Business Process Management (BPM) and Educational Institutions
Colleges and universities have always relied upon efficient business processing in order to provide first-rate services to existing and prospective students, as well as to faculty and staff. By facilitating the electronic routing of tasks based on established rule sets, business process management (BPM) helps colleges and universities manage admissions, administrative, and other key processes more effectively. It provides educational institutions with information about continually changing business conditions, helping them to shorten processing cycles, increase flexibility of software applications, and maintain consistency in routine procedures. BPM also helps colleges and universities:
- Use resources more wisely;
- Improve procedures and their efficiency;
- Reduce operational expenditures;
- Tap into audit capabilities that facilitate compliance with HIPAA and other stringent regulations;
- Measure performance at a variety of different levels; and
- Manage complex processes that involve a multitude of applications.
Enhancing BPM throughout Colleges and Universities
DocFinity® electronic document management software (EDMS) contains many tools to assist colleges and universities in achieving the benefits of BPM. From sophisticated workflow capabilities to system monitoring functions, your institution can improve processes, increase productivity, and reduce expenditures. DocFinity’s integration capabilities enable learning institutions to tie together business functions that involve the interaction of multiple applications, making information available to authorized staff from different departments.
Workflow
Workflow is the foundation of the DocFinity business process management solution. It allows colleges and universities to automate the admissions process and other operations that previously were paper-based. Papers that traditionally needed to be handled by numerous people, and which involved a large number of routine tasks—including application materials, transcript requests, departmental approvals, denials, signatures on documents, etc.—can be processed electronically based on pre-determined rules. Rules instruct the system what to do in the event of a slowdown due to higher processing volumes, absent or poorly-performing staff, or other processing challenges. Some institutions have found that workflow helps them to generate decision letters more quickly, resulting in increased admissions.
Dashboard/Statboard
Dashboard/Statboard is an effective tool for proactive business activity monitoring (BAM). It provides a bird’s-eye view of the overall processing picture, and gives regular reports on potential bottlenecks, slowdowns, or other system concerns. Processing volumes and the specific tasks within each automated workflow can be viewed and adjusted accordingly to further increase organizational efficiency.
Reports
Reports enables administrators to access real-time statistics through a series of customizable reports and graphs. DocFinity Reports also allows organizations to analyze workloads and manage employee productivity through pre-built reporting tools. DocFinity Reports has increased audit capabilities that help businesses meet HIPAA and other requirements, as well as thorough reporting capabilities for employee productivity and inventory control.
Web Services API
Managers and end-users can tap into all of the robust functionality of the products mentioned above without leaving their familiar software applications. With the Web Services API (Application Programming Interface), which is included in the DocFinity Core, there are no complicated new programs to learn. Employees can retrieve and view materials, initiate automatic workflows that direct and redirect work to the next phase in the business process, send documents onward for approval, initiate automatic reports on a regular basis, and much more. Processing decisions are based on business rules for paper-based procedures.
As organizations grow, there is frequently a desire to add additional capabilities that are present in modules like DocFinity XML FormFLOW™ and Barcode Server, which enable management and staff to further automate their processes
The DocFinity line is designed so that desired components can be added to augment your system after implementation. DocFinity is scalable according to your needs. Optical Image Technology’s BPM solution, which includes DocFinity Workflow, Dashboard/Statboard, Reports, and the Web Services API (which is available within the DocFinity Core), is a great way to put your organization ahead of the competition and to offer your students, faculty, and staff the stellar services they deserve.
For additional information regarding DocFinity business process management solutions, please contact us.
