BUYERS LAB

BUYERS LAB
BuyersLab.com
Lab Test Report
Vertical Market Overview
SEPTEMBER 2014
With a rapid shift from physical to electronic records, along
with stricter requirements for patient privacy protection, the
healthcare industry is in the midst of a major transition. As of
November of 2013, the HIPAA Omnibus nal rule went into
effect, which strengthens limitations placed on the disclosing
of patient information, as well as patients ability to restrict
what can be shared. And security concerns are not just lim-
ited to the HIPAA regulation, as state and local governments
have their own rules as well. These factors, combined with
a widespread lack of standardization, create a unique set of
challenges for buyers.
Ricoh Offers Expertise, Technology and
Services to the Healthcare Market
By Kaitlin Pendagast,
Research Editor
INCLUDES
MFPs
Optimized for
Healthcare
Ricohs
Emphasis on
Service
Software
Options Simplify
Operations
BuyersLab.com 2014 Buyers Laboratory LLC. Duplication is forbidden without written permission from BLI. For reprints, contact info@buyerslab.com. 081414
2
Ricoh Healthcare
A BLI Vertical Market Overview
BuyersLab.com 2014 Buyers Laboratory LLC. Duplication is forbidden without written permission from BLI. For reprints, contact info@buyerslab.com. 081414
Wild, Wild West of Medical Forms and Systems
The wide range of disparate software applications used within
healthcare organizations poses another signicant challenge.
There is no such thing as a healthcare organization that uses
just one health information system, said Ricoh Director of Ver-
tical Industry Marketing David Winkler. Describing health infor-
mation systems as a massive cottage industry, Winkler stated
there are well over 1,000 different vendors of electronic health
record software and its not uncommon for hospitals (even
smaller ones) to utilize over 2,000 different types of forms.
Further adding to the complexity is the transition from version
9 of the International Classication of Diseases (ICD-9) to ver-
sion 10 (ICD-10), which has implications for all forms used.
While the transition is complete in Europe, it is still an ongo-
ing process in the United States, Winkler explained. Because
ICD-10 requires more detail on how diseases and injuries are
coded, documents are becoming longer and more complex. In
light of these challenges, buyers are likely to welcome Ricohs
highly consultative approach, which, Winkler said, sets it apart
from other vendors.
Ricoh has served the needs of hundreds of healthcare organizations and has
numerous specialists dedicated to the market, many of whom were hired ex-
ternally from the healthcare eld, with prior positions such as medical records
managers, coding specialists and information security ofcers, the company
says. These professionals will assess an organizations unique circumstances
and recommend a solution tailored to its distinct challenges and opportunities.
Ricoh takes domain knowl-
edge very seriously. We know
we have intelligent buyers who
want to buy solutions from pro-
viders that understand their in-
dustry in and out, said Winkler.
This is why all specialists must
complete extensive university-
level curriculum training and
become certied, Winkler elabo-
rated. This training is a months-
long process that consists of 13
different modules on topics such
as HIPAA and the Affordable
Care Act, to name a few.
To bring simplicity and organiza-
David Winkler, Ricohs director of
vertical industry marketing
Ricoh Healthcare Camera integrates with HealthShare to allow
photos to be routed to a patients electronic medical record.
3
Ricoh Healthcare
A BLI Vertical Market Overview
BuyersLab.com 2014 Buyers Laboratory LLC. Duplication is forbidden without written permission from BLI. For reprints, contact info@buyerslab.com. 081414
tion to healthcare environments, interoperability among the wide range of dis-
parate systems used is key, Ricoh says. For this reason, the company has part-
nered with InterSystems to offer HealthShare. Ricoh describes HealthShare as
a platform that brokers integration between thousands of health information
systems. For example, a doctor who scanned a patients lab results on an
MFP may want to include those results in the patients electronic health record.
However, because hospitals use many different health information systems, ac-
complishing this task could require armies of coders, Ricoh explains. Health-
Share is designed to foster this integration seamlessly.
Another of the companys key offerings for the healthcare market is the Ricoh
Healthcare Camera. The device enables healthcare professionals to scan bar-
coded ID information on a patients wristband (via a built-in barcode scanner),
take a picture of an injury, for example, and then index the photo and route it a
patients electronic medical record via HealthShare. Ricoh also offers the Se-
cure Plain Paper RX Solution, which uses microprinting, sequential numbering
and other anti-counterfeit technologies to enable secure printing of prescrip-
tion pads on plain paper, eliminating the high cost of specially printed pads.
MFPs Optimized for HealthCare
In addition, Ricoh has developed a range
of multifunctional products designed spe-
cically for the healthcare marketthe SP
5210DNHW/SP 5210DNHT, SP C431DNHW/
SP C431DNHT, SP 5200SHW/SP 5200SHT,
SP 5210SFHW/SP 5210SFHT and MP
C300HW/MP C300HT. Featuring Teon-
coated trays and inserts that allow the draw-
ers to accommodate media as narrow as 3.5
in width, the devices are able to print patient
wristbands. The drawers can also be locked
in order to safeguard materials such as pre-
scription forms. Further, some of the devices
either have or are pending Cerner certica-
tion, which means they are certied for oper-
ating in conjunction with Cerner Millennium
AIX healthcare software environments.
One of Ricohs healthcare MFPs, the Acio SP 5200SHT
4
Ricoh Healthcare
A BLI Vertical Market Overview
BuyersLab.com 2014 Buyers Laboratory LLC. Duplication is forbidden without written permission from BLI. For reprints, contact info@buyerslab.com. 081414
Wristband media tray and locking drawer
An Emphasis on Service
As with most industries, the paper-to-electronic trend is having a strong
impact on healthcare. In fact, in accordance with a section of the Affordable
Care Act, penalties will be imposed on healthcare organizations that do not
switch from paper to electronic records by 2015. Due in part to factors such
as these, the electronic shift is occurring at a faster rate in North America
than it is in some other regions. Overall, however, the healthcare industry lags
behind other markets (such as legal) in this area, as a much larger percentage
of medical documents are still in paper form, Winkler notes.
To provide assistance with the transition to digital, Ricoh also offers its con-
sulting service, the Paperless Maturity Roadmap. Described by the com-
pany as a three-phase continuous journey to strategically remove paper
from your organization, the guided process aims to minimize paper use and
improve workow process efciency. Ricohs Rapid Process Assessment tool
can further aid in this by identifying time-, cost- and resource-saving oppor-
tunities within a given workow via benchmarking, predictive modeling and
analytics, and then making recommendations based on those ndings.
The companys emphasis on customer support and consultation is further
demonstrated with Ricohs Communications, Operations and Remote
Engineering (CORE) center. The CORE center provides customers with 24/7
remote IT support, designating one person as an organizations point of
contact for individualized, specialized attention. To further enhance its offering
and expertise in the IT realm, Ricoh recently purchased mindSHIFT, a leading
5
Ricoh Healthcare
A BLI Vertical Market Overview
BuyersLab.com 2014 Buyers Laboratory LLC. Duplication is forbidden without written permission from BLI. For reprints, contact info@buyerslab.com. 081414
provider of IT, cloud, data center and professional services, which has been
merged into the activities of the CORE center. Furthermore, Ricoh branches
and dealerships nationwide provide managed document and print services,
whereby Ricoh maintains entire eets of document imaging devicesregardless
of brandand ensures supplies are on hand when needed, freeing IT to focus
on strategic initiatives.
Software Offerings to Further Simplify Operations
In addition to the industry-specic challenges medical organizations face, the
need to improve efciency and reduce costs is one that is shared by all indus-
tries, including healthcare. To assist with this, all Ricoh MFPs that incorporate
the ESA (Embedded Software Architecture) platform offer control panel inte-
gration with a number of solutions to help organizations increase efciency,
streamline workow, reduce cost and enhance security.
In the capture and workow category, Ricoh offers embedded integration with
Nuance eCopy ShareScan, NSi AutoStore (recently acquired by Nuance), Ex-
perVision OCR software and Ricohs own GlobalScan NX for converting paper
records into digital les. For document management, the devices integrate with
Ricoh Personal Paperless Document Manager, DocuLex Archive Studio and
DocuWare, among others. To reign in print costs, control panel integration is of-
fered for solutions including Cirrato One, Equitrac, Ricoh Print and Copy Con-
trol, and Ricoh Print Copy Scan Director. Mobile printing options are supported
via integration with Ricoh HotSpot Enterprise and Cloud, and PrinterOn Enter-
prise, among others. And for security, Ricoh MFPs integrate with a number of
secure printing solutions, including Ricoh FlexRelease CX 1, Ricoh Print Cloud
and Ubiquitech EASY / VDMS Secure Pull Print 3.
According to Winkler, what matters most to buyers in the medical industry is
not much different from what matters most to buyers in other industries. They
want systems that are reliable, secure, and easy to administer and support.
And thats what Ricoh is focused on providing.
Editors Note: Check bliQ periodically for reports on Ricohs offerings in other vertical markets.