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Document Management - Safeguarding Data |
Document management, archiving and document security is crucial - as the UK government discovered in 2006
Accidentally destroyed files can lead to legal chaos and in some cases, the loss of data and evidence can be devastating. Document management has been transformed in recent years, as records management, electronic document capture, scanning and document storage and security has never been simpler thanks to document management technology. But high profile stories in the press reveal that it isn't just your current document management you need to ensure is stored securely; you need to look at your past records too. Archiving documents is crucial for many organisations - especially those that are accountable to their clients or to the public.
Document Management: The Security Risk
In 2006, a story broke on the BBC that highlighted the importance of document management, including scanning past records ensuring they are securely stored and easily located. After hundreds of haemophiliacs and other patients were infected with hepatitis C or HIV in the 1980s and 1990s, the Government said that nearly all the files on the infected patients and blood products had accidentally been destroyed. Poor document management systems meant hundreds of patients were left battling the NHS as they also battled for their lives. The story damaged the image of the NHS as a reliable, patient-centred service and created a legal nightmare.
Document Management: Destroyed Files
The ineffectual document management led campaigners to claim the destroyed files were part of a cover-up. Even if the NHS had poor document management systems in place at the time the document archiving, document capture, scanning, document security and records management systems available today means they could have implemented an archiving procedure to safeguard against such an incident happening. The public row over the infected blood deepened after it was discovered the blood was sourced from prisoners in US jails and exported to the UK for medical use.
Document Scanning: Safeguarding the Past
The Department of Health responded to the allegations of the cover up, telling the BBC, "the government of the day acted in good faith, relying on the technology available at that time ... therefore we don't feel a public inquiry would provide any real benefit to those affected." If the NHS had implemented a document management procedure to scan all past records and paper files for electronic document capture, the agony of the campaigners could have been avoided, even if the medical blunder could never be undone.
Electronic Document Filing: Stopping Scandals
Without sufficient document management, including archiving old files for easy retrieval and security, scandals can break. One victim told the BBC: "They knew that these documents were relevant and they destroyed them, we think, as a cover-up."
With just a push of a button you can now digitize paper documents using the Kodak Scan Station 100; digitized documents can be saved in JPG, TIF or PDF, independent of their original format or, if they exist in color, black and white or as grayscale images.
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