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Paperless: Yadkin system raises efficiency
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Published: September 19, 2008
YADKINVILLE - When officials from other North Carolina counties come to visit, they often walk through the lobby of the Yadkin County Department of Social Services and wonder why so few people are waiting.
That's because a lot of the time there are just one or two people. Sometimes no one at all, said Eddie Wooten, Yadkin's director of social services.
Since going paperless with applications and documents, the Yadkin County Department of Social Services is able to review cases in 10 to 15 minutes, down from 20 to 30 minutes. Yadkin spent $246,225 in 2007 to set up a new computer system that includes scanning most paper that comes in. County officials estimate that in its first year it has saved $112,000 in staff, equipment and supplies such as toner and paper.
Throughout the state, other county departments of social services are also looking for ways to cut back on paper, improve wait times and increase file and document availability for workers in different buildings. About 12 counties have come to Yadkin to see the new program. Davie and Macon counties have since implemented similar systems.
For Yadkin, it began as a way to solve an overwhelming storage problem. Documents were coming in every day, Wooten said. There was a large file room, but workers were running out of space.
In 2006, Wooten and the county's information-technology department began looking for solutions and hired an Ohio company to create a program to handle Yadkin's social-services documents. In January 2007, the social-services department began using the system, and in April of that year, workers went live with it. As clients came in, their applications were filled out on the computer. Other documents, such as birth certificates and Social Security cards, were scanned.
For existing files, the department decided to begin scanning those from 2006 forward. The rest were shredded, with the exception of some Medicaid files, which are required to be stored, Wooten said. Those files are in two off-site storage units. The electronic documents are backed up on a different computer in another building.
The move freed up two rooms that had been used to store files, some of which spilled onto the floor and were stacked atop filing cabinets. One of the rooms had at one time doubled as an office for five people.
"We actually had a person who saw clients in there, which is awful. You don't want that," Wooten said.
Today, the reclaimed rooms are used for what they were originally intended for -- a conference room and office space.
The department is still scanning some documents from 2006 and forward, Wooten said. Workers estimate that 80 percent are scanned.
The department also scans incoming mail. And staff members are encouraged not to print copies.
Still, Wooten said, "Some staff, whether you want them to or not, will always have to touch a piece of paper."
Mail was a big issue. For that, Yadkin took baby steps. At first, office support workers scanned each staff member's mail as it came in but kept the mail in a box for a month at a time. The mail is now kept for only a week before shredding.
Most of the staff members say they wouldn't go back to the old way now.
"We have found that confidentiality is a major issue. This is more secure. People drop papers, and you can't do that now," said Renee Hunter, an administrative assistant.
But there's no such thing as going totally paperless, Wooten said. All you can do is try to eliminate as much as you can, he said.
And staff members keep paper applications on hand in case of emergencies.
"We have had an instance where the electricity was down," Wooten said. In that case, as the lights dimmed, workers quickly grabbed paper applications and began helping clients fill them out.
"Clients have a right to apply the day that they present themselves to the office," Wooten said.
Once electricity was restored, the documents were scanned.
Working with fewer papers is the best change Margie Williams has seen in her 34 years with the department, she said.
"I was scared at the beginning when they said we're going to go to this. It was like Greek," said Williams, who also works in office support.
"Now it's like eating cake."
■ Sherry Youngquist can be reached in Mount Airy at 336-789-9338 or at syoungquist@wsjournal.com.
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