Project Report: Digitalizing Document Management with Adocu and Noventi – A Lighthouse Project for the Future

Digitalization is a hot topic these days, but what happens when a traditional business, like a group of pharmacies, decides to not only optimize processes but also revolutionize the way it operates? This is exactly where one of our proudest projects of last year came into play – the complete digitalization of a mid-sized pharmacy group with an attached blister center in the Rhineland.

This was not an ordinary digitalization project, but rather a prime example of how the right strategy and technology can transform a business.

Initial Situation: Paper Chaos in the Pharmacy

The pharmacy group, run by two brothers in the next generation, faced a significant problem: the daily handling of a seemingly endless flood of fax documents. Up to 500 faxes per day, mostly multi-page, were received by the pharmacies—mainly medication plans, prescriptions, and medical orders, but also data protection agreements and general correspondence from doctors’ offices, care homes, and hospitals. The documents were processed in the attached blister center.

The group used the central pharmacy system Noventi in combination with Prokas, but this system could only handle the sheer volume of documents with a significant amount of manual effort. Neither was the document management system, Adocu from Noventi, technically capable of managing this process.

As a result, faxes had to be printed, manually processed, and then scanned. The processes were error-prone and significantly slowed down the workflow.

The main challenge was to manage this massive flow of documents more efficiently and fully digitalize it—without disrupting the day-to-day operations of the pharmacies.

The Challenge: Finding a Holistic Digital Solution

Our task was to develop a digital solution that would allow faxes and other documents to be seamlessly integrated into the existing system, without completely replacing the current infrastructure. Additionally, the new system had to be able to sort, process, and assign documents to patient files efficiently—and all of this had to be GDPR-compliant. Patient data, after all, is highly sensitive.

The biggest challenge was the lack of an import interface between Noventi and the document management system Adocu, which hindered the clean and smooth processing of documents. It became clear that a custom solution was necessary to fully digitalize and automate the entire document flow.

The Solution: A Multi-Stage Digitalization Project

Our approach was divided into several milestones, allowing us to gradually improve processes while ensuring the smooth continuation of pharmacy operations.

1. Transition to Digital Fax

The first and most important step was transitioning the entire fax system to digital fax. Instead of receiving paper faxes, documents were now received as digital files via email. This shift not only saved a significant amount of time but also allowed the documents to be directly integrated into digital workflows.

In addition, the fax system was equipped with multiple layers of redundancy and backup systems to ensure GDPR compliance. This ensured that no data was lost and all data protection requirements were met.

2. Development of a Custom Document Management System on Laravel

In the second step, we developed a new, custom document management system based on the Laravel platform. This system was implemented in place of Adocu.

This new system enabled the fully digital processing of incoming documents—whether they were faxes, emails, or letters. The documents could be automatically split and assigned to the corresponding patient files in Prokas.

Thanks to the integration of Google Vision OCR, the documents were also automatically indexed and searchable. This enabled faster processing and significantly reduced manual effort. Additionally, the system was prepared for future AI-based evaluations using machine learning, further increasing the potential for automation.

3. Integration with Prokas and Automation of Document Processing

One of the biggest challenges was seamlessly integrating the new system with the existing pharmacy system, Prokas. Our goal was to fully automate document processing so that medication plans and prescriptions could be automatically assigned to the corresponding patient files.

We achieved this by developing intelligent interfaces that allowed the scanned documents to be automatically analyzed and attached to the relevant patient files in real-time.

Results: A Quantum Leap in Efficiency

The transition to digital workflows and the implementation of the self-developed document management system led to a drastic improvement in efficiency within the pharmacy group.

Through automation, it is expected that up to three full-time positions can be saved.

Employees who were previously involved in the manual processing of documents could now be utilized for more value-adding tasks, especially considering the shortage of skilled workers in the healthcare sector.

Furthermore, the error rate in processing medication plans and prescriptions was significantly reduced as human errors were minimized through digital processing. The pharmacies were now able to respond faster and more accurately to requests from care homes and hospitals, greatly improving customer satisfaction.

Looking Ahead: A Model for the Entire Industry

This project was not only a major success for the pharmacy group but also served as a model for other companies in the healthcare sector. The solution we developed has already been implemented in several other pharmacies and even a medical supply store within the same group.

The potential of this digital transformation is enormous.

Conclusion: Digitalization as a Key to Success for Pharmacies

This project was a true lighthouse project for us and demonstrates that digitalization is possible even in areas that traditionally rely on paper-based processes. By transitioning to digital workflows and introducing modern technologies, we were able to not only increase efficiency but also significantly improve working conditions for employees.

For us as a team, this project proved that digitalization is not just a trend but the key to future-proofing businesses. We are proud to have contributed to the digital transformation of the pharmacy industry and look forward to supporting more companies on their journey into the digital future.

Excited about what you’ve read? Contact us today and let’s explore how we can help transform your business!