Atlantic Dental Outsources Its Document Management

Leila Chang, chief executive officer of Atlantic Dental (Miami), used to pull people in from various departments in her company to collate and mail information packages and ID cards to new and existing members. "No one liked it, but we had to get the materials out somehow," relates Chang.

Hoping to take on additional customers and focus on core competencies, Chang began looking for an outsourced solution for printing and fulfillment of member materials. "We're not a fulfillment company," comments Chang, "and we're not a mail company. I believe in outsourcing everything that is not a core business. I wanted my staff to focus on serving members and dentists."

Smart Shopper

Having spoken to her existing printer about outsourcing document management, and deciding that the cost was prohibitive, Chang selected The Jerome Group (Maryland Heights, MO)-provider of the DocuCentrix service-after being introduced to the vendor at a trade show for the National Association of Dental Plans (Dallas).

The Jerome Group's DocuCentrix service is a Web-based document management and production system that handles everything from document creation to fulfillment.

Now, instead of collating and mailing materials in-house, Atlantic Dental staffers make a request via a secure Web site, and select materials are printed and sent to the appropriate members. "We are able to individualize each packet that is mailed," explains Chang, "and this kind of customization is important to us, since very specific information goes into each packet."

Thirty-Day Implementation

It took about 30 days for Atlantic Dental to get the service up and running, according to Chang, "We sat down with a DocuCentrix programmer and explained all of the unique features of our enrollment kits," she says, "and designed a system for submitting requests for documents via a secure Web site." The submission of requests for documents, referred to as a "launch" by Atlantic Dental, allows the insurer's staff members to transmit file, printing, finishing and shipping specifications on a single screen, according to Chang.

Atlantic Dental mails approximately 20,000 pieces a month, including everything from member benefit guides, ID cards and customized information booklets. According to Chang, Atlantic has realized manifold benefits from using the DocuCentrix service. "Our materials are aesthetically much nicer, the production quality is higher, we are saving 40 percent on printing and production costs and 30 percent on postage costs," Chang says.

Another significant benefit of the DocuCentrix service was realized when Atlantic Dental was awarded a new contract with 280,000 potential new members from Florida Healthy Kids, a Tallahassee, FL-based organization that helps arrange health insurance for uninsured children in Florida.

"Part of the contract with Florida Healthy Kids stipulated that materials had to be mailed five days after we received the database of eligible individuals," according to Chang, who adds, "without DocuCentrix, this would have been impossible."

No Going Back Now

In terms of the price of the DocuCentrix service, Atlantic Dental has a contracted fee per project, based on the number and type of information being sent. In order to verify the accuracy of the DocuCentrix service, Chang has the printed information packets from each mailing sent to several Atlantic Dental staff members.

Overall, Chang acknowledges she has been impressed with the quality and consistency provided as a result of the DocuCentrix service. Looking back on the former process for document management and fulfillment, "I can't even imagine how we used to handle these processes before," concedes Chang.

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COMPANY NAME:

Atlantic Dental, Miami,

200,000 members, 1,250 dentists.

LINES OF BUSINESS:

Dental HMO.

VENDOR/TECHNOLOGY:

Jerome Group's (Maryland Heights, MO)

DocuCentrix.

THE CHALLENGE:

Cut costs and increase efficiency with outsourced document management service.