Information

States have adopted schedules for the retention and disposal of public school records. From accounting and purchasing records to personnel, legal documents, election data, municipal and bonding data and student records, each has their own set of standards for audit, retention and disposal.

With a retention period of up to 99 years, local and intermediate school districts, state colleges and universities must allocate space, time and resources to the classification, organization and storage of such documents. Traditional paper-based document management systems are being replaced by automated electronic processes directly effecting cost-saving measures seen in months, not years.

IMA works with education professionals from the local to intermediate district levels, colleges and universities to transition from manual systems to automated, electronic processes by implementing a comprehensive, enterprise-wide document management solution involving scanning, indexing and classification, secure electronic document storage and retrieval as well as physical records storage.

Gone are the days of walking to the archives and spending hours searching for the right document. With an electronic document management solution, it is as simple as keyword entry, and instant access to view, modify or add to a record. With preset authentication, and group and user administration controls, users have access to as little as one document or as many as a million.

Regulation Examples	IMA Solution Examples
Accounting and Purchasing documents must be audited and retained for periods of 1 to 6 years. All student records must be retained for at least 99 years.	Radix contains a unique logging tool that records every access to every document and provides a comprehensive audit report whenever it is needed. The amount of electronic storage for working documents is virtually limitless. IMA can store up to 750,000 square feet of boxed records in its climate controlled, underground storage facility for as little or as long as needed. IMA provides confidential shredding services for document disposal and limits access to confidential information for all its employees.
All applications for employment, employment forms, personnel files, advertising for hiring personnel and records concerning personnel decisions must be retained for Term plus up to 3 years.	In addition to electronic and physical storage, IMA professionals work with customers to develop a taxonomy of classification for all records.

The Sarbanes-Oxely Act of 2002, passed to implement securities regulation, corporate governance and the regulation of auditors, is driving financial services organizations to manage and secure their critical business documents in a format that provides adherence to the new rules.

IMA provides solutions to the records management implications of Sarbanes-Oxley. The Act requires the following procedures to be implemented; demonstrating their implementation will require the involvement of a records management firm:

For Registered Public Accounting Firms

The Act requires the following provisions to be implemented in the records management programs of registered public accounting firms.

Audit work papers and other information related to any audit report in sufficient detail to support the conclusions of that report must be retained for at least seven years. In addition, the Act requires auditors to evaluate the records management programs of the client firms to provide reasonable assurance that:

• All records that accurately and fairly reflect the transactions of the issuers are included.
• The transactions are recorded in a manner to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP, documenting any material weakness in the controls.

IMA can assist registered public accounting firms and financial services organizations in all areas of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance from physical records to electronic document management.

• Create, store and securely access records, reports, financial models, term sheets, etc.
• Import, share and collaborate on critical business information with your colleagues, employees and clients.
• Organize and track documents, data lists, calendars, correspondence anywhere, anytime.
• Using the Radix version control and audit trail you automatically have a method for monitoring changes in your documents, who accesses them, when they are accessed and keep track of their multiple versions.
• Store critical information and make it immediately available across the organization.
• Easily access standardized and approved templates, forms and other worksheets.
• Audit logs recording actions of every document become instantly available.

Radix is a secure and cost effective solution for healthcare providers, associated clinics and physicians who must change their existing procedures to comply with the new HIPAA regulations. IMA offers a secure method for scanning, storing, managing and distributing patient health information as well as correspondence between providers, payors and patients. Radix is ideal for all paperwork healthcare providers are required by law to maintain.

Such legislation, with its short implementation timeframes for compliance, drives the need to find ways to eliminate paper, automate electronic data processes and guard data integrity, confidentiality and availability. It forces once paper-intensive, manual clerical processes governed by arcane rules to be replaced with automated, yet secure, self-services.

HIPAA Rule Examples	IMA Solution Examples
Identify members of the workforce who need access to protected health information to carry out their duties	With its User and Group Administration controls in Radix, administrators can permit access down to the individual record per person within an application.
Identify the categories of protected health information to which the above workforce members need access as well as the conditions for access.	In addition to Group and User Administration controls, IMA professionals work with customers to create the exact custom file structure and taxonomy needed to control access per user or group.
Identify who has accessed what information and when, if it was changed, deleted or added.	Radix contains a unique logging tool that records every access to every document and provides a comprehensive audit report whenever it is needed.
Ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of all electronic protected health information the covered entity creates, receives, maintains or transmits.	Radix, with its multiple layers of security can deliver electronic PHI over your VPN enabling the latest end to end encryption. Information received from customers is routed directly to IMA by a bonded and licensed logistics firm. All employees of IMA have entered into the strictest of confidentiality agreements with the company. Additionally, IMA has created document services protocols that ensure the confidentiality and integrity of PHI processing.

Records Management is the process of creating, receiving, organizing, retaining, preserving and accessing time-registered, fixed-content information throughout its complete lifecycle - regardless of how the information was created, received or the media on which it was stored. This recorded information memorializes an organization's daily business actions or events, and as such, records constitute the "evidence" that later can be received, analyzed, or used to document the specifics of those actions and events.

- Robert F. Willams

Today's legal firms have record management requirements that demand legacy paper-based records be administered in tandem with records electronically generated throughout the organization. Strategic document management processes include the simplification of users' classification and research tasks so that they have the information when and where they need it. Minimizing the time spent by administrators to maintain the file plan, oversee, documentation, as well as process long-term storage or schedule destruction routines is critical.

Information Managers and Associates provides an easy, cost-effective way for attorneys to manage and share information within a completely confidential and secured environment. Information Managers and Associates provides legal firms the tools and processes to communicate and exchange critical information across diverse organizations through seamless access to documents stored in one central, secure repository. Firms have the control to create, access, track and manage documents of all types, quickly finding what they need - when they need it.

Regulated industries must provide detailed documentation to comply with federal rules. IMA provides secure scanning, indexing and storage of this information, enabling it to be managed and located quickly - when needed, both physically and electronically.

Driver logs, freigt bills, bills of lading and other critical business documents are scanned, indexed and stored in a Radix application to become available for tracking, review and approval, significantly reducing process times.

Whether the product is furniture, electronics, machinery or medical equipment, time to market is critical to the success of any manufacturing organization in today's marketplace. From concept to product launch, business units generate and share information critical to design, engineering, supply, procurement, shipping and billing.

The variety of information at each state of the manufacturing process must seamlessly flow between organizational departments, teams and management. In a business environment that offers the challenges of reduced operating margins and increased regulatory demands, the risks of not managing content effectively can be ruthless.