CASE STUDY FACTS:

CLIENT: Eustis Insurance

DIGITECH SYSTEMS RESELLER: Apyxx Technologies, New Orleans, LA

PROBLEM: File maintenance for their paper-based customer filing system was time consuming and arduous

SOLUTION: PaperVision^® Enterprise and PaperFlow™

RECOGNIZED BENEFIT:
“Due to the implementation of PaperFlow and PaperVision Enterprise, we have been able to regain a tremendous amount of worker productivity. Employees spend less time looking for and replacing information and more time servicing customers, which makes everyone happier.”

- Keith Oufnac, Director of Information Systems

Like many New Orleans, LA based businesses, Eustis Insurance was aware of the dangers posed by natural disasters. That’s why they implemented PaperVision Enterprise and PaperFlow in 2002. What they didn’t expect, but continue to appreciate, is the impact that the decision to convert to Electronic Content Management (ECM) would have on the company’s bottom line.

Eustis is saving hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in employee productivity by reducing by sixty percent the time it takes to find information. And, all of their clients’ files are protected from disaster, which allowed their New Orleans office to be back up and running just three days after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The Situation

Founded in 1946, Eustis Insurance has three offices in Louisiana and one in Texas. The company has 112 employees and earns $5.2 million in annual revenues, with premium volumes over $114 million. They offer personal, commercial and benefit insurance services to a broad range of corporate and individual clients. For more than fifty years, Eustis has distinguished themselves from the competition by providing the highest level of client service and products through an innovative team approach to customer management.

In the paperwork-intensive insurance industry, providers are required to maintain HIPAA-compliant customer files and carrier contracts and correspondence in addition to the burden of accounting, human resources, and vendor information required of all companies. Eustis was no exception. They were storing sixty years worth of files dating back to 1946. The most recent three years were kept onsite in filing cabinets, while older, less frequently used records were stored offsite with a third party storage provider. To access information onsite often took two or three days, while retrieving records from the offsite location could take as long as a week.

Managing this paperwork was overwhelming. Eustis set aside two full days each year where every employee participated in a complete audit of customer files. Additionally, they estimated that each employee spent at least one hour managing files and information per day. This added up to hundreds of hours of wasted time each week and was costing the company hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The Solution

Apyxx Technologies, a Digitech Systems reseller, implemented PaperFlow, to scan paper documents and PaperVision Enterprise, to organize and retrieve electronic files and information in June 2002. The ECM system was installed in just the commercial insurance line, but was then expanded to encompass the entire company due to the overwhelmingly positive results.

Through a special unlimited license, Eustis can provide all of their 112 employees access to the system without purchasing additional software or licenses. This allows the ECM system to seamlessly grow as their business continues to thrive. They average about twenty simultaneous connections to the system. Training for new employees takes about 20 minutes and is conducted over the phone with a username and login.

Recognized benefits

The most obvious benefit to Eustis has been the ability to maintain business continuity for their clients and customers despite Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. While many other New Orleans based businesses spent weeks digging out of flood waters and mud, Eustis had their offices up and functioning three days after the disaster.

The system has also had a real impact on the company’s bottom line. Employee productivity has improved 30 percent, because the PaperVision Enterprise ECM system has reduced the time it takes for employees to process requests by sixty percent—from more than a week to two days or less. Plus, employees no longer spend an hour each day maintaining paper files, and the company has eliminated the need for their company-wide annual audit of customer files. PaperVision Enterprise provides the extensive reporting and logging capabilities they need to know that information is under control. In fact, the company estimates that record-keeping accuracy has improved by as much as 75 percent.

“We’re offering even better customer service,” says Keith Oufnac, Director of Information Systems. “When customers call in, our representatives no longer have to tell them to hold while they retrieve the file. They just click and pull it up.”

The ECM system has simplified compliance with regulations as well. HIPAA compliance applies to individual health information and requires that all activity with those files be monitored and restricted. In addition, industry requirements restrict the company to storing information in only one format, so their new process is to scan the paper originals within two weeks of receipt and then to shred the original.

“We love the PaperVision Enterprise system. It is easy to use and has drastically simplified our record-keeping policies and practices. We don’t spend time on file maintenance anymore. The system does it all, while allowing us to focus on our customers and grow our business,” said Keith Oufnac.

About Apyxx Technologies, Inc.

Apyxx Technologies was established in 1998 and is based in New Orleans, LA. Apyxx focuses on providing solutions to improve business efficiency and provide real impact to the bottom line. They offer a full range of services related to electronic document and content management including needs analysis, project scope, project planning, implementation and installation services, on-site user training, and continued product support. Apyxx Technologies has been an authorized Digitech Reseller since 1999 and is a member of the 2006 Digitech Systems Circle of Excellence.

To learn more about Apyxx Technologies visit their website at www.apyxx.com or call toll free at 1-877-733-9700.

See how Digitech Systems products can help meet your business needs.