09.12.2008: Tackling the financial crisis in hospitals

German clinics and hospitals have not had to operate under such difficult conditions for a long time, with almost one in every three institutions reporting losses and almost one in every ten hospitals being forced to make cuts through emergency wage agreements. The German Hospital Federation has predicted a further decline in patient care, evidence of which can already be seen. The ‘BDO – Update in Krankenhäusern’ series of lectures, which took place from November 3 to December 2, 2008, discussed the effects of healthcare reform and demonstrated how hospitals can reduce their costs through efficient management. The speakers included Robert Feldmeier, Spokesman of the Management Board of TA Triumph-Adler AG and specialist for efficiency in document management.

Nuremberg, December 9, 2008 – Reducing costs in hospitals without compromising on patient care was the aim of the measures proposed by BDO Deutsche Warentreuhand in a series of seven lectures held in a number of major German cities. As one of the five leading firms for accounting, taxation and commercial law consulting and advisory services, BDO has expertise in a number of sectors, including healthcare. In the ‘BDO – Update in Krankenhäusern’ series of lectures, experts in economics and law discussed legal reforms such as the Hospital Financing Reform Act (Krankenhausfinanzierungsreformgesetz), and their consequences for clinics and hospitals. The discussions also focussed on strategic measures for increasing revenue in hospitals. Jürgen Metzenmacher and Dr. Simon Loeser, responsible for the BDO Advisory Services division, talked about specialised medical services. Hospitals could expand their range of patient services by creating additional specialist departments and thus acquire new sources of revenue, given that demand for specialised services is increasing.
Significant savings can be achieved in document management in hospitals, as more than one-third of IT costs are generated by printing, copying and faxing. “Administrative expenditure in document management is a major cost driver”, explained Robert Feldmeier, Spokesman of the Board of TA Triumph-Adler AG, in his speech ‘Reducing costs in the clinical sector – innovative financing concepts in document management’. “With digital document archiving, cost savings of up to 70 per cent can be achieved compared with storing records in paper form,” says Feldmeier. The TA Triumph-Adler DIDO (Digital Document Organisation) concept also improves efficiency, as the current version of each digital document can be found quickly and easily and is available from any workstation. Thanks to the innovative OS Tiger/APP product, all patient files can be archived in a minimum of space and still comply with the necessary legal requirements. The archiving of 15 million patient records takes no more space than an A3 sheet of paper.
Another way in which TA Triumph-Adler can help hospitals to reduce their document business costs is through the installation of a standardised system that is tailored to the individual requirements of the organisation on the basis of the TOM (Total Output Management) consulting and analysis concept. The Nuremberg company guarantees the requisite high availability of the systems in patient care in an all-in rental contract. The document business specialist supplies not only the hardware, software and consumables from one brand, but also takes charge of the control and maintenance of the office system. In service cases, systems are restored to operating condition within a short, contractually stipulated time.

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TA Triumph-Adler AG
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E-mail: krt@ta.ag

trio-market-relations GmbH
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E-mail: a.bolowich@trio-group.de


About TA Triumph-Adler AG:

In the document business, TA Triumph-Adler is the specialist. The company analyses, individually advises and realises an efficient document workflow for business customers, in both paper and electronic form, and delivers an effective service. With over 190,000 installed systems and more than 34,000 satisfied end customers and 112 years’ experience in the document business, the Group is the market leader in Germany. Over 450 internal document consultants and 500 internal system supporters guarantee an all-inclusive service. The Group is there for its customers in over 13 legally independent solution centres (limited companies) in over 50 locations throughout Germany and abroad. TA Triumph-Adler offers complete and unique modular solution concepts (hardware = TOM ‘Total output Management’; software = DIDO ‘Digital Document Organisation’). The company is a full-line distributor for printing, faxing, copying, scanning and DMS and has its own financial service provider in the form of TA Leasing GmbH, which provides virtually every form of financing for business customers. Together with the specialised TA Triumph-Adler Corporate Consulting GmbH, the document specialist works with established key accounts both within Germany and abroad. TA Triumph-Adler AG has a prime standard rating on the German stock exchange (WKN 749500) and, with 1,365 employees (150 of whom are trainees) generated sales of EUR 416 million during the 2007 business year. The company demonstrates its social and civic responsibility through the Triumph-Adler ‘Kinder in Not’ Foundation, feels a duty to protect the environment and carries out efficient and comprehensive corporate governance. The company’s headquarters are located in Nuremberg.



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