an 18-month phase-in period for workers' compensation payers to acquire the ability to process eBill transactions, after regulations get signed into law. n addition, California is adopting uniform electronic claim and remittance standards similar to those mandated in Texas and Minnesota, which are supported by national standards organizations.
Facilitating rapid transition by carriers is the fact that national and regional health care provider networks are eager to expand electronic bill submissions with payers into their California markets. A large percentage of local health care practices today also exchange electronic health insurance claims, payments and remittance, or have medical transaction ready EDI billing software. Compressed timely payment deadline for clean electronic bills under California eBill rules - fifteen days as opposed to forty-five days for uncontested paper bills - is another factor expected to put early pressure on carriers by their medical services trading partners.
As Jopari CEO JR "Steve" Stevens and veteran industry observer Peter Rousmaniere point out in a new whitepaper, The E-billing Transformation, the community of beneficiaries from the switch to electronic transmission of bills and supporting documentation, or attachments, goes beyond state agencies pushing for administrative simplification, better data and more stakeholder accountability. Stevens and Rousmaniere indicate, "Conventional transmission methods, heavily dependent on mail, faxing and scanning, impose delays and error rates which leading medical bill review firms estimate as upwards of 20 percent or more. Electronic submission largely sweeps away these defects." They explain that, "Claims payers should therefore approach e-billing not simply as a way of shaving the burdens of managing paper flow -- they should use e-billing to sweep away obstacles to improving the management of medical care."
Stevens and Rousmaniere conclude that payers undertaking early compliance initiatives will strengthen themselves competitively, both in California and nationally. Carriers slow to adopt electronic transmission methods, however, will remain burdened by antiquated workflow; unable to reduce delays and errors in the handling of medical information; and be handicapped in their attempts to control spiraling medical costs, they say.
What do you think?
Thursday, October 15, 2009
News from the ARMA Conference: Thursday
Posted by Mark Brousseau
Canon U.S.A. demonstrates its image capture technologies
Canon U.S.A., Inc., is showcasing its high-speed scanning devices at the 54th ARMA International Conference and Expo in Orlando. Also at this year’s show, Canon is offering a sneak preview of its newest imageFORMULA models -- the imageFORMULA P-150 Personal Scanner and imageFORMULA DR-2020U Universal Workgroup Scanner.
“As a recognized leader in scanning and image capture technologies, Canon is committed to providing advanced solutions to meet the needs of customers in all working environments,” said Jim Rosetta, vice president and general manager, Imaging Systems Group, Canon U.S.A. “Maintaining precise, accurate and organized records is an essential business practice that all companies must implement, and throughout this show, Canon will show how its leading technologies can help streamline the record-management process.”
Helping to address the ever-evolving and growing needs of managing information, files and records in the workplace, Canon will exhibit how its leading and award-winning image capture devices will assist organizations in developing and implementing a more streamlined, efficient method for records management. Products on display at the show include:
… imageFORMULA P-150 Personal Scanner
… imageFORMULA DR-2020U Universal Workgroup Scanner
… imageFORMULA DR-6010C Departmental Scanner
… imageFORMULA DR-7550C Production Scanner
… imageFORMULA DR-X10C Production Scanner
… imageFORMULA ScanFront 220P Network Scanner
At ARMA, Canon will have two solution software vendors, FileBound and I.R.I.S. Professional Solutions on display in its booth. FileBound will be showing its Filebound AP software, which streamlines accounts payable processes, running in conjunction with a customized Canon ScanFront 220P Network Scanner. I.R.I.S. will be showing its IRISPowerscan production scanning and OCR solution, running with a Canon DR-X10C Production Scanner.
Kodak showcases solutions that capture and preserve critical documents
Kodak’s experts will provide live document imaging product demonstrations in booth # 911 throughout ARMA ‘09, from Oct. 15-17 in Orlando.
According to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, businesses and organizations in the United States contribute to the annual growth of more than 4 trillion paper documents in existence. A call for stronger compliance and disaster recovery strategies increases the urgency for electronic records solutions to replace paper-based processes. Kodak’s technology and its network of value-added resellers (VARs) help various organizations establish a digital document infrastructure to preserve information for maximum accuracy and accessibility. Existing users include NASA, the GSA, the Massachusetts State Registry of Deeds, and other local and state government agencies.
“More than ever, it’s important to recognize the critical role that electronic information plays in advancing the capabilities of a business or organization,” said Roger Markham, Product and Channel Marketing Manager, US&C, Document Imaging, Kodak’s Business Solutions and Services Group. “The combined ability to preserve these digital records over a long period of time, as well as access to information on-demand, establishes a very strong foundation.”
Kodak’s says its booth showcases the advantages of combining capture hardware and software technology to help to create an effective capture and preservation platform. For example, KODAK Capture Pro Software, v 2.0, a software application with open compatibility for third-party scanners, as well as Open Database Connectivity (ODBC), makes it easier to input, validate and populate index fields. Kodak will demonstrate the software with its KODAK i780 Scanner and KODAK i1860 Scanner. Kodak will also display Capture Pro Software with a BÖWE BELL + HOWELL Ngenuity Scanner. BÖWE BELL + HOWELL Scanners are now a part of Kodak.
Archiving capabilities of the new KODAK i9600 Series Application Software will be demonstrated with the KODAK i750 Scanner, a hybrid capture and preservation solution that converts digital files such as PDF, PDF/A and MICROSOFT WORD documents to microfilm archival storage. The KODAK i9600 Series Application Software integrates seamlessly with virtually any scanner, the vendor says, making it easy for channel partners to customize solutions that meet long term (>500 years) regulatory and compliance requirements, without concern of system or software obsolescence. This makes it an ideal archiving partner for any digital storage system.
Kodak will also demonstrate its KODAK Scan Station 500 and KODAK i1320 Plus Scanner. The Scan Station 500, a networked scanner device, will be on display with a new user-friendly keyboard that extends the scanner’s ability to quickly and easily share digital information from a single machine. Other capabilities include its exclusive Voice Attachment feature that allows users to send digital files with an audio message. The KODAK i1320 Plus Scanner will demonstrate Kodak’s Smart Touch feature, which allows document sharing and distribution with the press of a single button.
“Kodak’s broad portfolio of capture hardware and software allows us to create scalable solutions that include hybrid capabilities for film-based archiving, as well as digital access,” said Robert Breslawski, ImageLink Media and Equipment Portfolio Manager, Document Imaging, Kodak’s Business Solutions and Services Group. “Kodak continues to work with its channel partners to help customers strengthen their capabilities for enhancing control over critical information from paper-based documents.”
Canon U.S.A. demonstrates its image capture technologies
Canon U.S.A., Inc., is showcasing its high-speed scanning devices at the 54th ARMA International Conference and Expo in Orlando. Also at this year’s show, Canon is offering a sneak preview of its newest imageFORMULA models -- the imageFORMULA P-150 Personal Scanner and imageFORMULA DR-2020U Universal Workgroup Scanner.
“As a recognized leader in scanning and image capture technologies, Canon is committed to providing advanced solutions to meet the needs of customers in all working environments,” said Jim Rosetta, vice president and general manager, Imaging Systems Group, Canon U.S.A. “Maintaining precise, accurate and organized records is an essential business practice that all companies must implement, and throughout this show, Canon will show how its leading technologies can help streamline the record-management process.”
Helping to address the ever-evolving and growing needs of managing information, files and records in the workplace, Canon will exhibit how its leading and award-winning image capture devices will assist organizations in developing and implementing a more streamlined, efficient method for records management. Products on display at the show include:
… imageFORMULA P-150 Personal Scanner
… imageFORMULA DR-2020U Universal Workgroup Scanner
… imageFORMULA DR-6010C Departmental Scanner
… imageFORMULA DR-7550C Production Scanner
… imageFORMULA DR-X10C Production Scanner
… imageFORMULA ScanFront 220P Network Scanner
At ARMA, Canon will have two solution software vendors, FileBound and I.R.I.S. Professional Solutions on display in its booth. FileBound will be showing its Filebound AP software, which streamlines accounts payable processes, running in conjunction with a customized Canon ScanFront 220P Network Scanner. I.R.I.S. will be showing its IRISPowerscan production scanning and OCR solution, running with a Canon DR-X10C Production Scanner.
Kodak showcases solutions that capture and preserve critical documents
Kodak’s experts will provide live document imaging product demonstrations in booth # 911 throughout ARMA ‘09, from Oct. 15-17 in Orlando.
According to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, businesses and organizations in the United States contribute to the annual growth of more than 4 trillion paper documents in existence. A call for stronger compliance and disaster recovery strategies increases the urgency for electronic records solutions to replace paper-based processes. Kodak’s technology and its network of value-added resellers (VARs) help various organizations establish a digital document infrastructure to preserve information for maximum accuracy and accessibility. Existing users include NASA, the GSA, the Massachusetts State Registry of Deeds, and other local and state government agencies.
“More than ever, it’s important to recognize the critical role that electronic information plays in advancing the capabilities of a business or organization,” said Roger Markham, Product and Channel Marketing Manager, US&C, Document Imaging, Kodak’s Business Solutions and Services Group. “The combined ability to preserve these digital records over a long period of time, as well as access to information on-demand, establishes a very strong foundation.”
Kodak’s says its booth showcases the advantages of combining capture hardware and software technology to help to create an effective capture and preservation platform. For example, KODAK Capture Pro Software, v 2.0, a software application with open compatibility for third-party scanners, as well as Open Database Connectivity (ODBC), makes it easier to input, validate and populate index fields. Kodak will demonstrate the software with its KODAK i780 Scanner and KODAK i1860 Scanner. Kodak will also display Capture Pro Software with a BÖWE BELL + HOWELL Ngenuity Scanner. BÖWE BELL + HOWELL Scanners are now a part of Kodak.
Archiving capabilities of the new KODAK i9600 Series Application Software will be demonstrated with the KODAK i750 Scanner, a hybrid capture and preservation solution that converts digital files such as PDF, PDF/A and MICROSOFT WORD documents to microfilm archival storage. The KODAK i9600 Series Application Software integrates seamlessly with virtually any scanner, the vendor says, making it easy for channel partners to customize solutions that meet long term (>500 years) regulatory and compliance requirements, without concern of system or software obsolescence. This makes it an ideal archiving partner for any digital storage system.
Kodak will also demonstrate its KODAK Scan Station 500 and KODAK i1320 Plus Scanner. The Scan Station 500, a networked scanner device, will be on display with a new user-friendly keyboard that extends the scanner’s ability to quickly and easily share digital information from a single machine. Other capabilities include its exclusive Voice Attachment feature that allows users to send digital files with an audio message. The KODAK i1320 Plus Scanner will demonstrate Kodak’s Smart Touch feature, which allows document sharing and distribution with the press of a single button.
“Kodak’s broad portfolio of capture hardware and software allows us to create scalable solutions that include hybrid capabilities for film-based archiving, as well as digital access,” said Robert Breslawski, ImageLink Media and Equipment Portfolio Manager, Document Imaging, Kodak’s Business Solutions and Services Group. “Kodak continues to work with its channel partners to help customers strengthen their capabilities for enhancing control over critical information from paper-based documents.”
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Succession Planning Strategies
Posted by Mark Brousseau
Transferring the Reins: Ensure Smooth Succession Planning in Times of Change
Transferring the Reins: Ensure Smooth Succession Planning in Times of Change
By Laurel B. Sanders, Optical Image Technology (publicrelations@docfinity.com)
Grooming new leaders is challenging. Increasingly it’s causing corporate unease. Executives nationwide are bracing for an unprecedented exodus of experienced leaders. Unfortunately, most aren’t prepared for the impending knowledge loss. Unique conditions are creating anxiety:
... Droves of Baby Boomers leaving the workplace.
... Downsizing and corporate realignments.
... Significant merger and acquisition activity.
... Younger managers favoring career paths over long-term corporate loyalty.
The current corporate landscape is comprised of 78% professional, administrative, technical, and clerical professions.1In federal agencies alone, 70% of senior managers will be eligible to retire by 2010.2 The corporate picture is similar.
Soon, masses of knowledge workers will reach the revolving doors. Before they do, we must establish systems to share institutional knowledge with future leaders and ensure the continuity our businesses need to succeed. If we don’t help our future leaders to fully understand the ‘what,’ ‘when,’ ‘where,’ ‘how,’ and ‘why’ of the businesses they will direct, costly mistakes will be made. Transferring knowledge is vital.
Tools for change
Business process management (BPM) software is a powerful tool for smooth succession planning. Rules-based software lets you standardize, streamline, and automate routine processes; ensure authorized persons can access work and related files; and provide needed guidance to complete tasks. BPM tackles the challenges of a mobile workforce, managing information efficiently and filling potential gaps between outgoing and incoming leaders and their staff.
1.Enforce organizational hierarchies
As part of an enterprise content management (ECM) system, BPM follows pre-established hierarchies for document approval, signing, and more. New leaders don’t have to worry about anyone overlooking policies, approvals, or required signatures. The watchful eyes of BPM ensure policies are enforced.
2. Ensure processing consistency
BPM syncs business rules with stored document information to automatically prioritize projects, collect approvals, process exceptions appropriately, and more. Intuitive user interfaces simplify task fulfillment, providing instructions at every turn.
3. Assign user rights appropriately
BPM follows institutional rules for file access, giving workers appropriate permissions as they carry out assigned tasks. By pre-determining which workers are authorized to access, annotate, forward, or otherwise interact with documents, customers are treated fairly and consistently. Work moves forward quickly.
4.Leverage information enterprise-wide
It takes time to comprehend the unique interrelationship of business processes when employees assume new positions. BPM respects institutional rules, securely pushing and pulling information across the enterprise wherever it’s useful ― accounting to HR, claims to policy servicing, contracts to payroll ― and maximizing information usefulness.
5.Address performance weaknesses
Productivity reporting gives managers valuable insight into incoming requests and employee output. Work is allocated or reassigned according to workload, project priority, absenteeism, and more. Leaders gain needed agility and can respond appropriately to changing conditions.
Plan for success
Long-term success requires careful planning. Avert future chaos and disaster by starting your knowledge transfer now. The approaching exodus can’t be stopped, but by putting the systems and information in place that your future leaders will need, you can ensure a smooth transition. Your company will be positioned to thrive in the face of change.
1 Bureau of Labor Statistics website, www.bls.gov.
2 HR Magazine, December 2007, “Plugging the Boomer Drain.”
News from the AFP Conference: Tuesday
Posted by Mark Brousseau
Bottomline Enhances Global Cash Management Platform
Today at the AFP Annual Conference in San Francisco, Bottomline Technologies announced new functionality for its WebSeries Global Cash Management platform, enabling banks to leverage industry standard messages for faster, more efficient cash reporting.
Through these new cash reporting capabilities, banks can send account statements and advices to corporate clients and correspondent banks. As the demand for real-time reporting among corporates and financial institutions continues to increase, WebSeries’ new functionality, which includes Nostro reporting, allows bank admin users to quickly and easily configure clients to receive statements and advices as needs and business requirements evolve.
“By leveraging industry standard messages, banks can quickly overcome many of the difficulties associated with efficient cash reporting. These new reporting capabilities are another example of Bottomline’s continuing commitment to helping banking customers support the needs of corporate clients through innovative features and functionality,” said Eric Campbell, Chief Technology Officer of Bottomline Technologies.
Bottomline Enhances Global Cash Management Platform
Today at the AFP Annual Conference in San Francisco, Bottomline Technologies announced new functionality for its WebSeries Global Cash Management platform, enabling banks to leverage industry standard messages for faster, more efficient cash reporting.
Through these new cash reporting capabilities, banks can send account statements and advices to corporate clients and correspondent banks. As the demand for real-time reporting among corporates and financial institutions continues to increase, WebSeries’ new functionality, which includes Nostro reporting, allows bank admin users to quickly and easily configure clients to receive statements and advices as needs and business requirements evolve.
“By leveraging industry standard messages, banks can quickly overcome many of the difficulties associated with efficient cash reporting. These new reporting capabilities are another example of Bottomline’s continuing commitment to helping banking customers support the needs of corporate clients through innovative features and functionality,” said Eric Campbell, Chief Technology Officer of Bottomline Technologies.
Corporate Treasuries Not Prepared for Unexpected Market Events
Posted by Mark Brousseau
At the AFP Conference in San Francisco today, Wall Street Systems (Wallstreet) released the survey findings of 46 of the leading US-headquartered Fortune 500 multinational corporate treasuries.
The top concerns were Counterparty Risk, 87% of respondents, and Cash Flow Forecasting with 28%. Startlingly, nearly 90% of corporate treasuries reported they still use manual processes such as spreadsheets to manage counterparty risk and cash flow forecasting. This means they are without the real-time view and information needed in uncertain environments. In the wake of the recent market collapse, manual processes are no longer acceptable for corporate treasury functions, according to survey respondents.
To further exacerbate the problem, Treasurers have traditionally relied on the credit rating agencies to provide their only measure of credit risk. Without question they can no longer rely on ratings as the only determinate of risk, and as a consequence they have cut their more risky exposures and moved to specific counterparties the government would view as ‘too big to fail’.
Treasurers are now in need of other tools to help them view and manage their counterparty exposure and ensure the group’s liquidity across the organisation, such as an integrated treasury management system – providing a real time view of exposure and liquidity on demand.
Mark Lewis, Director, Corporate Treasury, Wall Street Systems said: "Today the cost of making an investment in real time treasury technology, does not compare with the size of a possible loss caused by a failed counterparty. The opportunity to unwind the exposure prior to the failure could save the company millions, and is an essential point for proving the business case to the board."
The survey reveals that the once-accepted practice of spreadsheet management and other manual methods is no longer sufficient in today’s marketplace. Where treasury technology was once the provenance of mere cost savings, it is now required to provide an early warning system in the event of a market event and address shareholder demand and protect against large-scale failure.
At the AFP Conference in San Francisco today, Wall Street Systems (Wallstreet) released the survey findings of 46 of the leading US-headquartered Fortune 500 multinational corporate treasuries.
The top concerns were Counterparty Risk, 87% of respondents, and Cash Flow Forecasting with 28%. Startlingly, nearly 90% of corporate treasuries reported they still use manual processes such as spreadsheets to manage counterparty risk and cash flow forecasting. This means they are without the real-time view and information needed in uncertain environments. In the wake of the recent market collapse, manual processes are no longer acceptable for corporate treasury functions, according to survey respondents.
To further exacerbate the problem, Treasurers have traditionally relied on the credit rating agencies to provide their only measure of credit risk. Without question they can no longer rely on ratings as the only determinate of risk, and as a consequence they have cut their more risky exposures and moved to specific counterparties the government would view as ‘too big to fail’.
Treasurers are now in need of other tools to help them view and manage their counterparty exposure and ensure the group’s liquidity across the organisation, such as an integrated treasury management system – providing a real time view of exposure and liquidity on demand.
Mark Lewis, Director, Corporate Treasury, Wall Street Systems said: "Today the cost of making an investment in real time treasury technology, does not compare with the size of a possible loss caused by a failed counterparty. The opportunity to unwind the exposure prior to the failure could save the company millions, and is an essential point for proving the business case to the board."
The survey reveals that the once-accepted practice of spreadsheet management and other manual methods is no longer sufficient in today’s marketplace. Where treasury technology was once the provenance of mere cost savings, it is now required to provide an early warning system in the event of a market event and address shareholder demand and protect against large-scale failure.
CFOs and Treasurers Maintain Recessionary View
Posted by Mark Brousseau
Even as the U.S. economy has exhibited signs of stability in recent months, financial professionals have not seen solid evidence that business conditions have turned the corner.
The vast majority of attendees to the annual conference of the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) believe the U.S. economy remains in a recession, despite indications of economic growth in the third quarter. Their uncertain outlook for near-term business conditions parallels expectations that their organizations will not resume hiring or capital spending, which they had halted over the past year, according to an on-site survey conducted yesterday.
Just 11 percent of responding conference attendees -- which include CFOs, treasurers and other treasury and finance executives representing companies of a median size of $1.5 billion in annual revenues -- believe that the U.S. economy is out of the recession. The outlook for the near-term is not much more optimistic. Just 20 percent of survey respondents believe the recession will end before of the year while 69 percent expect the recession will continue well into 2010.
"AFP members have played a critical role in maintaining the financial stability of their organizations through the recession," said Jim Kaitz, president and CEO of AFP. "As we look ahead, AFP will continue to work with policymakers to ensure that financial regulatory reform is balanced and represents the needs of financial professionals. We are confident that responsible regulation will foster stable and secure financial markets."
Asked whether their organizations would be apt to increase or decrease payrolls in the next six months, nearly two-thirds of financial professionals say they expect to maintain payrolls at current levels. Of those responding, 22 percent expect company payrolls to shrink further while just 14 percent anticipate that their organization will resume hiring over the next six months.
Similarly, the overwhelming majority of survey respondents expect to either maintain or further cut capital spending over the next six months. Just 21 percent of financial professionals anticipate their organization will increase capital spending in the coming months.
As employment and capital spending have stabilized, so has their companies' access to capital. More than half of respondents indicate that their organizations' access to capital stabilized over the past six months. Further, the area where capital access may have improved is among companies that have utilized the debt markets -- 31 percent of organizations have had improved access to debt markets over the past six months. Access to banking lending has improved for 22 percent of respondents while a similar percentage report improvements in raising capital in the equity markets.
When asked about the greatest risk to their organization's ability to prosper in 2010, financial professionals were most likely to identify one of two threats: failure of consumer demand to materialize (30 percent) and the possibility of a double dip recession (28 percent). Consistent with the reported stability in capital markets above, only 12 percent of survey respondents see a loss of access to capital as the greatest risk to their organization.
Even as the U.S. economy has exhibited signs of stability in recent months, financial professionals have not seen solid evidence that business conditions have turned the corner.
The vast majority of attendees to the annual conference of the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) believe the U.S. economy remains in a recession, despite indications of economic growth in the third quarter. Their uncertain outlook for near-term business conditions parallels expectations that their organizations will not resume hiring or capital spending, which they had halted over the past year, according to an on-site survey conducted yesterday.
Just 11 percent of responding conference attendees -- which include CFOs, treasurers and other treasury and finance executives representing companies of a median size of $1.5 billion in annual revenues -- believe that the U.S. economy is out of the recession. The outlook for the near-term is not much more optimistic. Just 20 percent of survey respondents believe the recession will end before of the year while 69 percent expect the recession will continue well into 2010.
"AFP members have played a critical role in maintaining the financial stability of their organizations through the recession," said Jim Kaitz, president and CEO of AFP. "As we look ahead, AFP will continue to work with policymakers to ensure that financial regulatory reform is balanced and represents the needs of financial professionals. We are confident that responsible regulation will foster stable and secure financial markets."
Asked whether their organizations would be apt to increase or decrease payrolls in the next six months, nearly two-thirds of financial professionals say they expect to maintain payrolls at current levels. Of those responding, 22 percent expect company payrolls to shrink further while just 14 percent anticipate that their organization will resume hiring over the next six months.
Similarly, the overwhelming majority of survey respondents expect to either maintain or further cut capital spending over the next six months. Just 21 percent of financial professionals anticipate their organization will increase capital spending in the coming months.
As employment and capital spending have stabilized, so has their companies' access to capital. More than half of respondents indicate that their organizations' access to capital stabilized over the past six months. Further, the area where capital access may have improved is among companies that have utilized the debt markets -- 31 percent of organizations have had improved access to debt markets over the past six months. Access to banking lending has improved for 22 percent of respondents while a similar percentage report improvements in raising capital in the equity markets.
When asked about the greatest risk to their organization's ability to prosper in 2010, financial professionals were most likely to identify one of two threats: failure of consumer demand to materialize (30 percent) and the possibility of a double dip recession (28 percent). Consistent with the reported stability in capital markets above, only 12 percent of survey respondents see a loss of access to capital as the greatest risk to their organization.
Monday, October 5, 2009
News from the AFP Conference: Monday
Posted by Mark Brousseau
Garda Cash Logistics Offers “Virtual Vaults”
At the AFP Annual Conference in San Francisco today, Garda Cash Logistics announced it is partnering with Bluepoint Solutions to deliver image-based cash vault processing, including image capture and image exchange of deposits and payments.
“With the advent of Check 21, we realized we could offer our clients a cost-effective solution to help expand their footprints and reduce costs,” said Patricia Marr, Vice President of Product Management at Garda. “By expanding our existing vault services to include image-based cash logistic services, our clients can effectively capture and exchange images received through Garda’s vault network, significantly accelerating deposit capture, posting and presentment. Working with Bluepoint, vaults can now be accessed electronically.”
Working with Bluepoint, Garda’s virtual vaults have the capability to immediately scan, process and balance mixed deposits of both cash and check documents. In addition to check processing, Bluepoint supports the image capture of paper tickets used to issue credit for cash deposits or cash adjustments, giving Garda the ability to provide direct billing data to banks. Garda’s centralized deposit balancing process captures, truncates, balances and adjusts check deposits for each of its customers. Check images are then formatted as X9.37 files for posting or bank-to-bank image exchange. Managed in an ASP environment, Bluepoint manages and corrects any exceptions to immediately adjust and balance the received deposit. Within the vault checks are scanned and the images are sent to Bluepoint’s centralized server where items are repaired if needed and then immediately balanced. The consolidation of the check processing in an ASP environment enables highly trained personnel to manage this functionality – enabling the vaults to stay in balance.
“In today’s uncertain financial environment, a bank cannot afford to lose sight of its core competencies – growing its deposit base and improving customer service,” said Hal Tilbury, president and CEO of Bluepoint Solutions. “Garda’s image-based virtual vault solution enables financial institutions to increase funds availability, expand geographically and more accurately manage deposits – all without adding additional resources. Specifically, this service helps banks attract and better serve commercial customers.”
US Dataworks Showcases Enterprise Payments Platform
US Dataworks is showcasing its enterprise payments platform, Clearingworks, this week at the AFP Annual Conference.
By using Clearingworks to automate multi-channel transaction processing and clearing, US Dataworks says organizations can significantly improve operational efficiency, reduce cost and more effectively manage converging paper-based and electronic payments processes -- all key requirements in our challenging economy.
Visitors to the US Dataworks expo booth (No. 314) can meet company representatives and see an overview of Clearingworks, including its components for ACH, WEB, Tel and remittance processing, check processing, payments decisioning, and returns management.
"US Dataworks' enterprise payments platform is flexible, enables continuous change and provides financial institutions and service bureaus with the infrastructure to better manage their entire transaction environment," commented US Dataworks President and COO Mario Villarreal. "Banks and billers currently face tremendous pressures to upgrade their payments platforms to handle the ever-expanding variety of emerging payment channels, all under limited budgets. The good news is that Clearingworks is a proven solution to simplify complex payment collections processing and reduce costs."
"US Dataworks is uniquely positioned to help banks, billers and service providers reduce payments processing and clearing costs and improve operational efficiency," said Villarreal. "No other company has the full range of capabilities that banks and billers need to streamline the entire transaction lifecycle, including payments processing, check processing, payments, remote deposit capture, payments decisioning and routing, and returns management."
3i Infotech, Regulus and J&B Showcase Revenue Chain Solutions
3i Infotech, Regulus Group and J&B Software are demonstrating how to uncover total cost of ownership savings within the corporate revenue chain at the AFP Annual Conference in San Francisco this week. The companies are exhibiting their billing, remittance processing, imaging, remote capture, electronic deposit and other products and services at the show.
By taking a consultative approach to evaluating a company’s cash collection processes, 3i Infotech says its companies not only uncover areas of inefficiency and cost savings, but deliver solutions for all parts of the entire revenue chain, whether the need is for outsourced, in-house, hybrid or managed solutions. And since these solutions come from a single vendor, management is simplified and management expenses are greatly reduced, 3i Infotech says.
“Because of the importance of the revenue cycle process to an organization, many companies become so focused on their day-to-day treasury operations that they often miss the savings opportunities in front of them,” said Kathy Hamburger, CEO and president of 3i Infotech, North America. “3i Infotech delivers a full suite of revenue chain solutions, not just one or two pieces, so we understand that the impact of the end-to-end revenue chain extends well beyond the treasury department to include finance, marketing, customer service and more. We help companies find ways to improve processes and reduce total cost of ownership from the production floor to the executive suite.”
Garda Cash Logistics Offers “Virtual Vaults”
At the AFP Annual Conference in San Francisco today, Garda Cash Logistics announced it is partnering with Bluepoint Solutions to deliver image-based cash vault processing, including image capture and image exchange of deposits and payments.
“With the advent of Check 21, we realized we could offer our clients a cost-effective solution to help expand their footprints and reduce costs,” said Patricia Marr, Vice President of Product Management at Garda. “By expanding our existing vault services to include image-based cash logistic services, our clients can effectively capture and exchange images received through Garda’s vault network, significantly accelerating deposit capture, posting and presentment. Working with Bluepoint, vaults can now be accessed electronically.”
Working with Bluepoint, Garda’s virtual vaults have the capability to immediately scan, process and balance mixed deposits of both cash and check documents. In addition to check processing, Bluepoint supports the image capture of paper tickets used to issue credit for cash deposits or cash adjustments, giving Garda the ability to provide direct billing data to banks. Garda’s centralized deposit balancing process captures, truncates, balances and adjusts check deposits for each of its customers. Check images are then formatted as X9.37 files for posting or bank-to-bank image exchange. Managed in an ASP environment, Bluepoint manages and corrects any exceptions to immediately adjust and balance the received deposit. Within the vault checks are scanned and the images are sent to Bluepoint’s centralized server where items are repaired if needed and then immediately balanced. The consolidation of the check processing in an ASP environment enables highly trained personnel to manage this functionality – enabling the vaults to stay in balance.
“In today’s uncertain financial environment, a bank cannot afford to lose sight of its core competencies – growing its deposit base and improving customer service,” said Hal Tilbury, president and CEO of Bluepoint Solutions. “Garda’s image-based virtual vault solution enables financial institutions to increase funds availability, expand geographically and more accurately manage deposits – all without adding additional resources. Specifically, this service helps banks attract and better serve commercial customers.”
US Dataworks Showcases Enterprise Payments Platform
US Dataworks is showcasing its enterprise payments platform, Clearingworks, this week at the AFP Annual Conference.
By using Clearingworks to automate multi-channel transaction processing and clearing, US Dataworks says organizations can significantly improve operational efficiency, reduce cost and more effectively manage converging paper-based and electronic payments processes -- all key requirements in our challenging economy.
Visitors to the US Dataworks expo booth (No. 314) can meet company representatives and see an overview of Clearingworks, including its components for ACH, WEB, Tel and remittance processing, check processing, payments decisioning, and returns management.
"US Dataworks' enterprise payments platform is flexible, enables continuous change and provides financial institutions and service bureaus with the infrastructure to better manage their entire transaction environment," commented US Dataworks President and COO Mario Villarreal. "Banks and billers currently face tremendous pressures to upgrade their payments platforms to handle the ever-expanding variety of emerging payment channels, all under limited budgets. The good news is that Clearingworks is a proven solution to simplify complex payment collections processing and reduce costs."
"US Dataworks is uniquely positioned to help banks, billers and service providers reduce payments processing and clearing costs and improve operational efficiency," said Villarreal. "No other company has the full range of capabilities that banks and billers need to streamline the entire transaction lifecycle, including payments processing, check processing, payments, remote deposit capture, payments decisioning and routing, and returns management."
3i Infotech, Regulus and J&B Showcase Revenue Chain Solutions
3i Infotech, Regulus Group and J&B Software are demonstrating how to uncover total cost of ownership savings within the corporate revenue chain at the AFP Annual Conference in San Francisco this week. The companies are exhibiting their billing, remittance processing, imaging, remote capture, electronic deposit and other products and services at the show.
By taking a consultative approach to evaluating a company’s cash collection processes, 3i Infotech says its companies not only uncover areas of inefficiency and cost savings, but deliver solutions for all parts of the entire revenue chain, whether the need is for outsourced, in-house, hybrid or managed solutions. And since these solutions come from a single vendor, management is simplified and management expenses are greatly reduced, 3i Infotech says.
“Because of the importance of the revenue cycle process to an organization, many companies become so focused on their day-to-day treasury operations that they often miss the savings opportunities in front of them,” said Kathy Hamburger, CEO and president of 3i Infotech, North America. “3i Infotech delivers a full suite of revenue chain solutions, not just one or two pieces, so we understand that the impact of the end-to-end revenue chain extends well beyond the treasury department to include finance, marketing, customer service and more. We help companies find ways to improve processes and reduce total cost of ownership from the production floor to the executive suite.”
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Banks Target Gen Y
Posted by Mark Brousseau
After failing to develop strong relationships with older consumers, banks are now turning to Generation Y -- with its emerging demand for banking products -- as a source of growth in a weak economy. In addition, banks have an opportunity to start fresh and avoid the relationship sins they have committed in the past. Gen Yers' trust in banks is slipping, however. Only 14 percent of Gen Yers report that their trust in their primary bank has increased over the past year, while 22 percent say that their trust level has decreased over that time frame.
"Banks must avoid alienating Gen Yers as they did older consumers," says Ron Shevlin, senior analyst with Aite Group and author of this report. "Building strong banking relationships with Gen Yers involves getting them engaged with their financial lives and financial providers. Social networks and the online channel will be insufficient in accomplishing this. The tactics and strategies for winning Gen Yers' business must be cross-channel and even cross-family."
What do you think? Post your comments below.
After failing to develop strong relationships with older consumers, banks are now turning to Generation Y -- with its emerging demand for banking products -- as a source of growth in a weak economy. In addition, banks have an opportunity to start fresh and avoid the relationship sins they have committed in the past. Gen Yers' trust in banks is slipping, however. Only 14 percent of Gen Yers report that their trust in their primary bank has increased over the past year, while 22 percent say that their trust level has decreased over that time frame.
"Banks must avoid alienating Gen Yers as they did older consumers," says Ron Shevlin, senior analyst with Aite Group and author of this report. "Building strong banking relationships with Gen Yers involves getting them engaged with their financial lives and financial providers. Social networks and the online channel will be insufficient in accomplishing this. The tactics and strategies for winning Gen Yers' business must be cross-channel and even cross-family."
What do you think? Post your comments below.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Choosing the Right Outsourced Services Provider
By Mark Brousseau
What distinguishes a quality outsourced services provider from the also-rans? According to Nancy Gessmann, senior vice president, Enterprise Solutions, for CDS Global (ngessmann@cds-global.com), a key factor is that they are constantly looking for ways to improve or enhance their clients’ business processes.
“Quality outsource providers understand and embrace the business needs of their customers. They are always on the lookout for value-added services and process improvements to help their clients,” Gessmann tells me. “These providers partner with their clients to become an extension of their business. They also reinvest in themselves and their clients’ processes, in turn, helping to grow the business.”
Gessmann adds that a good outsourcing partner should have at least a high-level understanding of a client’s business and their work processes. “There are some processes that don’t necessarily require an in-depth level of understanding, such as repeatable processes,” she says. “But with the right outsource provider, the outsourced services should be invisible to your customer or your customer’s customer.”
And there will be some business processes that an outsource provider may be better suited to fulfilling than your in-house operations, she said, noting an outsource provider might have advanced technology.
Other attributes Gessmann says companies should look for in an outsourcing partner include:
... Financial stability
... Staff experience and expertise
... Best of breed operational and technology systems
What do you think?
What distinguishes a quality outsourced services provider from the also-rans? According to Nancy Gessmann, senior vice president, Enterprise Solutions, for CDS Global (ngessmann@cds-global.com), a key factor is that they are constantly looking for ways to improve or enhance their clients’ business processes.
“Quality outsource providers understand and embrace the business needs of their customers. They are always on the lookout for value-added services and process improvements to help their clients,” Gessmann tells me. “These providers partner with their clients to become an extension of their business. They also reinvest in themselves and their clients’ processes, in turn, helping to grow the business.”
Gessmann adds that a good outsourcing partner should have at least a high-level understanding of a client’s business and their work processes. “There are some processes that don’t necessarily require an in-depth level of understanding, such as repeatable processes,” she says. “But with the right outsource provider, the outsourced services should be invisible to your customer or your customer’s customer.”
And there will be some business processes that an outsource provider may be better suited to fulfilling than your in-house operations, she said, noting an outsource provider might have advanced technology.
Other attributes Gessmann says companies should look for in an outsourcing partner include:
... Financial stability
... Staff experience and expertise
... Best of breed operational and technology systems
What do you think?
Friday, August 7, 2009
Hidden Benefits of Outsourcing
When most organizations consider outsourcing, Mike Smith of SourceCorp says the most obvious benefits come to mind:
... Cost containment through labor savings
... Increased accountability
... Leveraging the provider's extensive investment in technology, methodologies and people
... Reassignment and better management of in-house labor
Smith says more savvy organizations recognize that there are a myriad of less obvious, but just as vital, benefits, including:
... Reduction of overall management burden
... Access to specialized skills and industry best practices
... Improved credibility and images by associating with superior providers
... Increased flexibility to meet changing business requirements
... Improved internal management
... Increased security
"Given the capabilities present in today's marketplace, major outsourcing firms offer extremely high levels of security that oftentimes outperform those of the organizations seeking to engage their services," Smith says, adding that usually security is a perceived risk to outsourcing, but is not in actuality.
What do you think? Post your comments below.
... Cost containment through labor savings
... Increased accountability
... Leveraging the provider's extensive investment in technology, methodologies and people
... Reassignment and better management of in-house labor
Smith says more savvy organizations recognize that there are a myriad of less obvious, but just as vital, benefits, including:
... Reduction of overall management burden
... Access to specialized skills and industry best practices
... Improved credibility and images by associating with superior providers
... Increased flexibility to meet changing business requirements
... Improved internal management
... Increased security
"Given the capabilities present in today's marketplace, major outsourcing firms offer extremely high levels of security that oftentimes outperform those of the organizations seeking to engage their services," Smith says, adding that usually security is a perceived risk to outsourcing, but is not in actuality.
What do you think? Post your comments below.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Money-Saving Strategies
By Mark Brousseau
During the interactive roundtable luncheon at the 2009 TAWPI Forum & Expo in Washington, D.C. this week, attendees shared the best money-saving strategies they have implemented in the past year.
Below are some of the best ideas.
... Take good care of your scanner maintenance technician and they will reciprocate.
... Use of early tracking of customer replies to mailings in transit can help you avoid the cost associated with sending second notices
... Consolidate IT archive solutions; getting rid of outdated technology can save you big bucks
... Use slightly slower (and less expensive) disk storage in place of ultra high-speed archiving
... Enable internal and external end-users to access your archive to eliminate the need for dedicated back-office staff to handle all archive requests
... Ensure that personnel initiatives are team-based, not individual-based
... Take a hard look at open source technologies for IT back-office functions; they work fine and saved one end-user hundreds of thousands of dollars a year
... Educate your staff on the cost -- and potential impact -- of errors; other strategies for reducing errors: send errors back to the "team" that created them, have personnel who don't make mistakes mentor others, and don't be afraid to look at even small errors with relatively smaller savings
... Implement a program to recognize your best performers; symbolism helps
... Use a MICR database or other account lookup technology to reduce data entry requirements
... When shopping for an ECM solution, make sure its functionality is aligned with your business needs; you shouldn't buy features you don't plan to use
... Leverage the Internet to drive improvements in reject processing
... Move to image cash letters (ICLs) to eliminate daily trips to the bank branch
... Adjust your staffing to reduce the money you need to pay out for shift differentials
... Implement Lean Six Sigma
... Move to electronic signatures to save time and to reduce the number of documents required
... Adjust end-user pricing to further incentivize them to move to more efficient processing methods
... Consider remote keying with recognition technology
... Never pass up a free lunch -- definitely attend the interactive roundtable lunch each year
During the interactive roundtable luncheon at the 2009 TAWPI Forum & Expo in Washington, D.C. this week, attendees shared the best money-saving strategies they have implemented in the past year.
Below are some of the best ideas.
... Take good care of your scanner maintenance technician and they will reciprocate.
... Use of early tracking of customer replies to mailings in transit can help you avoid the cost associated with sending second notices
... Consolidate IT archive solutions; getting rid of outdated technology can save you big bucks
... Use slightly slower (and less expensive) disk storage in place of ultra high-speed archiving
... Enable internal and external end-users to access your archive to eliminate the need for dedicated back-office staff to handle all archive requests
... Ensure that personnel initiatives are team-based, not individual-based
... Take a hard look at open source technologies for IT back-office functions; they work fine and saved one end-user hundreds of thousands of dollars a year
... Educate your staff on the cost -- and potential impact -- of errors; other strategies for reducing errors: send errors back to the "team" that created them, have personnel who don't make mistakes mentor others, and don't be afraid to look at even small errors with relatively smaller savings
... Implement a program to recognize your best performers; symbolism helps
... Use a MICR database or other account lookup technology to reduce data entry requirements
... When shopping for an ECM solution, make sure its functionality is aligned with your business needs; you shouldn't buy features you don't plan to use
... Leverage the Internet to drive improvements in reject processing
... Move to image cash letters (ICLs) to eliminate daily trips to the bank branch
... Adjust your staffing to reduce the money you need to pay out for shift differentials
... Implement Lean Six Sigma
... Move to electronic signatures to save time and to reduce the number of documents required
... Adjust end-user pricing to further incentivize them to move to more efficient processing methods
... Consider remote keying with recognition technology
... Never pass up a free lunch -- definitely attend the interactive roundtable lunch each year
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Regulations, Outsourcing Top Industry Trends
By Mark Brousseau
As TAWPI prepares to raise the curtain on its annual Forum & Expo in Washington, D.C. next week, payments and document management operations executives are grappling with mounting regulations, industry-wide over capacity, and pressure from senior management to outsource.
"As a result of the industry scandals, bank and broker/dealer failures, and stock market decline, increased financial services regulations are likely," says Edward Kinsella, second vice president, transfer agent, for John Hancock Financial Services (ekinsella@jhancock.com). "Companies will need to find ways to quickly and efficiently adhere to these new requirements," he warns.
Kinsella says the financial services industry also is facing significant over capacity. "This will likely lead to consolidation, and mergers and acquisitions," Kinsella says. "Companies will be challenged to combine their operations to broaden their product offerings, increase profit margins, reduce expenses, and create new efficiencies and economies of scale," Kinsella adds.
Kinsella also sees a greater push towards outsourcing: "As a result of the economic slowdown, companies are focusing on their core competencies and looking to outsource functions and processes that can be handled by third-parties. Companies must steer clear of functions that distract them from their core competency, or can be handled more cost effectively by others."
Mike Reynolds, executive vice president and director of sales and marketing at Cash Management Solutions, Inc. (mike.reynolds@cashmgmt.com), sees continued interest in outsourcing across all levels of financial institutions. "This is being driven by economics, cost pressures, footprint considerations, and platform replacement decisions," he says, noting that many banks are struggling with whether they should invest in newer lockbox technology. "Innovative banks are exploring combinations of outsourcing and in-house processing."
John Kincade, vice president of business development for J&B Software, Inc. (johnki@jbsoftware.com) also expects increasing customer interest in "hybrid" outsourcing solutions where the customer keeps some of its more strategic payment vehicles in-house, and outsources the labor-intensive functions. "Vendors will have to provide modular solutions that allow this," Kincade says.
Mark Stevens, president and CEO of Moorestown, NJ-based OPEX Corporation (mstevens@opex.com), expects significant consolidation in the retail lockbox market. "There are fewer and fewer companies doing this kind of work," Stevens says. "I believe that we will see three or four companies as the 'last man standing' in this space."
Kinsella says oversight and risk management is critical to the success of outsourcing.
Reynolds notes that for operations that stay in-house, the focus is on improving efficiency and productivity by taking a hard look at existing workflows, technologies, and analyzing staffing and capacity models.
“Companies are driving the last ounce of expense from the business as they strive to meet Wall Street targets,” agrees Bob Young of Manasquan, NJ (lcpard77@verizon.net). “The latest round of earnings releases the past few weeks prove this point.” Payments processing executives are challenged with finding ways to use their current technology – software and hardware – to make their operations more efficient, to satisfy upper management, Young added. “I have to think that the purchase of new processing systems is a low priority, given the economy.”
Reynolds adds that everyone -- service providers, technology vendors and end-user customers -- are seemingly squeezing each other on pricing. "I'm seeing renegotiation initiatives on almost every front as organizations try to better align pricing with volume and product deliverables," Reynolds says, adding that he hopes this eases as the economy improves.
As part of the push to reduce costs and gain operations efficiencies, Stevens believes shared services will become a hot topic. "We are seeing several remittance shops with scanners looking to do AP work for their organizations," Stevens said, adding that he expects this trend to continue.
Similarly, Kincade believes the convergence of forms and payments processing will accelerate next year, with customers moving to more sophisticated correspondence management systems. In some applications, payments can accompany correspondence 30 to 50 percent of the time, Kincade notes.
What do you think? Post your comments below.
As TAWPI prepares to raise the curtain on its annual Forum & Expo in Washington, D.C. next week, payments and document management operations executives are grappling with mounting regulations, industry-wide over capacity, and pressure from senior management to outsource.
"As a result of the industry scandals, bank and broker/dealer failures, and stock market decline, increased financial services regulations are likely," says Edward Kinsella, second vice president, transfer agent, for John Hancock Financial Services (ekinsella@jhancock.com). "Companies will need to find ways to quickly and efficiently adhere to these new requirements," he warns.
Kinsella says the financial services industry also is facing significant over capacity. "This will likely lead to consolidation, and mergers and acquisitions," Kinsella says. "Companies will be challenged to combine their operations to broaden their product offerings, increase profit margins, reduce expenses, and create new efficiencies and economies of scale," Kinsella adds.
Kinsella also sees a greater push towards outsourcing: "As a result of the economic slowdown, companies are focusing on their core competencies and looking to outsource functions and processes that can be handled by third-parties. Companies must steer clear of functions that distract them from their core competency, or can be handled more cost effectively by others."
Mike Reynolds, executive vice president and director of sales and marketing at Cash Management Solutions, Inc. (mike.reynolds@cashmgmt.com), sees continued interest in outsourcing across all levels of financial institutions. "This is being driven by economics, cost pressures, footprint considerations, and platform replacement decisions," he says, noting that many banks are struggling with whether they should invest in newer lockbox technology. "Innovative banks are exploring combinations of outsourcing and in-house processing."
John Kincade, vice president of business development for J&B Software, Inc. (johnki@jbsoftware.com) also expects increasing customer interest in "hybrid" outsourcing solutions where the customer keeps some of its more strategic payment vehicles in-house, and outsources the labor-intensive functions. "Vendors will have to provide modular solutions that allow this," Kincade says.
Mark Stevens, president and CEO of Moorestown, NJ-based OPEX Corporation (mstevens@opex.com), expects significant consolidation in the retail lockbox market. "There are fewer and fewer companies doing this kind of work," Stevens says. "I believe that we will see three or four companies as the 'last man standing' in this space."
Kinsella says oversight and risk management is critical to the success of outsourcing.
Reynolds notes that for operations that stay in-house, the focus is on improving efficiency and productivity by taking a hard look at existing workflows, technologies, and analyzing staffing and capacity models.
“Companies are driving the last ounce of expense from the business as they strive to meet Wall Street targets,” agrees Bob Young of Manasquan, NJ (lcpard77@verizon.net). “The latest round of earnings releases the past few weeks prove this point.” Payments processing executives are challenged with finding ways to use their current technology – software and hardware – to make their operations more efficient, to satisfy upper management, Young added. “I have to think that the purchase of new processing systems is a low priority, given the economy.”
Reynolds adds that everyone -- service providers, technology vendors and end-user customers -- are seemingly squeezing each other on pricing. "I'm seeing renegotiation initiatives on almost every front as organizations try to better align pricing with volume and product deliverables," Reynolds says, adding that he hopes this eases as the economy improves.
As part of the push to reduce costs and gain operations efficiencies, Stevens believes shared services will become a hot topic. "We are seeing several remittance shops with scanners looking to do AP work for their organizations," Stevens said, adding that he expects this trend to continue.
Similarly, Kincade believes the convergence of forms and payments processing will accelerate next year, with customers moving to more sophisticated correspondence management systems. In some applications, payments can accompany correspondence 30 to 50 percent of the time, Kincade notes.
What do you think? Post your comments below.
Federal Red Flags Rule Goes Into Effect August 1
Posted by Mark Brousseau
Beginning Aug. 1, 2009, hospitals and health care providers that extend any sort of credit to their customers - even something as simple as sending a bill at the end of the month - will need to have a documented, board-approved Red Flag compliance strategy in place to help combat medical identity theft.
Grant Thornton, LLP notes that the Red Flags Rule, a component of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Act signed into law in December 2003, requires that financial institutions and creditors in a number of industries implement a plan to identify, detect and respond to attempts to use stolen identity information.
"This rule is completely different from policies you have in place to protect sensitive information," says Randy Green, a principal in Grant Thornton LLP's Advisory Services group. "Instead, this regulation is designed to prevent thieves who have somehow acquired another person's identity - via medical records or otherwise - from using it to commit fraud. The rule requires you to identify all of the indicators that might tip you off to possible identity theft, implement appropriate preventive and detective controls, and react appropriately."
While the Rule has been in effect since November 2008, enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will begin Aug. 1 of this year. Initially, the FTC may assess retroactive penalties for violations, require additional compliance reporting from companies and obtain an injunctive compliance order. Further violations could result in a visit to federal district court and a fine of up to $16,000 per individual occurrence of identity theft.
"After Aug. 1, 2009, any occurrence of medical identity theft at your hospital or business exposes you to an FTC investigation," said Green. "We believe that enforcement of this rule will be complaint-driven, and given the staggering number of identity thefts, there will be no shortage of complaints."
"In summary, the Red Flags Rule is likely to become the standard of care that all hospitals and health care providers will need to provide to prevent medical identity theft," concluded Green. "Skipping red flags compliance will expose you to real regulatory, reputational and litigation risks."
How has your organization prepared for the Red Flags Rule?
Beginning Aug. 1, 2009, hospitals and health care providers that extend any sort of credit to their customers - even something as simple as sending a bill at the end of the month - will need to have a documented, board-approved Red Flag compliance strategy in place to help combat medical identity theft.
Grant Thornton, LLP notes that the Red Flags Rule, a component of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Act signed into law in December 2003, requires that financial institutions and creditors in a number of industries implement a plan to identify, detect and respond to attempts to use stolen identity information.
"This rule is completely different from policies you have in place to protect sensitive information," says Randy Green, a principal in Grant Thornton LLP's Advisory Services group. "Instead, this regulation is designed to prevent thieves who have somehow acquired another person's identity - via medical records or otherwise - from using it to commit fraud. The rule requires you to identify all of the indicators that might tip you off to possible identity theft, implement appropriate preventive and detective controls, and react appropriately."
While the Rule has been in effect since November 2008, enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will begin Aug. 1 of this year. Initially, the FTC may assess retroactive penalties for violations, require additional compliance reporting from companies and obtain an injunctive compliance order. Further violations could result in a visit to federal district court and a fine of up to $16,000 per individual occurrence of identity theft.
"After Aug. 1, 2009, any occurrence of medical identity theft at your hospital or business exposes you to an FTC investigation," said Green. "We believe that enforcement of this rule will be complaint-driven, and given the staggering number of identity thefts, there will be no shortage of complaints."
"In summary, the Red Flags Rule is likely to become the standard of care that all hospitals and health care providers will need to provide to prevent medical identity theft," concluded Green. "Skipping red flags compliance will expose you to real regulatory, reputational and litigation risks."
How has your organization prepared for the Red Flags Rule?
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Digital Healthcare
By Mark Brousseau
There’s a lot of talk these days – driven largely by the Obama Administration – about electronic medical records and the potential cost savings that they could provide to the healthcare industry. The 2009 federal stimulus bill, the Congressional Budget Office notes, allocates 436 billion for doctors to install electronic records.
And there’s plenty of room for growth. The New England Journal of Medicine reports that only 17 percent of the 633,000 doctors in the United States have electronic medical records in their outpatient offices. Moreover, just 9 percent of the 5,708 hospitals in the United States (excluding Veterans Administration hospitals) have electronic medical records, according to the American Hospital Association.
In addition to potential cost savings, digitizing healthcare could also improve patient care: JAMA reports that 55 percent of serious drug errors can be stopped by a computer ordering system.
What do you think? Post your comments below.
There’s a lot of talk these days – driven largely by the Obama Administration – about electronic medical records and the potential cost savings that they could provide to the healthcare industry. The 2009 federal stimulus bill, the Congressional Budget Office notes, allocates 436 billion for doctors to install electronic records.
And there’s plenty of room for growth. The New England Journal of Medicine reports that only 17 percent of the 633,000 doctors in the United States have electronic medical records in their outpatient offices. Moreover, just 9 percent of the 5,708 hospitals in the United States (excluding Veterans Administration hospitals) have electronic medical records, according to the American Hospital Association.
In addition to potential cost savings, digitizing healthcare could also improve patient care: JAMA reports that 55 percent of serious drug errors can be stopped by a computer ordering system.
What do you think? Post your comments below.
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