UNC Health Care Gets More Robust
UNC Health Care, Chapel Hill, N.C., improves the condition of hundreds of thousands of patients a year, but one recent operation was especially smooth—its switch to a new pay management system.
The non-profit health care system, which furthers the teaching mission of the University of North Carolina's School of Medicine, wanted what many large organizations seek—powerful, easy-to-use financial software that increases productivity, enhances security and saves time and money. "It's important for us to find technology solutions that are broad enough to handle a variety of needs, but easy enough to install and use without problems," says Terry Prescott, UNC Health Care's IT manager. The organization wanted a pay management and check printing system that could integrate seamlessly with Lawson Software, its primary enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. It wanted the ability to customize checks and other printed documents on the fly, plus access to more robust check-reporting options and better customer service than its previous vendor provided. Also, UNC Health Care didn't want to pay for routine software updates and changes, Prescott says.
Tim Byrd, UNC Health Care's manager of fixed assets and system support, asked MHC Software Inc., Burnsville, Minn., to submit a proposal that addressed those needs. "MHC's proposal landed on my desk at 9:30 the next morning, and it was the most attractive solution by far," Byrd says. "Right away, we knew it would be the best fit."
In the late 1990s, Pete Mattson, chairman of MHC Software and a former member of the DMIA Board of Directors, recognized a need in the marketplace for software that could enable end users to print their own laser checks. After partnering with another firm, his company invested approximately $1 million in writing a proprietary package. "We wanted to sell pressure seal forms to our software customers as a way to protect our traditional print sales—that was the repeat business we were looking for," says Mattson, who's also CEO of distributorship MHC Companies Inc. "Plus, we knew we could knock the socks off of software companies when it came to service. We've always treated software orders with the same care as we treat forms orders."
Today, MHC Software is an $8 million company that lists several Fortune 2000 firms among its hundreds of clients nationwide. Its Document Express(TM) is a secure document processing and distribution system that enables companies to create and print payroll checks, accounts payable checks and other documents on pressure-seal stock from their desktops. The system integrates with virtually all ERP software packages (including ones from Lawson, Microsoft, Oracle and JD Edwards), legacy systems and other financial applications.
A company's print file, which might include accounts payable, accounts receivable or other check information, is imported from the user's host application into the software. The information merges with the company's customized check design, and checks are printed at the user's site. Checks for multiple entities or locations can be produced in a Document Express master account. In one step, the manager of the account applies the appropriate logo, company and bank information, digital signatures, and remittance text to each document while maintaining correct sort order. Then, checks are folded, sealed and mailed. Most firms handle those steps in house, but MHC provides those services.
Document Express includes an interface that enables users to make changes easily to addresses, bank details and other information; they don't have to purchase new check stock. Users' productivity improves because they no longer need to reprint damaged checks, correct duplicates and locate missing check numbers. Also, they don't need to align and test checks prior to each run or void check numbers when printers malfunction—Document Express numbers checks as they're generated. "The process is efficient, quick and accurate," Byrd says.
UNC Health Care initially used Document Express for its accounts receivable invoices and statements, but now uses the software for its accounts payable, payroll checks and 1099 tax forms as well. (Its Purchasing department uses a separate MHC Software installation for purchasing orders.) The organization prints documents on site in Chapel Hill on MICR printers.
MHC Software's technology saves UNC Health Care time and money, Prescott says, and it also makes the organization more secure. Users are assigned usernames and passwords by the system administrator, restricting each perform to perform only specified functions. For example, many companies empower entire accounts payable departments to print "normal" check runs, while only one person can print "on-demand" checks. The software's detailed audit trails such as Original Check Register contain information about each check run, and system activity is logged in a secure database.
Document Express also includes a Positive Pay module, which UNC Health Care began using last month. Positive Pay is a fraud prevention method offered by many banks to their corporate customers. Its purpose is to alert customers of suspected fraudulent checks early enough so checks can be returned within 24 hours, reducing the risk of loss due to fraud. Bank processes for handling Positive Pay vary, but generally clients create and transmit a file containing all checks issued on a particular day or check run. The bank matches the issued-checks file to the checks-paid file and transmits a report to the client. Once a Document Express user prints checks, the software creates a Positive Pay file that meets bank requirements. Users can save the file on a hard drive, disk or on a network for electronic transmission to the bank.
Prescott says MHC Software has helped UNC Health Care become even stronger: "Because of MHC's customer service and ability to react in a timely manner, we're happy with the company across the board."