ADF for Print Mail

Open and Scalable ADF…Really?

2011-09-28T15:09:00.008-04:00

What constitutes an "open" Automated Document Factory?

I see many ADF providers claiming terms like "scalable", "open" and "end-to-end", only to find out that those terms only apply to the portion of the ADF on their brand specific piece of hardware. I have a few thoughts regarding these terms:

ADF solutions which charge to access the data on their server or require custom code to access this data are not "open"
Solutions which must be customized or written on the client's floor, with extensive professional services are "proprietary", not "open"
Solutions which create islands (device/brand dependent) of information are not "open"
ADF solutions which only extend through printing or only through inserting are not "end-to-end"
"Scalable" and "open" solutions allow users to add ADF solutions to existing processing hardware rather than requiring hardware upgrades or hardware replacement
Scalable means to add or move solution components without proprietary customization and without losing already purchased solution components
Scalable solutions allow integration with other software components (composition, workflow, transformation) without customization and without requiring vendor specific products

As you search out solution vendors for enterprise wide document integrity and worfklow automation, identify the business partners who are truly trying to improve your business rather than selling you your next piece of hardware.

Your Document Production Center and HIPAA

2010-07-23T17:01:00.000-04:00

Do you process any documents that contain information protected under HIPAA?

If you don’t immediately know the answer to that question, your organization may be lacking some of the controls, procedures, and safeguards that are recommended or required by the HIPAA privacy regulations.

Generally speaking, print/mail service providers who create and mail doctor bills, medical lab bills, hospital bills, health insurance claim forms, or any other document that contains health information that identifies a specific individual is probably categorized as a Business Associate of the company or institution for whom they do the work. As a Business Associate (an official HIPAA term), print/mail service providers are held to the same privacy-protection standards as the originators of the data.

Given that definition, care to answer the first question again?

Once you’ve decided that you are probably responsible for safeguarding health information protected by HIPPA there are a whole host of areas to consider about how you receive, handle, and process the data. A thorough audit may be necessary to assess your level of risk when it comes to intentional or accidental breaches of security.

Where I usually get involved is in the last step of your process. Making sure the documents get printed correctly and are accurately inserted and mailed is an area where clients call for my opinion and recommendations.

Other than malicious hacking or intentional identity theft, printing and mailing errors are probably the biggest risk in document production centers. And frankly, some operations don’t take it seriously enough.

We know of shops that still use the clipboard method of mail piece integrity control. They get counts of how many envelopes should be in a batch, note the beginning and ending meter readings on the inserting machine and check at the end of the job. If the counts match, the mail trays head out to the Post Office.

The batch-balancing method was fine in the past for applications like direct mail advertising, although one could argue that with variable data printing, even these types of jobs now require better control. But consider medical bills with variable page counts. Pages with only OMR marks (or no marks at all) are subject to un-catchable errors. The piece count can balance just fine, but you may have revealed personal and protected medical information to someone other than the patient by inserting a page into the wrong envelope. That’s a HIPAA violation and it can cost you money in fines or to defend yourself against a lawsuit. Not to mention the adverse publicity and possible loss of customers.

I know it can seem like a big investment to implement identifying control numbers and an automated tracking mechanism. But to stay in business today, you have to be able to assure customers that you’ve got a system in place that protects them from the kind of embarrassment and negative notoriety that comes from being accused of HIPAA violations. Otherwise, customers will find another provider who has the technology to do the job.

There lots of bad things that can happen during the production process. The clipboard system or other manual procedures can’t always be counted on to catch those errors either. Some errors that can affect large numbers of patients, not just one or two whose documents got double-stuffed.

If you are going to be in the business of handling documents covered by HIPAA, you and your customers will sleep better knowing you have systems in place that keep you out of trouble. I recommend that you assess your risk and then take appropriate action to prevent inadvertent violations.

For more information on HIPAA regulations, see the reference page at http://www.ironsidestech.com/resources-hipaa

Bill Riley

Xplor Grows Size & Reach

2010-04-22T07:56:00.002-04:00

The 2010 Xplor audience consisted of hundreds of digital print professionals, an almost 9% increase over 2009. In this economy for a face-to-face event to grow its audience speaks of the importance of the digital print industry. Well done Skip Henk and Xplor team!
Ironsides CEO & Co-Founder Bill Riley, in addressing the audience, stressed the need for 100% piece level tracking in personalized high value digitally printed document environments. He demonstrated that its was the sure way to be fully HIPAA and SOX compliant. And, the huge side benefit is the automated production tracking and piece level reporting helps spot and rectify print production problems to ensure SLA compliance.

InfoPrint delivers Merrill Corporation next-generation workflow with Ironsides Technology

2010-03-28T16:41:00.002-04:00

Merrill Corporation's ADF solution is enabled by Ironsides Technology APT - Automated Productivity Tracking - to track and report on every single printed piece, in real time to provide up-to-the-second accurate production and SLA tracking information for full HIPAA, PHI, SOX and PIPEDA compliance.

Ironsides CEO Bill Riley to speak at Xplor 2010

2010-03-09T15:09:00.002-05:00

Bill will have a dedicated track session as well as two vendor solution panels:

Production Track Session:
"Bring Your Own Print Mail Factory"
Friday, March 19th, 2010 3:30 to 4:30

Vendor Solutions Panels:
"Compliance ...What Does it Mean For Me"
Thursday, March 18th, 2010, 1:30 - 2:20 PM

"Production and Delivery"
Thursday, March 18th, 2010, 2:30 - 3:20 PM

Click the link above for venue and registration details!

Ironsides Continues To Expand

2010-02-26T13:47:00.002-05:00

Chet Casper, a 43 year print - mail industry veteran, joins Ironsides Technology in its latest and most significant expansion yet.

Chet will lead the sales efforts of the Ironsides Automated Productivity Tracking (APT) systems in print-mail factories throughout North America in support of several partners including InfoPrint Solutions Company, Xerox, Oce', Crawford Technologies, GMC, DeskNet, Lake Image and Gimbel Associates.

Are you producing transpromo documents?

2009-12-08T16:17:00.001-05:00

If so, please view this video and learn what Barb Pellow, Director of InfoTrends and GMC have to offer! Good stuff!

EDSF is pleased to provide the November/December 2009 Edition of the

2009-11-19T12:59:00.000-05:00

Get the latest EDS report now!

HP and Pitney Bowes Partner?

2009-11-17T14:42:00.002-05:00

At Print 09, HP and Pitney announced their new partnership to launch a new prodution color printing system for high volume transactional mailers. They called it 'Pitney Bowes IntelliJet Printing System. How might this impact Xerox, InfoPrint and Oce'? Especially in multi-vendor print-mail shops?
Comments?

USPS Holds Prices!

2009-10-16T14:56:00.001-04:00

Just reported in Mailing Systems Technology, the USPS will not increase first class postage rates... John E. Potter, Postmaster General said, "First-Class Mail, Standard Mail, periodicals and single-piece Parcel Post. There will be no exigent price increase for these products."
Great news for mailers, but how will the USPS stop the flow of red ink??? Thoughts?

The Ultimate Guide to Enterprise TransPromo Solutions

2009-10-03T17:21:00.003-04:00

The Ultimate Guide to Enterprise TransPromo Solutions: Document Composition is a must-have guide for enterprises and service bureaus evaluating the variety of document composition solutions that feature message creation and message management to enable TransPromo communications. This guide provides a market overview, a discussion on how to choose an enterprise-level TransPromo solution, and an in-depth analysis of some of the leading solutions. Each of the twelve solutions has been reviewed using over 100 different metrics. The Ultimate Guide to Enterprise TransPromo Solutions: Document Composition is just one report in a series of Ultimate Guides aimed at providing education on a variety of software tools available for printing and print-related services.

When you think of transpromo, remember that document integrity is vital. Consider using the Ironsides Technology Automated Productivity Tracking software for real time piece level tracking and production management.

Some retrospective Print 09 thoughts...

2009-09-30T14:18:00.003-04:00

The traffic was light Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but the quality of the attendee's was outstanding! Then, Monday through Wednesday both quantity and quality were excellent.

We used the opportunity to evolve the Ironsides partnerships, alliances and relationships with Lake Image Systems (our host - thanks again!), Standard/Horizon, Ricoh IBM, GMC, Xerox, OCE North America, Eastman Kodak Company and many more.

To those hundreds of people who expressed interest in our Automated Productivity Tracking system for document integrity - piece level tracking and print production management software - we will be connecting with you shortly.

If you need immediate assistance, please contact Bill Riley.

Ironsides Technology and Lake Image Systems Form Strategic Alliance

2009-09-30T14:06:00.002-04:00

Ironsides Technology enters an alliance with Lake Image Systems, IncAdding Production Management for High Value Print + Mail Facilities

Boston, Massachusetts, August 15, 2009: Ironsides Technology and Lake Image Systems, Inc. created an alliance where Lake will sell and support the Ironsides Automated Productivity Tracking (APT) systems in print-mail factories throughout the Americas in conjunction with Lake Image System’s IntegraVision integrity verification and reading solutions.

APT enables print-mail factories to easily upgrade to industry best practices to produce all critical client documents while protecting the client’s private information. APT uses real-time piece level tracking data to help efficiently and effectively manage Work-In-Process. The APT proprietary software and cameras work with all digital print systems, all finishing systems and all mail inserting systems regardless of brand or age. It allows the print-mail factory to substantially upgrade their capabilities to meet the SOX, HIPAA and GLB regulatory compliance requirements to become more competitive without the need to invest in new print-mail systems. Ironsides APT combined with Lake’s installation and support capabilities and print-mail experience offers unparalleled value to print-mail houses worldwide.

Bill Riley, CEO of Ironsides Technology said, “Lake Image Systems is truly a world class organization and partner. Lake brings unparalleled camera technology and installation experience, from thousands of installations around the world. Their U.S. based North and South American engineering and support team ensures expert, efficient installations and happy end users, every time. Lake is vital to our goal to provide best in class technology, with peerless support and complete commitment to our clients.”

Pat Hoskins, Vice President Sales and Marketing for Lake said, “Ironsides Technology’s understanding of the entire document production enterprise enabled them to create a truly real-time piece level tracking and enterprise reporting solution without the integration pain and overhead associated with the solutions we have seen from the large equipment vendors. Our customers are anxiously looking for methods to reduce cost per piece and increase productivity. APT delivers these results with the scope, effectiveness and price-to-market which is valued greatly our clients.”