Mail-order pharmacy automates order processing with IBM Datacap solution

The volume of a nationwide mail-order pharmacy requires the operation of three prescription mail-order facilities. Each of these facilities receives documents in the mail and by fax. Employees open the envelopes and sort and scan all the paper, including the envelopes.

Operators process more than 200,000 pharmacy mail orders each week, scanning almost a quarter of a million documents. To scan an order requires a scanner that can handle a wide range of paper thicknesses and formats, including envelopes, handwritten prescription forms, handwritten patient order forms, re-fill and re-order forms, correspondence from customers, and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy forms and signatures.

The company’s objectives were to improve image quality, performance and throughput and to automate processes to reduce manual labor. It also wanted to take advantage of new capabilities to reduce re-scans and improve productivity.

Eliminating labor-intensive re-scans
The organization implemented IBM® Datacap Taskmaster Capture software to capture information from these forms using optical character recognition (OCR), intelligent character recognition (ICR), optical mark recognition (OMR) and barcode recognition. This captured information is used to automate the indexing of document images stored in IBM FileNet® Content Manager, as well as populate an Oracle database for prescription fulfillment at the production center. There, workers fill and package prescription orders which are mailed to customers around the nation.

Up to five individual “scripts,” or prescription sheets, can be affixed to a single order form. After scanning, Datacap Taskmaster Capture dynamically splits the original image into five individual sub-images, which are then processed as if they had been scanned individually. Given the tight tolerances in the form design, this required high-quality images from the scanner to guarantee accurate processing in Taskmaster Capture.

Datacap helped the company install and configure four Kodak i660 Scanners at one of its locations. They also upgraded to the latest version of Datacap Taskmaster Capture to take advantage of advances in hardware and software. The goal was to eliminate labor-intensive re-scans.

Improving image quality, performance and throughput
“It was time to upgrade to better features, improved performance and higher quality scans,” says the senior analyst of the mail service application. “We selected the Kodak i660 Scanner because of its built-in software capabilities, image quality and unique integration with Datacap Taskmaster. We hoped new scanners would help us improve image quality, performance and throughput.

“We are very pleased with the image quality coming out of the new scanners and the Datacap solution,” says the senior analyst. “Workers can focus on processing prescription orders and meeting quotas rather than constantly watching over how documents are being loaded, for example, or being interrupted for re-scans.”

Looking forward to more productivity enhancements
The senior analyst is looking forward to even more productivity enhancements in the future, when the other two centers get their new scanners.

“We saw all these great, built-in features and capabilities when we viewed the demo software that comes with the Kodak scanners,” he says. “They seemed handy and we could see the productivity benefits of using them. Things like: insert page, delete page, scan from here, adjust scan. So we worked with Datacap to customize our solution to import these features into our workflow software.”

“We’re excited about the many new features at our fingertips, especially the one that allows us to preview thumbnail images of the scans on-screen—before the operator gives it the OK and sends it on,” attests the senior analyst. “So if there’s a problem, the operator can adjust the scan on a per image basis, for contrast, for example, and then re-scan right then and there. That gives us more control upfront in the process, so we don’t have to re-scan later, which simplifies our workflow downstream and enhances our overall productivity.”

The company plans to simplify its workflow by using the capabilities of its new scanners and Datacap capture system. “So far, we’ve only upgraded one of our mail centers with Datacap,” says the senior analyst. “But we already are enjoying improved image quality at the mail centers we have upgraded—this has reduced the need for re-scans. We’re also using the Automatic Document Feed option to reduce our scan time by a third. I can’t even imagine what other productivity enhancements we’ll realize once we start taking advantage of capabilities when we upgrade at all our locations around the country!”

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