by C. Roy Payne

Independence Day celebrates the day America declared independence from Britain. This issue of The AccuView focuses on ways to declare independence from paperwork.

Over the past two decades, the U.S. government has been working diligently to decrease the paperwork burden on the American public. The article, "Government Eyes Electronic Data, Still," provides examples from a variety of government agencies - examples that show how the U.S. government has been decreasing the paperwork burden and using electronic forms, and illustrate that there is still a lot of work to do to achieve a government no longer mired in paper.

Are you declaring independence from paper? What are you doing to decrease the paperwork burden on your customers and employees? Are you making the best use of e-forms?

There are many benefits of replacing preprinted forms with electronic ones. Save time and increase productivity by eliminating the need for manual data entry; electronic form data can be immediately available in your content database(s). Save money and space - no more printing thousands of forms and finding the space to store unused forms and file completed forms.

Also in this issue, we have included an example of how one AccuImage customer has successfully undergone the transition from paper forms to electronic ones - and the benefits they are achieving as a result of their move to e-forms.

As always, if you're overwhelmed by paper, interested in putting e-forms to use, or need document scanning services, we hope you will call upon AccuImage to deliver simplicity to your paperwork and your paper processes.

Warm regards,
Roy Payne
roy.payne@accuimagellc.com

"In 1983, when most business documents were paper, the now-defunct Delrina Corporation conducted a survey which found that 83 percent of all business documents were forms. Nowadays, with the advent of compliance legislation, such as Sarbanes-Oxley, the U.S. Patriot Act and HIPAA, there are more forms to fill out than ever before. In fact, it is likely that 23 years later if the same survey were run again, it would turn out that the 83 percent figure still holds. However, the major difference would be that a much larger percentage of business documents are stored in cyberspace and on company hard drives in digital format, rather than the traditional paper filing. In fact, industry experts estimate that around 70 percent of all new document creation is digital." This according to an April 2006 article in docume.nt by Arthur Gingrande, an industry analyst and expert in image-based intelligent character recognition, electronic forms and forms automation.

Google "the use of electronic forms," and the number of government web sites that appear is staggering. It seems that most, if not all, of our government agencies have policies, manuals, directives and memoranda covering records management and forms processing procedures, some of which date back a decade or more. Many of these policies, manuals, directives and memoranda state outright that the use of electronic forms is "encouraged." It certainly isn't surprising that government agencies have been encouraging the use of electronic forms since the time "e-forms" became a buzzword. Is there a bigger producer of forms than the U.S. government? The implementation of the Government Paperwork Elimination Act by 2003 was a major push by the federal government to do more than just "encourage" the use of electronic forms; the GPEA made it easier - and legally acceptable - for the general public to do so.

The Department of Defense's forms management program instructions, dated May 31, 1990, stated the following objectives: (a) ensure that a form satisfies a valid need and is necessary for efficient and economical operation of the Department of Defense; (b) minimize the cost of using forms by developing forms that are easy to fill-in, read, transmit, process and retrieve; (c) increase the usefulness of information on forms through proper design and clear instructions; (d) promote standardization and consolidation of forms; (e) promote the use of technology to facilitate the creation, distribution and use of forms; and (f) promote the use of common definitions of information contained in forms. They weren't referencing e-forms back in 1990, but the Department of Defense had the foresight to see that technology would play a role in the creation, distribution and use of forms, and that forms should be easy to handle, from completion to processing to retrieval.

From reports to Congress under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 … The total paperwork burden for fiscal year 1995 is a little under 7 billion hours. One could divide that by the U.S. population and calculate that, on average, each person spends roughly 26 hours annually attributable to federal information collection requirements. Yet the information requirements come in many different varieties and for many different ends. In some cases, the collection represents a legal obligation [for businesses and the American public in general] to report information to the government to verify compliance with government requirements. The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 explicitly included third-party reporting requirements within its scope and its definition of aggregate burden. This produced a dramatic increase in the information collection budget. Third-party requirements take many forms. Nutritional labeling on food products, as well as drug labeling, are among the more common examples that Americans see on a day-to-day basis. The 1995 amendments to the Paperwork Reduction Act [originally enacted in 1980] established burden reduction goals of 10 percent for fiscal years 1996 and 1997, 5 percent for fiscal years 1998 through 2001, and annual paperwork reduction goals that reduced burden thereafter to the "maximum practicable opportunity."

The Department of Transportation amended its regulations governing the filing of international passenger tariffs. Although air carriers had been permitted to file tariff information electronically since 1989, they were still required to file some 42,000 pages of paper annually pertaining to tariff rules (i.e., length of stay requirements). The regulatory revisions now permit much of this information to be filed electronically. As a result, the annual information collection burden on air carriers has been reduced by approximately 380,000 hours.

Nearly a decade ago, the U.S. Department of the Interior recognized the important role of electronic forms, particularly for recordkeeping, database management and auditing purposes, stating that the use of electronic forms was "encouraged" where feasible. As written the in department's official records management manual, dated November 24, 1997: Electronic forms are displayed on computer screens to enable users to provide data in a highly structured manner, electronically. While electronic forms may be printed for further processing and recordkeeping, whenever possible, they should be processed and maintained in electronic format throughout their lifecycles. The data collected from each form should be entered automatically into one or more databases(s) in a well-coordinated manner at the appropriate stage(s) of the process. In addition, collected data should be evaluated to see if it warrants processing and recordkeeping in an electronic management system in order to facilitate auditing of the data in the database(s).

The Government Paperwork Elimination Act, which took effect on October 21, 1998, promotes the doing of business electronically, with the public and otherwise. This significant milestone in government forms processing requires federal agencies, by October 21, 2003, to allow individuals or entities that deal with the agencies the option to submit information or transact with the agency electronically, when practicable, and to maintain records electronically, when practicable. GPEA specifically states that electronic records and their related electronic signatures are not to be denied legal effect, validity or enforceability merely because they are in electronic form, and encourages federal government use of a range of electronic signature alternatives. (from the White House web site)

In August 2000, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued a memorandum stating that all of the department's forms were available immediately in electronic form. "In support of the Commerce-wide initiative to establish a digital department, we are working to automate administrative processes using electronic technologies. The director of department-wide programs is collaborating with the office of the chief financial officer and assistant secretary for administration to accomplish this goal. Although these transactions will remain somewhat paper-based until such time as they are fully automated throughout the department, we are pleased to announce that all Commerce Department forms are now electronically available through a departmental web site."

From a NASA directive in June 2001 … "Use of electronic forms is encouraged; however, organizations requiring blank paper forms may request them by submitting a Work Request, NASA C-709, to the Forms Management Office." In other words, fill out a form to receive copies of blank paper forms.

The U.S. Department of Transportation issued a forms management directive on August 19, 2005, issuing guidance on the forms management program and its requirements for electronic and paper forms within the Federal Highway Administration. It states that "new and revised DOT forms are issued based on the program and organizational needs that are determined by the originating office and should be kept to a minimum. Electronic forms must be developed and used as much as possible because of their benefits to the agency and external users. These benefits include: (1) the use of electronic signatures to reduce the reliance on paper forms and handwritten signatures, (2) the use of databases to facilitate and expedite data inputting and routing capabilities (where available), and (3) savings in time, paper storage and forms printing costs." It also states that "paper forms may be used when they are not suitable for use in electronic format."

Two months later, in support of e-government initiatives, the Department of Energy's Office of Science stopped accepting paper grant applications. "Effective October 1, 2005, the Office of Science will require that all financial assistance applications be submitted through the Grants.gov web site."

The foundation for electronic forms was laid many years ago. The effective date for the Government Paperwork Elimination Act has long since past. The federal government has risen to the challenge of making e-government a reality. And the American public has generously embraced these initiatives. Is it working?

While the Government Paperwork Elimination Act has been successful in getting hundreds of U.S. departments and agencies to embrace the use of electronic forms, the Paperwork Reduction Act's ability to actually reduce the "paperwork burden" (which includes electronic forms and filings) continues to be in question. According to the House Committee on Government Reform hearings held in March 2006, had paperwork burden reduction targets been met, paperwork burden imposed on the public would have stood at 4.5 billion hours instead of more than 7.5 billion hours in 2001. The record of the act shows increases in burden since 1980 of over 400 percent. Excluding the Department of Treasury (which comprises over 80 percent of the federal paperwork burden), the burden imposed on the public has increased nearly 74 percent since 1980 and over 56 percent since 1990 to 8 billion hours in 2004, was steady in 2005 and expected to grow significantly in 2006.

"Based on the Government Accountability Office's analysis of the certification process and the continued dramatic increase in total government-wide burden imposed upon the public, the 1995 Paperwork Reduction Act did not achieve its objectives. The 1995 act was a response to the original act's failure to consistently reduce or hold down total paperwork burden. Significant improvements to the information collection request process are needed to achieve the goal of eliminating unnecessary burdens on the public. The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 and its amendments through 1995 have established an important framework for controlling government-imposed burden. In a time of increasing global competitiveness, it is important that future reforms of the act help the current structure live up to its potential." (from House Committee on Government Reform Hearings, March 8, 2006)

Furthermore, "the vast majority of data in the world isn't in databases," according to Greg Pepus, senior director of federal outreach at In-Q-Tel, a venture capital firm funded by U.S. agencies. U.S. government agencies are now turning their attention to efficiently converting that old data. An article in InfoWorld, dated June 16, 2006, notes that agencies' goal of updating technology includes moving data into electronic form. "The future of U.S. government IT systems will include a big focus on converting old data into electronic form."

What is your business or agency doing to reduce paperwork burden - on your customers, your employees, and your investors? Are you embracing the use of electronic forms for streamlining paperwork processes, ease of storage and retrieval, and audit-readiness? AccuImage can help. Contact us today at 615.242.7226 for a complementary consultation and needs analysis.

One AccuImage customer - a home health care provider processing several million insurance claims annually - is successfully using an imaging, e-forms and workflow solution that is described as being "about as paperless as you can get."

The company previously had an entirely manual system for gathering the necessary forms (up to nine forms for each order), completing the forms by hand, keying the information into the computer, delivering the paperwork package to the patient to obtain signatures, and then routing all documents to the regional billing centers. Much of the responsibility for writing, keying and routing the documents fell to the customer service representatives in the field.

AccuImage designed and integrated a solution that includes a document scanning component as well as a forms creation and workflow component. The document scanning system provides a web-based, high-volume, distributed method for scanning and indexing various classes of documents for import into the content management system.

The forms creation and workflow system (based on Verity LiquidOffice) automates the task of order processing from initial order intake to final billing. When a new order request is called in to the branch office, the customer service representative logs into the LiquidOffice server and completes an online form - which contains all of the fields present on the paper document it replaces and adds the intelligence of database lookup functionality to reduce form completion time. The values entered on this form prescribe a workflow for the order process.

Based on the ordered item, forms appropriate to the order fulfillment process are generated and the relevant values are propagated to the appropriate forms. Once the necessary forms have been completed at the branch level, the information is submitted to the billing center where the order is evaluated against payer coverage and documentation policies.

The electronic forms created in LiquidOffice are imported into the content management system designed by AccuImage. Upon delivery of the product(s), delivery documents are scanned into the imaging system via the remote capture client. Indexing of scanned delivery documents is automated by a database lookup on the order number assigned by LiquidOffice.

The solution has eliminated all paper handling, with the exception of printing completed paperwork to obtain required signatures, and those documents that need to be delivered or mailed to external parties. Every stage of the process - from intake to qualification to delivery to billing - is completely automated. As a result, the company has been able to reduce headcount while at the same time increase cash flow.

For more information about this successful solution, contact us.

Over the years, e-forms have become a means of reengineering enterprise business processes. Now, by combining Internet-enabled workflow, new extensible forms languages, electronic signatures, and the use of encryption and encoding devices such as 2D barcodes, electronic forms are personalizing customer interactions with customizable, browser-enabled interfaces that extend corporate business processes from corporate headquarters right onto customer desktops.

A web browser allows a customer to take care of all of their customer service needs - ordering, payment, changing the delivery address, or untangling a shipping problem. In effect, this enables organizations to electronically outsource their customer service operations over the Internet back to their own customers. Rapid access to answers and problem-solving over the web has the additional benefit of increasing customer loyalty.

Driving Web Portals with E-Forms

Automated CSS (customer self-service) supports the entire document processing lifecycle for CRM and CSS in an e-business environment, including data and content capture, document management, repository management, search, retrieval, e-document rendering, case management workflow, and professional services. The scanning and imaging component provides flexible deployment of form images and data capture, plus integration with an image repository and workflow engine. The ERM component extends that core solution by adding the legacy data access and Internet connectivity plus integration with workflow.

This means that, whether it contains e-mail, snail mail, faxes, documents or online transactions, a customer's folder is always up-to-date - and instantly accessible - to both the customer and a customer representative, if required. ERM-based data mining makes it possible to retrieve any printed document on-the-fly, and then compile instant reports for customer access. A workflow engine treats the converged data streams as one business process, while the web browser functions as a multipurpose interface that enables the customer to view and interact with documents of virtually any type or format - without any cumbersome plug-ins.

For example, at a CSS web site, if a loan applicant is applying for a loan online from his/her own bank, where the applicant's banking and transaction history is available, his/her credit worthiness can be checked electronically and then the loan can be approved almost instantly; worst case, in a matter of hours. This process tremendously broadens the opportunity for cross-selling. ("While you're waiting for your loan application to be checked and approved, why not learn about setting up your IRA account with our bank?")

While consumer involvement and enhanced customer service can cut both ways as customers expect near-instant turnaround, even when not necessary, an exercise in streamlining a cost center can end up yielding a significant competitive advantage.

XForms: Next Generation HTML Forms

In addition to serving as a data entry and extranet interface, e-forms are legal and regulatory documents. Organizations need to be able to digitally sign forms and archive them electronically to stay in compliance with government regulations - while still retaining the ability to print to paper.

As more organizations use the Internet each day to move information and transact business, the inability of HTML to communicate the content of what is presented (and not just its presentation format) becomes a significant constraint. While HTML is a means of presenting information, it does not tell users, or computer applications, what the information is or how it could be used. HTML has played a big role in helping businesses make the transition from paper to web documents, but content management demands more capabilities than HTML can deliver. These capabilities include being able to reuse data for multiple applications and delivering content on demand through web applications when requests are complicated and require more than the title or date of a document.

To meet the complex demands of content management, the World Wide Web Consortium adopted an open markup language standard for structured documents called eXtensible Markup Language (XML). XML is a text-based markup language that adds metadata to text information and, in some cases, binary data. Originally designed to meet the challenges of large-scale electronic publishing, XML eases the exchange of structured data between web applications by preserving validation, structure and extensibility. XML does not replace HTML, but instead serves as a complement to HTML when structured data is involved.

While HTML remains a useful tool for storing and exchanging small, unstructured documents, XML provides a solution for exchanging large amounts of structured data across the Internet and over networks in general. XML transforms web-based documents into interactive, reusable documents. XML tags describe the content of the document and assign roles to the data - transforming words into searchable information. Accordingly, XML is robust enough to launch workflow and process-driven applications. Practically speaking, XML-based forms technologies made it possible to deliver the same form to a PDA, a cell phone, screen reader or conventional desktop machine, without loss of functionality for the end user. XML-enabled web forms and their varieties have come to be known generically as XForms.

Forms, in many ways, are the backbone of business. The shift to electronic forms creates opportunities for organizations to streamline their business while enhancing customer loyalty. The tools are out there; go out and use them.

Not sure what tools you need to streamline your business and enhance customer loyalty? Contact us today at 615.242.7226 for a complementary consultation and needs analysis.

Source: AIIM E-DOC, Arthur Gingrande, March/April 2006

AccuImage, LLC is a systems integrator that empowers their customers with solutions designed to gain the maximum value from their information at every point in the information lifecycle. Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, AccuImage specializes in the design, installation and support of document and content management systems, forms processing solutions, and electronic workflow systems. The company offers hardware and software from leading companies - AnyDoc Software, Böwe Bell+Howell, Canon, Captaris, Captovation, EMC Documentum, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Kodak, Kofax, Panasonic, Plasmon and Verity - as well as consulting, document conversion and professional services.

* Limited time offer. AccuImage may discontinue the offer at any time without prior notice. Offer available only to current and new subscribers to The AccuView. No purchase necessary. Following the two-hour complementary consultation, additional consulting is available at AccuImage's regular professional services rates. Consultation may be conducted in person or over the phone, depending on location. Call for additional details.