Do you want to take the first step towards creating an Electronic Health Record for your patients? The first step can be taken right away with a new patient. Allow the new patient to start the process themselves by filling out the New Patient paperwork online!

By Patients filling out their paperwork online before they ever get to the office you are starting their file before they ever reach the office. This saves time when the patient arrives and provides a chance to gather accurate, complete data. By allowing a new patient ample time to complete the paperwork they have a chance to properly read through the instructions and gather the correct data. It also allows the data collected online to be integrated into internal systems seamlessly.

Publishing a PDF online does not encompass the concept of an Electronic Health Record. With a PDF an individual needs to print the form, and still bring it in. They may have it filled out but there is a greater risk of the data being incorrect and illegible. Not to mention the time it takes to re-enter the data into your internal systems.

To help get you started check out our eForm-Connect online trial that includes a New Patient Intake form at http://demo.eformconnect.com/efc

How does a school district automate their paper form processes? Take the paper form and turn it into an electronic form. The electronic form can then be automated and automatically sent onto the appropriate departments.

For example: A school district has an attendance sheet that needs to be filled out every month. The teacher needs to let the district know how many days they will be present in the upcoming month. The teacher can fill out the form via a web browser and click save. Upon save the form can automatically be forwarded onto their supervisor and then onto the appropriate department. This saves the district time and money.

Time is saved because the form is automatically routed. Email notifications can even be put in place to let someone know when a form is ready to be signed. No more sorting through paper and trying to figure out what needs to be filled out.

Money is saved because the time is money and paper is money. With an electronic forms solution there is no need to print out the paper document saving you money on paper, ink and possibly transportation costs if the form has to be sent over to another building.

To help get you started go to http://eformconnect.com and take a Test Drive of our Free Online Trial.

Accounting Forms within an organization can be daunting, confusing and and a mess. When you have people handwriting numbers, and inserting the wrong information it can turn into a major problem when it comes time to enter items to the Accounting system. Having the information in your accounting system correct is crucial to any business.

The solution: Create Electronic Versions of your Accounting Forms.

Here are some things to look for when shopping for a solution:

1.) The ability to have fields total upon entry of an amount.

2.) The ability to have the form handle complex calculations based on business rules.

3.) The ability to implement work flow in the form.

4.) The ability to place required fields on the forms.

There are multiple solutions out there. To help get you started check out http://demo.eformconnect.com/efc?mode=PROMO&code=ACCT and check out some sample Electronic Accounting Forms.

The cost of an Enterprise Conent Management Solution (ECM) can be defined by the cost of not implementing one. Confusing?  Well take this into consideration. What kind of cost is your company going to face when you have poor content management from not implementing a solution. Companies can face litigation fees, loss of repeated business, and business process delays which ultimately hurt the bottom line. By implementing an Enterprise Content Management System you may spend some money up front but your overall ROI will be great.

To enhance your overall ROI. Follow some simple guidelines when selecting and implementing a Solution.

1.) Authenticity - Make sure you have an audit trail and can track who last touched the document.

2.) Reliability - Make sure the documentation is reliable and has been compiled by those involved in the business.

3.) Integrity - Keep documents until the appropriate destruction date. Keep retention consistent.

4.) Usability - Make sure that documentation is available when needed.

To get started check out eForm-Connect. Take the product for a test drive at http://testdrive.eformconnect.com/efc.

E-Verify is currently a free and voluntary program.  The website for
Homeland Security states, “Participating employers can check the work
status of new hires online by comparing information from an employee’s
I-9 form against SSA and Department of Homeland Security databases.”
This has recently become a concern for many organizations though, due to
a proposed rule mandating all federal contractors use the E-Verify
system in order to employ new hires.  Although this proposed rule has
not been approved, it is a worry for many organizations, primarily
within their human resource department that constantly deals with new
hires and may slow down their business process.

There is no need to panic for these companies.  As paperless files and
forms are becoming more of a trend, electronic forms applications are
becoming more available and efficient.  Depending upon the application,
more advanced software developers can link your forms processing
application with the E-Verify program.  For example a new employee can
log into the forms application and complete the I-9 form.  The completed
form would then automatically be linked with the E-Verify program for
inquiry and approval.  This would save an exceptional amount of manual
work to complete, turn in and mail the completed I-9 form, as well as
wait for approval.

When considering different electronic forms applications, review support options. Consider carefully the installation and training involved with each. New software technology and its installation can be frustrating - especially when the consumer is required to install all or even part of the software and then finds it is nearly impossible to get support when needed. This is why, even when it says, ‘easy installation’ one should look further. Will the supplier provide custom installation available to you and work closely with your IT organization to make sure it is exactly what you wanted?

Receiving 24×7 support is also an important feature should a glitch in the system occur or if a question on the forms or software arises. Be sure your vendor is immediately available to provide ongoing support. Ongoing support varies widely among electronic form developers and 24×7 support, while highly desirable, is not generally available. More commonly, vendors include a standard out of the box, un-customized, build it yourself application that looks easy, but quickly becomes frustrating without readily available and knowledgeable phone support.

eForm-Connect guarantees 24×7 support and hassle-free installation.  Our engineers work closely with our customers to ensure they receive exactly what they wanted and the highest return on their investment.

Electronic form applications vary widely regarding the organization of their supporting database. It is important to do your research on their data retrieval tools and their ease of use before you buy. To this point, an article in the November, December 2008 INFONOMICS magazine titled, Enterprise Content Management Forecast 2009, stated:

“In a recent AIIM survey, 40% of respondents said that finding the information they need to do their job is ‘difficult and time-consuming’. The same study asked users how many hours per week they typically spend looking for information. Among AIIM members, 28% reported spending two to four hours per week; 27% reported spending four to six hours per week; and 24 % reported spending eight or more hours-i.e. one full business day-per week, just looking for information. “

With eForm-Connect, the ability to quickly find needed information is easier than ever. eForm-Connect users avoid the hassle of navigating through the database in search of what they are looking for. Instead, a helpful organizational tool bar has been added to the application. Once logged in to the application, the user sees a list of recently completed forms as well as forms still in need of completion on the left hand side of their screen. With a quick drag and click, previously completed forms can be re-opened or new forms may be selected and opened.

Another excellent forms management tool included with every eForm-Connect package is called the Account Management Tool. This component of their Desktop Application Console allows the Forms Administrator to have full control over the forms. A few examples of forms management features available with the Account Management Tool include its ability to: Determine what forms the users have access to; Run reports on specified data; Map users to specific supervisors; Pull specific users or forms using a search engine tool; and much more.

With eForm-Connect, finding needed information about forms in progress is no longer a problem. Don’t waste time searching for data. Make your forms management job easier and save time with eForm-Connect!

A major concern of company executives and forms managers is security. The security requirements for electronic forms processing with or without signatures, is similar to the security requirements for online banking systems. To provide this enhanced on-line security, the latest forms processing applications utilize the following process. First, a user in need of completing a form will begin by entering the application via a web browser. Then by clicking on the new user option, the user enters their identifying information and their email address. The forms system will send an email confirmation to the user providing them with their new user name and password. This unique email identification is only sent to the user. When used, it indicates that the user is the correct person. With the login and password, the user can now log into the application, fill out the form, and is legally bound to the information to which they have provided.

If an additional level of security is desired, most systems may further provide the option to include test question authentication, such as requiring the user to enter their Mother’s maiden name, a birth city, favorite car, a key date, etc. Such questions can be asked at user login and/or when submitting their signature to further insure identity of the signer.  

How does OCR/ICR compare to an Electronic Forms Solution such as eForm-Connect?  Dictionary.com defines Optical Character Recognition (OCR) as “The process or technology of reading data in printed form by a device (optical character reader) that scans and identifies characters.”  Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR) has all of the features of OCR, but is more advanced as it recognizes both printed form as well as hand writing.

Although OCR/ICR can be very useful in recognizing data from completed paper forms, electronic forms are more cost efficient and increase the speed of the workflow process much more than OCR/ICR capabilities.  OCR/ICR still need users to either manually fill out a form by hand or print the completed typed form and then be scanned for character recognition.  This process does not eliminate the massive amounts of paper  and although OCR/ICR may reduce time spent manually transferring the data into a database, one would still need to manually process the forms into the character recognition engine.

Electronic forms would eliminate both of these issues.  An electronic forms software offering such as eform-Connect allows users to simply go online, complete the form(s) including an electronic signature(s), submit the form(s) and the data is automatically stored in the database.  Electronic forms have additional features such as integration abilities with other databases, email and print capabilities, run reports on the data, and much more.

OCR/ICR software is less expensive than most electronic forms packages, but the return on investment is exceptionally higher with electronic forms.  Electronic forms can save an organization huge costs from the excessive amount of paper previously used as well as the administrative costs to employ staff to manage the forms processing.

How could you implement electronic forms in your organization?

What is an electronic signature?  This is a confusing topic for most. An electronic signature, as defined by ESIGN legislation, means an ‘electronic sound, symbol, or process, attached to or logically associated with a contract or other record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record.’

Electronic Signatures are technology neutral. Therefore, there are a number of ways to represent an electronic signature. Examples include a digital image of handwritten signature, a secret code or pin to identify the recipient, a signature collected on a signature pad in a department store, etc. All of these must symbolize a persons intent to sign the record.

An example in the simplest form is as follows;  someone signs into an application and types their name in a signature field.  A symbol or mark, such as a barcode, would be attached to the form once a person has clicked a sign button indicating their intent to sign. This is now a legal electronic signature.

This makes the process of collecting electronic signatures easy to understand and implement on any electronic form. For more information on electronic signatures visit http://eformconnect.com/eFormDemo.swf.

How do you plan to implement electronic signatures?