The Challenge
TMG handles numerous customer mailings for their health plan clients. A critical part of their mailing services involves processing returned mail, which typically includes important time-sensitive documentation that needs to be processed and resent to clients quickly, usually within 90 days. TMG needed a capture solution that could automate the tedious processing of their mailing operation and digitize document storage.
TMG receives approximately 150,000 pieces of return mail annually. To process it, staff had to tediously open the envelopes, index key data, identify the type of document from over 60 different possibilities and validate the up-to-date sending address with their MARx System database. Typically TMG spent 15-17 minutes on each piece, working entirely from paper. Because different mail pieces were handled by different departments, each piece would pass through multiple hands during processing, presenting a risk of delaying processes or misplacing, losing, or destroying the documents. In addition to these challenges, storing thousands of documents cost TMG significant office space.
“With the system in place, we’ve achieved an annual savings of $750,000, recouping our initial investment more than five times over in the first year alone.”
– Steve Krzywiec, Director of Pre-Processing, TMG Health
With guidance from OnBase partner Naviant, TMG turned to an OnBase capture solution to overcome the complexities and volume of their mailing process.
The Solution
The OnBase capture solution’s Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and workflow automation put an end to TMG’s processing inefficiencies. Now, all returned mail is placed in an OPEX AS7200 where the documents are removed from their envelopes and scanned together as a single transaction. The software’s OCR engine automatically identifies the document to determine the key data and then automatically lifts the data from the documents. For this project, Naviant recommended the use of templates for increased accuracy. With templates created for each of the 60 document types, each template acts as a “map” for the software to understand exactly where to lift data from on each document. The software then compares the identified address with the MARx System to determine if there is an updated address on file to resend the returned mail piece.
Each transaction remains together from initial processing to digital storage, eliminating the need to physically pass around paper and house massive amounts of documents onsite. TMG staff now use their internal image viewer to determine the next step in routing the mail instead of working from stacks of paper.
The new streamlined process dramatically reduced the time, effort, and risk associated with TMG’s previously tedious process. “We’re achieving phenomenal results on OCR recognition so our verification operators don’t need to correct many errors. Less than three percent of our mail requires any manual verification,” said Steve Krzywiec, Director of Pre-Processing for TMG Health. By automating returned mail, TMG became a pioneer, setting a new industry standard for future companies to benchmark against. They plan to expand their capture solution to process other documents they handle for clients.
The Difference
Automate Indexing and Data Capture
Highly accurate automated data capture requires fewer than three percent of mail to be manually verified by a staff member.
Eliminate Risk Associated with Managing Paper
The digitization of the returned mail eliminates the risk of delaying, misplacing, losing, or destroying documents while transporting paper from desk to desk.
Save Time and Reduce Costs
Processing thousands of inquiries no longer takes 15-17 minutes each. The cost of materials and space to store these documents are reduced as well.
