Managing Print in a Healthcare Environment

	The Client A large healthcare system with multiple hospitals and clinics.

Background

Our client was using a well known integrated software application for clinical, ambulatory, and patient management.  This application generated a large number of print jobs daily, which were being delivered to printers throughout the hospitals and clinics.

Goal

The customer had a number of complaints about the way their printing processes took place.  Here are some of the specific issues:

• When a printer was down, there was no easy way to reroute subsequent documents to a different device.
• Reprinting a document required cumbersome interaction with the host application.
• In case of print failure, there was no proactive notification of the helpdesk.
• Users had no way of knowing the specific originating application of the print job, thus making tracking of the specific problem difficult.
• Documents would print at the device, whether or not the user was physically there.  This allowed unauthorized users to potentially see the printout.
• When users wanted electronic versions of these printed documents, they had to find an imaging device and create a low-fidelity PDF version via scanning.
• There was not a complete accounting record of which documents printed on which devices.

The goal was to implement a software application that would address all of the above issues.

Solution

Most of the problems the customer was encountering were a natural result of their existing printing architecture, which relied on the basic print spooler that comes with the Windows operating system.  The application generating all of the documents was passing these print jobs to the Windows native print spooler, which was delivering them to the devices.  While in a small corporate environment this would be perfectly acceptable, in this client’s complex environment a more robust solution was needed.

The client chose Barr EOM as their comprehensive output management solution.  Instead of relying on the Windows native print spooler to deliver the print jobs directly to the printers, it is now Barr EOM that performs this function, resulting in a number of advantages:

• Automated failover profiles allow jobs to be automatically redirected to backup devices when the primary destination goes down.  The user is notified that the document is printing on an alternate device.
• Manual failover allows administrators and helpdesk staff to redirect jobs from a downed printer to alternate destinations.  Users are automatically notified that the documents are printing on alternate devices.  Barr EOM’s redirect feature also allows administrators to temporarily redirect all future jobs from a troubled printer to a different device.
• Reprinting a document can be done with just two clicks of the mouse on the Barr EOM web interface.
• The document properties visible in Barr EOM show exactly where the document originated, making troubleshooting easy.
• The Barr PrintAnywhere technology embedded in several manufacturers’ multi-function devices (also available via stand alone web kiosks) allows users to control where and when the job actually begins printing.  This eliminates the risk of unauthorized viewing of the printouts.
• Authorized users can retrieve via the web or email high quality PDF versions of the printed documents, which are converted directly from the original print stream, without the need for cumbersome scanning.
• All documents traveling through Barr EOM are tracked, thus allowing for detailed reports that cover who printed what and where.

 

 

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