Regulatory compliance is a primary driver for many organizations to add document conversion (digitization) to their standard operating procedures. Managing the massive quantities of compliance-related data in just one bank or one hospital is a time-consuming and error-prone task if it’s done by hand. A compliance audit can be tortuous if data is hard to find or incorrect.
But let’s say you’ve made the decision to go digital, digitization your documents into a secure, searchable database. The story doesn’t end there. Even when documents have been imaged, the resulting database itself must be designed to collect and deliver information in a useful form.
If you think of the database like a library’s card catalog (remember those?), you can get a clearer picture of how to structure the database to fit your organization’s compliance needs. Just like the many large drawers in a card catalog, the data “catalog” should be:
- Centralized– what are all the various data sources? Build one central repository that links to all the sources of data throughout the enterprise.
- Classified/categorized– what are all the types of data? Identify each imaged document, and the data it contains, by category. Remember, more metadata (classification information) means faster, more accurate search results.
- Cross-referenced– what information is needed by which regulatory body (often more than one)? Data should be identifiable by all the regulations to which it applies. Data from some healthcare compliance documents might also apply to tax rules, for example.
One thing the old card catalog didn’t do well, if at all, was tracking. Data provenance can be very important in a compliance audit, and metadata tracking provides a digitized document’s history: Who, when, and where was it created? Who modified it? Who accessed it? Where did it move within the organization? Privacy regulations in particular require a complete provenance record. A well-designed database can easily deliver this information in the event of an audit.
Beyond the regulatory requirements, a database of imaged documents can produce actionable information. Facilities managers can query the warranty information of equipment, or the country of origin of furnishings. Team managers can identify documents needed for a particular project, and make them accessible to team members. These types of activities become far more efficient and more productive when a properly designed database is delivering the information quickly and accurately.
Photo © deagreez/ AdobeStock
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