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A document workflow is an ordered system of steps that guides a document’s journey in an organization from creation to archival or destruction. Document workflows provide rules-based business processes for repeatable tasks that all employees must follow.
More than outlining processes, well-designed document workflows also identify who is responsible for next steps and lays out a timeline for completion.
Document workflow steps:
Examples of document types:
Workflows help organizations standardize and streamline day-to-day operations which helps to reduce costs, increase employee productivity, and eliminate errors.
Automated, or digital document workflows, create additional efficiencies by eliminating the time and cost of handling and routing hardcopy between co-workers and clients.
Once a digital document workflow is established it should:
An automated document workflow in today’s post-pandemic world must support the ability to connect with and provide end-to-end security to hybrid workforces and mobile users. Consider these elements:
To build a workflow, it helps fist to understand the lifecycle of a digital document workflow. Here is an example of a common best practice.
Your business should construct workflow steps that fit a logical sequence and meet the needs of your unique business model and end users. After all, you know your business best.
Often, organizations will partner with a company like Ricoh that provides expert consulting services to assist in efficient document workflow design and offers solutions to automate critical document routing steps in the process.
Some are straightforward. Many Accounts Payable/Accounts Receivable workflows often come as out-of-the-box solutions. Other workflow may require more involved development and decision-making trees to route the right document to the right destination.
Here are a few examples of solutions Ricoh offers:
Ricoh Smart Integration (RSI) modules define and automate document routing workflows in legal and healthcare. For example, upon scanning a document at a Ricoh MFP, it can be:
Ricoh Payer Provider Payment Solutions for Healthcare streamline insurance claims processing to increase speed of payment to healthcare providers.
Digitizing documents can reduce backlogs, increase cash flow, and minimize manual data entry and indexing errors while allowing processors to access patient information and work from anywhere using their familiar EHR management system.
Ricoh Business Processing for AP/AR manages Accounts Payable/Accounts Receivable transactions through a unique blend of intelligent capture and process automation modules to streamline AP/AR cycles.
Reduce costs, improve visibility into financial standing, and offload the burdens of day-to-day invoice processing to a trusted business partner.
Ricoh Intelligent Delivery Services convert physical inbound communications with managed services for anywhere, anytime digital mail delivery.
Mobile optimized, cloud-based workflows allow users to securely retrieve their mail on any device after being opened, scanned, indexed, and routed by highly trained Ricoh staff working on-site, off-site, or as a hybrid service to speed external communications with customers, providers, and partners.
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Document management solutions belong in any discussion of document workflow. These solutions typically combine centralized document storage together with automated document workflows.
In most cases, a document management solution is more than a document storage software application. It is a total solution encompassing document production, storage, and sharing, with security and access controls baked in.
A document management solution like DocuWare not only digitizes hardcopy information, but it also organizes data to eliminate unnecessary print jobs and lost documents, aids in compliance, and interfaces with other business systems to accelerate the flow of information between co-workers and clients who are authorized to see it.
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