Well-managed Care

produced our own medical cards in-house for the first time," he reports. "And we do all those badge cards that everyone in healthcare has hanging off them."

Cling usage includes temporary signs. "We're sending out a lot of 'Please Excuse Any Delay' signs in areas that are being renovated, and using a lot on the backs of doors and in patient rooms," he says. "It's more professional looking than taping up a piece of paper."

The road to synthetics printing was a bit bumpy initially. "We tried it a few years ago, but it didn't work because we didn't have the equipment for it," he remembers. Eventually, through a great deal of testing and trial and error, the in-plant found success, first using an older Ikon CPP 650 printer that is not rated for cling production. Its new Ricohs are rated for synthetics printing.

Results have been good for the bottom line. "On poly products, we've saved 15 percent in costs versus lamination and 18 percent in clings," he calculates. "But the real savings is in reduced labor."

Voelker characterizes 99 percent of the in-plant's work as on demand, meaning there's no finished product left sitting on the shelf. "We used to have $200,000 to $300,000 of inventory stored at any given time," he remarks.

Voelker also points out that half of the in-plant's business comprises value-added services, which he describes as "anything other than the actual process of putting ink on paper." The shop has taken on production of items such as specialty boxes and two-pocket folders.

Online Ordering and Resupplying

For print job submission and ordering of 8,000 to 9,000 items, some 1,800 customers use the shop's EFI Digital StoreFront. As an additional value-added service, Voelker has instituted an Office ReSupply program disseminated via Digital StoreFront.

Office ReSupply is based on the premise that, in an organization as large as Parkview Health, when one department is in need of a particular office supply, chances are that another department has, in Voelker's words, "tons of that item just sitting and gathering dust in a closet."

To balance supply and demand more efficiently, the in-plant asked departments to send their unused supplies to the shop.

"Volunteers sort the supplies and we make them available at no charge to all departments once a month on Digital StoreFront," Voelker details. "We are on target to save Parkview $10,000 this year with Office ReSupply."

Postal Services

On the mailing side, Postal Services recently added metering and inserting capabilities, resulting in a $200,000 per year savings. In addition, because the operation has moved to a self-service mail center, Postal Services only requires five part-time staff members.

"No outside vendor could come in and run mailing any more cheaply," Voelker asserts. "If we had added people over the years, we would have been more of a target for outsourcing."

Voelker notes that, especially since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the in-plant has faced an increased responsibility to provide higher-quality services at a lower cost.

"If we do anything new, it's primarily to reduce costs," he affirms.

Sometimes, reducing costs requires an initial investment in equipment or technology. When Voelker needs to justify expenditure, he's ready. He's a big proponent of accumulating, tracking and reporting data and typically generates 45 reports per month, which are "shared all the way up the line to our CFO."

"When we go to our annual budget meetings, we know exactly what's growing and what we're saving, and every time we want equipment, we have the numbers behind the request that prove its value," he asserts.

"For example, reports proved that producing synthetics in-house results in about $20,000 worth of annual savings that will carry over year after year," he continues. "We report conservatively, too, using figures compared to our already low internal costs. If we compared to outside costs, our synthetics savings would be $100,000 because the cling that we charge $1 for, we would have to buy outside for $7 to $22.50." The shop also continually markets and proves itself to customers. "We have display tables in our area and send out samples," he says. "I go out to each clinic that joins the Parkview system and talk to them about what we can do for them. Usually we can give them much higher quality at a lower cost."

Successful Transition

Voelker agrees that, since he joined the operation in 2006, "business as usual" at the in-plant has been more business-like.

"The transition was a little bit of a shock to our co-workers at first," he acknowledges. "Back then, our capabilities and impact were much more limited in scope. Now, we evaluate, analyze and advise."

Staff acclimated well and Voelker is quick to praise his colleagues. "The dedicated workers in Printing, Postal and Records Management are a skilled team of innovators that delight our customers daily and make all of our success possible," he lauds. "I can count on them to lead and contribute to initiatives and to generate better ideas, concepts and services as an aligned team."

The last time that Parkview Health released an internal customer-service report on its non-clinical departments, Printing Services was ranked number one and Postal Services second, he notes proudly.

Looking to the future, Voelker is considering adding services and products such as wide-format printing, vehicle clings and in-house invoicing. He's also exploring the possibility of insourcing. The deciding factor for each will be the projected cost savings.

"We are very well perceived by Parkview from a financial and service standpoint," Voelker concludes. "Year after year, we deliver, report and prove our cost savings, showing precisely how we're adding value and how much."