Florida integrated delivery network embraces Ricoh’s managed services, multiple Ricoh production print engines and RICOH ProcessDirector to overhaul Resource Center  

MALVERN, PA – Ricoh USA, Inc. today announced that Health First, Brevard County, Florida’s fully integrated delivery network (IDN) has enhanced its print and mail approach to drive increased efficiencies and greater information security by partnering with Ricoh. As part of this collaboration to drive increased efficiency and assist in the management of its confidential information, Health First has leveraged Ricoh Consulting Group, acquired on-site managed services personnel and implemented the RICOH Pro C7100 and RICOH Pro C9100 platforms, along with future software deployments. This implementation was recently recognized by Xplor through its Xplor awards, Application of the Year category.

Founded in 1995, Health First is a not-for-profit community healthcare system including health insurance plans, four hospitals, a multi-specialty medical group and outpatient and wellness services. 

“Serving our growing customer base through our current resource center was becoming increasingly challenging and we needed to find a solution to keep us running smoothly while keeping us compliant with our Patient Health Information (PHI),” said Russ Bradley, Vice President of Operations for Health First Health Plans.

The organization was already working with Ricoh in other areas, but when they heard of the Ricoh Consulting Group’s decades of experience in improving operations like theirs, they turned to Ricoh for insight and assistance. After an extensive operational assessment, Ricoh’s consultants proposed a solution that would leverage all-new production engines, robust workflow management software and experienced on-site management that specifically addresses Health First’s unique needs. The RICOH Pro C7100 and RICOH Pro C9100 add significant throughput and output quality, while Ricoh’s on-site personnel work to drive efficiencies and leverage industry-specific expertise to aid Health First with its security and compliance protocols. The addition of RICOH ProcessDirector is expected to reduce postal expenditures by nearly 10 percent while automatically providing defensible audit trails for every mail piece, further aiding in Health First’s regulatory compliance.  

“Patients are always our number one priority,” said Bradley. “To us, this is another aspect of patient care, and it’s a vital one. We are pleased to team up with Ricoh to offer streamlined service and quality protection for patient privacy.”

With speeds of up to 110 pages per minute (ppm) and the ability to print on media up to 400 gsm, the RICOH Pro C9100 delivers high-quality output, increased productivity and reliability at an affordable cost. The similarly affordable RICOH Pro C7100 boasts powerful variable data capabilities at 90 ppm on media up to 360 gsm. Both platforms can be paired with a variety of finishing options to enhance the eye-catching effect. RICOH ProcessDirector is modular workflow software that enables flexible control of print production processes to streamline operations, improve process and integrity, enhance operator productivity, reduce errors and help lower costs.

“Health First found themselves in a position a lot of businesses do: knowing they have to make a change, but not being sure how to go about doing it,” said Andre Brazeau, Vice President, Production Printing Business Group, Ricoh USA, Inc. “One of the things we really pride ourselves on at Ricoh is identifying challenges and helping customers overcome them. We have worked hard to bring decades’ worth of expertise together at Ricoh, and it’s always great to be able to bring that to bear to help organizations achieve their goals.”