When businesses want to add new technology, services, or equipment to their operations and their budget, the Return on Investment (ROI) is an important part of the discussion. Businesses, companies, and organizations need to know — is the juice worth the squeeze? Will that technology and the benefits that go with it justify the cost?
Human services programs that may have limited resources to better serve their clients and communities need to know if technology like a document management system is worth it. Human services organizations interested in the benefits of a document management system may be asking — what is the ROI for document management system software? This is the question that we hope to answer at NCT Inc.
How To Calculate ROI for Document Management Systems
Are you thinking about adding a document management system (DMS) to your human services program? You may want to examine the Return on Investment (ROI) for platforms like NCT CaseWorks first.
To get a clear picture of the ROI, you need to calculate all of the related costs — think software and licenses, hardware, implementation and setup, training your team, and regular updates or subscription costs. Then you get to see all of the ways a document management system can benefit your program. A high-quality DMS platform can deliver a variety of measurable returns that will impact your budget. Key benefits include reduced costs, improved efficiency as your team completes tasks faster, better collaboration that means everyone’s on the same page, and improved compliance to avoid penalties. When you can put a dollar amount on all these wins — like figuring out how much time and work you’re saving — you’ll be able to see quantifiable benefits for your human services program.
Here is how you can calculate the ROI for your document management system with a simple equation:
ROI = [(Total Benefits – Total Costs) / Total Costs] x 100
How Does a Document Management System Reduce Costs?
Employing a document management system is like finding a hidden treasure. It helps human services programs seriously cut down on expenses and reduce costs. A document management system allows programs to ditch endless stacks of paper, expensive printer ink, and even off-site storage that eats away at your budget and resources. With a DMS, everything goes digital, making those old and outdated costs a thing of the past and you won’t ever have to spend money and time recreating a lost document again because they’re all safe, secure, and super easy to find.
How Does a Document Management System Improve Efficiency?
Your team of social workers and caseworkers can operate at peak efficiency with a DMS at their disposal. No more wasting valuable time playing hide-and-seek with client files or waiting for documents to change hands. Now — social workers and caseworkers can instantly pull up the exact record or policy they need with just a few clicks of the mouse. This speeds up the client intake process, grants easy access to documents when needed, and allows human services professionals to spend way more time focused on helping people instead of paperwork. It is a win-win for human services programs.
How Does a Document Management System Improve Collaboration?
Teamwork makes the dream work, right? A DMS makes collaboration simpler for your human services team. Multiple team members, whether in the office or out in the field, can securely access and work on the same client files with a cloud-based platform. This eliminates the need for frustrating paper hand-offs and ensures that everyone always has the most up-to-date documents. The result? Smoother transitions of service and much better continuation of care.
How Does a Document Management System Improve Compliance?
For human services programs, staying compliant isn’t just important — it’s essential. And guess what? A DMS is a great tool to help improve compliance. Document management systems create detailed audit trails, so you can easily see who accessed what document and when they did. This is a lifesaver during audits or evaluations and ensures you’re always meeting state and federal compliance standards, like HIPAA or specific grant requirements. By automatically handling document policies and retention, a DMS helps cut down your risk of unwanted penalties for non-compliance and keeps all that sensitive client info secure.
READ MORE: How To Choose the Right Document Management System for Human Services
Are you looking at the best ways to improve client care without breaking the bank? A document management system may be the answer and you may be asking — what is the ROI on document management system software? We hope that this overview of the different ways a document management system can impact your budget and ROI has answered your questions.
Contact NCT Inc. today for more information on our NCT CaseWorks platform!
