Software to Manage the Unmanageable
Computer Technology
Originating Technology/ NASA Contribution
In 1995, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
contracted Redmond, Washington-based Lucidoc
Corporation,
to design a technology infrastructure to automate
the intersection between policy management and
operations management with advanced software that
automates document workflow, document status, and
uniformity of document layout. JPL had very specific
parameters for the software. It expected to store
and catalog over 8,000 technical and procedural
documents integrated with hundreds of processes.
The project ended in 2000, but NASA still uses
the resulting highly secure document management
system, and Lucidoc has managed to help other organizations,
large and small, with integrating document flow
and operations management to ensure a compliance-ready
culture.
Partnership
In the mid-1990s, NASA was pushing toward process-based-management
for documents and procedures. John Casani, JPL’s
chief engineer, was given the assignment of implementing
this new system, but after scouring the market
for commercially available software, he found none
that was powerful, comprehensive, or secure enough
for the task of providing more than 8,000 documents
to over 7,000 users located on seven continents,
and that would allow JPL to become ISO 9000 certified.
|
Employees at Anchor
Bank, a state-chartered mutual savings bank,
headquartered in Aberdeen, Washington, are divided
over 14 different branches and across 18 separate
facilities, yet they are united by the Lucidoc
document management system. |
JPL partnered with Lucidoc to create the software
solution. NASA employed a service contract to streamline
the process, and the result was an efficient partnership
and a quick, thorough solution to the problem.
JPL uses the Lucidoc solution to create a living
database of ever-changing and highly integrated
procedural information. The software is an HTML,
object-oriented, workflow management system that
controls guidelines and standards across the laboratory
and the various campuses. One of the key advantages
is that the user can access the system through
a standard Internet browser.
Product Outcome
Having proven successful at cataloging, organizing,
and maintaining the wealth of information NASA
required, Lucidoc was uniquely prepared to offer
the same services to a variety of other industries.
Lucidoc has been effective in the banking and health
care industries, as well as in the government aerospace
industry.
The Lucidoc system automates the operational life
cycle of document management and compliance with
several key features. It offers multilevel communication
of information between departments and staff, and
fosters collaboration between departments and facilities
on feedback, changes in documents or procedures,
and streamlining the approval and sign-off stages
of document flow. It provides document creation
and revision capabilities, including links to related
documents requiring changes. Unlike typical document
management systems, which simply delete outdated
documents, Lucidoc archives and updates files,
making it a living document system with an active
history.
The Lucidoc system enables an organization to affirm
that compliance information is distributed, authoritative,
consistent, complete, and managed.
The information in the Lucidoc system is automatically
distributed to all of the appropriate people, which
is one of the key goals of any document management
system, because without access to the information,
the process stalls, requiring time-consuming delays.
In many instances, the Lucidoc system replaces
binders and files that are difficult to keep current
and oftentimes accessible only to a few people
in specific locations.
Furthermore, the information is authoritative.
It is constantly updated and made relevant, and
it is the same information available to every other
user on the system. It has been checked and validated;
the right people have been given the opportunity
to sign off when needed, thereby giving the necessary
approval.
The information found on the system is consistent,
because it is all regulated within the same document
management system. The possibility of redundancy
is reduced, and the likelihood of inconsistent
answers or directions
is eliminated.
In addition to being distributed, authoritative,
and consistent, the information in the system is
complete. It links like information to like information,
and because
of its Web-based approach, the system allows for
thorough searching.
Finally, it is life-cycle managed. Since this is
an active document management system, it accommodates
revisions and changes in documents, as well as
adaptations in processes.
The many facets of this document management system
make it ideal for use by organizations seeking
to make their procedures and documents uniform
across several offices. Just as it has found a
long-term home at JPL,
this specialized software has found applications
in the document-heavy industries of banking and
medicine, and it has proven effective and helpful
in both.
|
The Lucidoc system
is working to help medical professionals in
California get the information they need when
they need it. |
Community banks and credit unions are regulated
by their state governments, the Federal Government,
and groups such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission, Fair Housing Regulators, and insurers.
These financial institutions risk hefty civil and
criminal penalties for compliance failures. Banks
must be able to show their regulators conformity
and compliance through regular performance audits
and prospective evaluations of their documentation.
As banks move toward more and more micro-branches,
like ones seen at grocery stores, this becomes
increasingly difficult. The Lucidoc system provides
a solution for keeping documents up to date, distributed,
and in compliance with constantly changing regulations.
Anchor Bank, a state-chartered mutual savings bank
in Washington State, employs the Lucidoc system
to provide document management services to its
18 facilities and 14 branches. With so many locations,
sending out documents to each of the offices was
time-consuming and costly. The bank wanted a secure
system that would automate the creation of and
access to operational documents. After researching
the alternatives, Anchor Bank realized that Lucidoc
was uniquely suited to solve its problems. The
system streamlined the document workflow process,
reduced the cost of relying on paper documents,
and sped the spread of knowledge.
Two additional advantages came out of this partnership:
Anchor Bank now has virtually stress-free audits,
as all of its paperwork is automatically updated;
and, because of its intuitive, easy-to-use format,
employees are finding the Lucidoc portal useful
for human resources materials and onsite training.
Lucidoc is making similar inroads in the hospital
industry. The Lucidoc system provides health care
staff with instant access, from any location, to
the accurate procedural information and care directions
they need. Information access and accuracy are
the keys to providing consistent, quality care.
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare
Organizations requires that policies and protocols
be kept up to date, and the Lucidoc solution allows
hospital leadership to automate the review and
updating processes so that staff can concentrate
on quality management and care, rather than on
performing an endless paper shuffle.
Lucidoc is currently being used by Palomar Pomerado
Health, the largest public health district in California,
with over 800 miles of territory. This district
includes the 326-bed Palomar Medical Center, the
115-bed Pomerado Hospital, 2 skilled nursing facilities,
5 health centers, a surgery center, a home health
program, physician referral services, and wellness
classes. Prior to Lucidoc, all of the documents
needed to run these facilities were managed by
hand. In fact, it was one person’s job to coordinate
all documents for review.
The Lucidoc system provides efficient transfer
of information, including electronic signatures,
a near must in the medical field. It also provides
nursing teams with access to an up-to-date, authoritative
database with intuitive search capabilities. For
example, if a nurse needs information about an
obscure procedure, rather than hunt down a manual,
which may be out of date or even in a locked cabinet,
she can type several key words into a browser,
as if she were performing a Google search. Unlike
with a traditional Internet search, though, the
nurse can be assured that the information she accesses
is current and authoritative, because it is within
the Lucidoc system.
Lucidoc™ is a trademark of the Lucidoc Corporation.
Google™ is a trademark of Google Inc.
|