RECORDS DIGITISATION FOR THE HEALTH CARE COMPLAINTS COMMISSION

A DEADLINE DRIVEN RECORDS DIGITISATION SOLUTION FROM SCAN2ARCHIVE

THE NEED

The Health Care Complaints Commission is a government regulatory body. In early 2019 it committed to a substantial digitisation project covering many thousands of records that were not yet digital. The timing was not the Commission’s to choose. Refurbishment of its offices was already programmed, and the records had to be digitised before those deadlines fell due, which left a short period to complete the work.

THE CHALLENGE

Volume and time pulled against each other. Many thousands of records is a substantial scanning job on its own. Compressing it into the window before the refurbishment deadlines meant the work had to move quickly without accuracy slipping.

The Commission’s information management team was relying on the supplier for both at once. Speed alone would not have helped. Records returned inaccurate would have needed checking and reworking, and the refurbishment programme left no room in the schedule for a second pass.

The Commission also needed visibility while the project ran. With an end date fixed by a building programme rather than by the scanning, it needed a supplier that would consult throughout rather than go quiet and reappear at the end.

KEY CHALLENGES

office refurbishment underway

A fixed completion date set by refurbishment deadlines rather than by the scanning schedule

paper records boxed ready for scanning

Many thousands of records to digitise inside a short working window

scanner feeding loose paper records

Fast turnaround required with accuracy holding up across the full volume

Keeping the Commission’s information management team informed while the project ran

THE SOLUTION

Scan2Archive was engaged in early 2019 to carry out the digitisation. The business is quality certified to ISO 9001:2015 and services clients Australia wide, and it was able to take on a substantial volume against a date the Commission did not control. Consultation ran through the project rather than sitting only at the start.

Scan2Archive provided the end-to-end solution which included the following key areas:

  • Project consultation. Scan2Archive consulted with the Commission throughout the engagement, from the discussion of requirements through to progress updates as the work ran. The specific scoping steps, including the agreed document specification and the project schedule, are not recorded in the available material.
  • Collection and secure transport. On projects of this size Scan2Archive supplies cartons, packs the records and transports them to its scanning facility using its own staff and vehicles. Whether records were collected this way, or scanned on site, is not recorded for this project.
  • Document preparation. Preparation removes bindings, staples, paper clips and plastic sleeves, repairs tears and flattens folded items so pages feed cleanly. What preparation the Commission’s records required is not recorded.
  • Scanning. Many thousands of records were digitised inside the period the refurbishment programme allowed. The scanners used, the resolution, the output formats and whether optical character recognition was applied are not recorded for this project.
  • File naming and indexing. Scan2Archive outputs files to customer specified naming conventions and can extract metadata so documents can be searched and retrieved. Whether either applied here, and to what schema, is not recorded
  • Quality control. Image quality control is a defined stage in Scan2Archive‘s ISO 9001:2015 certified process. The Commission’s review records that the finished quality met its expectations, though the checking method used on this project is not recorded
  • Transfer and completion. The project was completed on time, inside the timeframe the refurbishment deadlines set. The delivery method, and what happened to the original records afterwards, are not recorded
Flex scanner microfiche and microfilm scanning machine

“The HCCC embarked on a substantial digitisation project in early 2019 engaging Scan2Archive to assist us with many thousands of records we required to be digitised. With only a short period of time to complete this task due to refurbishment deadlines, we were relying heavily on Scan2Archive to provide fast and accurate service. Our expectations were meet in every way. Excellent consultation was provided throughout, the task was completed on time and the quality was amazing. I would not hesitate to use Scan2Archive again in the future. They are an amazing team offering a high level of customer service throughout our experience.”

Loryn Bird, Information Management Officer, Health Care Complaints Commission

Contact our professional team today and discuss how we may assist your project needs

  • 1300 789 684
  • info@scan2archive.com.au