Data Capture Improves Healthcare Service
APS Healthcare
APS Healthcare (APS), headquartered in White Plains, NY, serves more than 20 million members in the United States and Puerto Rico. The company delivers customized, integrated healthcare solutions that help people engage in behaviors that optimize their health status. As a healthcare provider, they are obligated by their government contract in one state to conduct periodic surveys of a representative sample of their member base to gauge performance and customer satisfaction. Historically, APS used a partner company of DISC’s, Impressions Direct, to print paper surveys and distribute them to their members via the U.S. mail. Members then mailed their completed surveys back to APS for processing.
Impressions Direct coordinated the production and distribution of the surveys; as well as collecting and compiling the return of approximately 6000 completed surveys. This number represents an excellent return rate that was quite sufficient to produce statistically significant results for APS’ government client. The challenge for APS was finding a way to alleviate the labor intensive process of collecting, sorting, data entering and processing these surveys into an electronic database format suitable for conducting data analysis. On the advice of Impressions Direct, DISC was consulted to find a better solution for APS’ data collection needs. DISC developed a highly successful program that met the needs of both APS and Impressions Direct. Under the improved scenario, Impressions Direct did as it always had for APS by producing and circulating the surveys, and generating the necessary number of returned, completed surveys.
And that’s where DISC came in. Instead of completed surveys arriving at APS by the hundreds every day, they were sent directly to DISC for processing. Upon arrival at DISC’s facility, each mailed survey packet was opened and scanned directly into an electronic content management system. As each survey was scanned, it was categorized by DISC into the appropriate response group, and then immediately made available to APS as an electronic image that was viewable via Impressions Direct’s secure FTP site. DISC then extracted all the survey responses from each document using automated data capture technology, essentially using computers to read and store the responses from each completed survey. A minimal amount of manual data entry functions were also performed by DISC to maximize and verify the accuracy of the data collection process. Once the verification process was complete, DISC produced a fully populated electronic database of the completed survey results, perfectly suited for use by APS’ data analysts.
The resultant savings and efficiencies were incredible for APS. They no longer had to set up and manage an in-house data entry center every time they needed to conduct a survey. This allowed APS to avoid the original costly and time consuming process that redirected important employee energy away from their core business of providing healthcare services. APS’ costs for processing completed surveys went down (i.e. an estimated savings of over 35% versus in-house costs), and their level of confidence in the accuracy of the data collection process increased. In addition, DISC accomplished their tasks in a matter of a few short weeks instead of several months, with most completed surveys being processed and made available to APS within a day or so of arrival. By working with DISC, Impressions Direct was able to offer a highly cost-effective, turnkey solution.