According to a document management survey conducted by Computer Sciences Corporation about hospitals compliancy with the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) section of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA):
- Will face severe penalties in 2015 if hospitals are not meaningful users of Electronic Health Record EHR) systems
- Only 10% have comprehensive EHRs in 2009
- Expected that 55% will have EHRs by 2014
- Only 25% of those surveyed meet at least 70% of the readiness indicators
- Only 66% have assessed where their current system has gaps
- 70% have systems with capability for Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE)
- 8% have CPOE in place
- Less than 50% have plan to convert to new coding standard ICD-10
- Currently HER systems are certified by a body called Certification Commission for Health InformationTechnology (CCHIT)
- 93% are using a product that is CCHIT certified, but only 70% reported that their systems were capable of CPOE
- Only 54% were using latest version of software
- Only 27% use the National Council For Prescription Drug Programs (NCPDP) version 10.5 for medications
- Only 21% had captured at least 50% of the physician documentation electronically
- Less than 33% tracked quality of care measures during patient’s stay
- Only 52% employ encryption technologies to render data unreadable or unusable in the case of unauthorized access
- Only 40% have clear awareness of the criminal penalties in the HITECH legislation
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Major data center outages of 2009:
- In early July, Fisher Plaza in Seattle experienced an outage that affected e-commerce around the globe, as Authorize.net went offline. Also impacted was Intermap, AdHost and Microsoft Bing Travel site. The outage was blamed on an insulation failure in a bus duct.
- On June 25th, the Internet slowed down due to millions of users seeking news on death of Michael Jackson.
- On October 10th, T-Mobile users had their Sidekick mobile data lost due to a server failure at Microsoft’s anger subsidiary.
- On January 30th, users lost data from Magnolia, due to database crash.
- On August 6th, a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attached took down Twitter, due to crash at NTT America.
- On June 29th, power problems caused outage at Rackspace in Dallas, TX.
- On July 6th, a fire took down data center at Fisher Plaza in Toronto.
- In February, Google’s Gmail was overloaded in Europe.
- On August 3rd, performance issues prevented PayPal from processing transactions, causing eBay to lose $7 million in transaction fees.
- A power generator failure took down an IBM data center in New Zealand used by Air New Zealand.
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Heidelberg, the large German offset press maker, now supported financially by the German government, is looking to get back into the digital printers market according to Business Week magazine. Apparently, it is even considering partnering with Kodak. As you may recall, Heidelberg sold its digital press business to Kodak, after buying it from Kodak a few years earlier. This division includes the DigiMaster b/w systems and the NexPress color systems.
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According to Jim Thumma, CP of Optical Image Technology, here are the top ten challenges to implementing electronic content management programs:
- Budgeting inadequately, as most do not include necessary funds for:
- planning, consulting, designing, testing, implementing, training, evaluating and improvement
- professional services fees for customization
- staff resources
- temporary staffing for back file conversion
- ongoing training expenses
- Failing to see things through from start to finish
- Dropping the ball, by not following plan
- Staffing inadequately, by not putting extra resources in place during implementation
- Interrupting with 1001 questions
- Cutting corners that compromise system performance
- Poor communication
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The City of Troy, New York, announced it is implementing document management technology to reduce paper usage, and improve record keeping in its police department. It hopes to save several thousands of dollars, and eliminate the printing of 315,000 pieces of paper annually.
- Insufficient training
- Inadequate testing
- Insufficient backup and disaster recovery planning
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MWAi announced it is launching a new program to allow independent dealers to offer a nationwide managed print services program. The MWAi National Managed Print Services (nMPS) program will allow a dealer to access a network of 3,000+ technicians across the country, to service and supply printers, with ability to see call activity real-time, manage pricing, as well as open and close service calls on a common industry ERP.
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Printshop revenue for month of November in the U.S., was a total of $7.38 billion a decline of 8% compared to last year. It was the first November to be below $8 billion since 2003.
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The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case of whether or not a company has the right to monitor text messages on company provided cell phones.
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According a survey of law firms conducted by Mattern & Associates:- Average charge to clients for outgoing fax was $1.17 per page
- Average cost for a color copy of $0.81 per page
- Average cost for a color print of $0.78 per page
- Average cost for a b/w print of $0.18 per page
- Average cost for phone consultation was $0.12 per minute
- Firms that capture data from local printers versus network printers increased from 38% to 50%
- Total output from printers and copiers increased by 7% year over year
- Fax volume decreasing, but replaced by increased scanning volume
- 26% now charging for scans
- Color output is now considered standard, and no longer only for marketing
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Adobe Corp. announced that it is discontinuing its Partner Connection Print Service Provider Program, which was intended to drive Adobe users to member printshops. Adobe claims it shut it down due to declining membership.
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PayNet Inc. reported that small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) with accounts behind 180 days or more, and unlikely ever to be paid, rose 0.91% in November from 0.87% in October. This is the 22nd consecutive monthly increase in loans so far in arrears they ultimately may have to be written off by lenders.
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A company that specializes in selling used copiers claims its business is booming. Copiers Refurbished Inc., run by Randy Mecheles, leases used copiers on a 24 month to 48 month term with $1.00 buyout at end of term. The company sells over the Internet, and charges $425 to ship anywhere in the U.S. However, do they tell customers that they must find a local dealer to service it for them once it arrives?
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Memjet, the company that has been promising a high speed color inkjet copier, announced it has hired a new executive. Len Lauer, former COO of Qualcomm, will be the new Memjet President and CEO, working out the San Diego office. (Memjet has 2,600 patents related to technology developed by Mr. Kia Silverbrook of Australia)
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According to Google Corp, five PC computer manufacturers have expressed interest in launching small laptop computers, called “netbooks”, that use the Google Chrome operating system. Details:
- Manufacturers include; ASUSTek Computer, Hewlett Packard, Acer
- Runs on top of a Linux kernel
- Boots up in only 10 seconds after power on
- Applications are all web based
- Plan to ship before Christmas of 2010
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Apple Computer is estimated to have sold 3.3 million Mac computers during last quarter. This breaks an all time sales record of 3.05 million Mac’s during the previous quarter, or a 31% increase year over year. In contrast, worldwide computer sales are only up 2.3% in units.
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Sony Corp.’s Vice Chairman, Ryoji Chubachi, was quoted in Business Week magazine as saying that the country of Japan may face a second recession. “There’s a risk of a double-dip recession. For companies, the most difficult position to be in is when prices keep dropping and demand doesn’t increase.”
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Apple also plans on launching its new tablet computer in March, according to the Wall Street Journal, and it will have a 11” touch screen full color LCD
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Xerox, which is trying to increase sales of its wax copier, the ColorQube, recently revealed that it used HyperWorks software from Altair ProductDesign Inc. of Troy, Michigan, to design the print engine in the ColorQube.
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One company sues another over a printer. Wet Enterprises of Sun Valley, CA, best known for designing the water fountains in Las Vegas casinos, sued Bren Instruments of College Grove, TN claiming that the company misrepresented the capabilities of an $18,000 color label printer. Bren countersued for $1.5 million, claiming that the lawsuit caused damaged the company’s reputation.
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Fujitsu workers in England started 5 days of strikes. Details: - workers are upset about cuts in pay and pensions
- includes 1,600 employees
- offices in Manchester, Warrington, Crewe and Belfast
- company may lay off 1200 workers in 2010
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Care New England Healthcare System awarded a document management solution bid to The SSI Group Inc. Details:
- healthcare firm was printing more than 47,000 reports per year
- total of 1,915,861 pieces of paper per year
- average cost per impression of 3.2 cents
- claims to be now saving up to $100,000 per year
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Tekgraf, a distributor of wide format systems, abruptly closed its doors on 12/16/2009. The company provided HP, Epson, Canon and other color inkjet systems to dealers across the U.S. Last year, the company had moved to a much larger, more expensive facility in South Carolina.
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4 men were arrested in Bensalem, Pennsylvania for making fake $20 bills using a color copier. Jesse Velez, Edward Casigne, Scott Bolden, and Avery Fitzpatrick were caught when they used the fake money to purchase over $1500 worth of electronics at a local Target. The men are now in Bucks County jail in lieu of $500,000 bail, and facing up to 45 years in prison.
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Predictions from document management analyst, Francois Ragnet about future of documents:
- Documents will be stored in a Cloud, via players like Google, Microsoft, Adobe or Amazon.
- Paper consumption will continue to decrease significantly for green and financial incentives.
- Electronic book readers (eReaders) will become ubiquitous for specific usages. Paperback books will become the exception.
- Formats of electronic documents will become increasingly standardized.
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Panasonic is being sued by a dealer that it cancelled. The case will be heard in Sacramento, where a dealer named JRS Products, was apparently cancelled by Panasonic, when the company found out it was selling remanufactured versions of toner cartridges that worked with Panasonic printers, MFPs and fax machines.
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Plymouth County, Iowa, announced it will attempt to implement a paperless court system. Attorneys, judges, clerks of court and support staff will receive training in the first 90 days on scanning and searching procedures. If the test is successful, the state hopes to launch in other counties.
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Polaroid, in an attempt to recapture mindshare after its bankruptcy, announced it has hired Lady Gaga as its spokesperson.
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Hewlett Packard announced it has appointed John Solomon as Senior Vice President over its printer/MFP division for the Asia/Pacific and Japanese markets, reporting to Vyomesh Joshi.
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Kyocera announced it will conduct a road show across the U.S. to promote its new managed print services program, and use Steve Rolla (Print Management Solutions Group of Florida) as its keynote speakers.
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Lexmark announced it offer a new embedded solution for its MFPs with color LCD touch screens. It will offer AutoStore Document Capture from Notable Solutions Inc. (NSi)
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The Australian State Public Health Department, awarded a $750,000 document management solution bid to Kofax Corp.
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According to a document on Hewlett Packard’s website, the average cost to print a letter-size, two-sided color page on its OfficeJet Pro series of printers, is a whopping 64 cents per page.
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According to Lyra Research, the wide format printer market declined 19.1% in the last year.
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According to survey conducted by The Forrester Group, 22% of respondents prefer using Microsoft SharePoint for its electronic content management (ECM) capabilities, and 52% said it will replace their existing ECM system.
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Direct Color Systems Inc. launched the Millenium 700, which can produce a full color plastic name badge in 25 seconds. Purchase price, and cost per card were not announced.
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A copier dealer buys an IT company. Loffler Companies, a Konica Minolta, Canon & Kyocera dealer, announced it has acquired Techies IT. Founded by Robert Stephens, of Best Buy’s Geek Squad fame, Techies IT had 100 business customers, and $2 million in annual revenue of managed IT services. Loffler is owned by Jim Loffler of Minneapolis, MN, and has annual revenues of $50 million with 300 employees.
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Ricoh announced that its Senior Product Marketing Manager for Wide Format, Linda Maxwell Allen, has left the company.
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The City of McKinney, Texas, awarded a managed print services contract to Marimon, Inc., a local dealer.
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A dealer wins a document management bid in Pennsylvania. Altek Business Systems, using Kodak scanners and DocuWare software, won a contract from Penn Stainless Products Inc., a stainless steel producer and distributor.
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Supplies Network announced it has hired Doug Johnson as Senior Vice President. Mr. Johnson has spent last 3 years developing the CARBON SiX managed print services program.
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A company named “Readius” claims it will launch an unfurling, scroll-like, screen-based electronic book reader.
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