Technical FAQs

As part of its ongoing mission to serve the specialized needs of today’s largest enterprises, IBM offers multiple solutions for managing business content and a wide range of digital assets. The ECM family of services and solutions helps organizations capture, protect, activate, analyze, and engage with their content to generate better insights that can inform decisions. While many enterprises still deploy their ECM on-prem, IBM also offers the cloud-native FileNet Content Manager, which incorporates some of the company’s latest innovations in AI to derive more value from unstructured content.

The days of manually transcribing scanned documents into an editable, digital document are thankfully long behind most organizations. Error-prone manual processes have largely given way to automated document and forms processing technology that can turn scanned documents into a more manageable form with a much higher degree of accuracy. 

Much of transition was made possible by the proliferation of optical character recognition (OCR) and intelligent character recognition (ICR). While they perform very similar tasks, there are some key differences between them that developers need to keep in mind as they build their document and form processing applications.

How Does Character Recognition Technology Work?

Character recognition technology allows computer software to read and recognize text contained in an image and then convert it into a document that can be searched or edited. Since the process involves something that humans can do quite easily (namely, reading text), it’s easy to assume that this would be a rather trivial task for a computer to accomplish.

In reality, getting a computer program to correctly identify text and convert it into editable format is an incredibly complex challenge complicated by a wide range of variables. The problem is that when a computer examines an image, it doesn’t see people, backgrounds, or text as distinct images, but rather as a pattern of pixels. Character recognition technology helps computers distinguish text by telling them what patterns to look for.

Unfortunately, even this isn’t as straightforward as it sounds. That’s because there are so many different text fonts that depict the same characters in different ways. For example, a computer must be able to recognize that each of the following characters is an “a”:

When humans read text, they have a mental concept of what the letter “a” looks like, but that concept is incredibly flexible and can easily accommodate a broad range of variations. Computers, however, require precision. Programmers must provide them with clear parameters that help them to navigate unexpected variations and identify characters accurately.

Pattern Recognition

The earliest versions of character recognition developed in the 1960s relied on pattern recognition techniques, which scanned images and searched for pixel patterns that matched a backlog of font characters stored in memory. Once those patterns were located, the software could translate the characters into searchable, editable text in a document format. Unfortunately, the patterns had to be an exact pixel match, which severely limited how broadly the technology could be applied.

One of the first specialized fonts developed to facilitate pattern recognition was OCR-A. A simple monospace font (meaning that each character has the same width), OCR-A was used on bank checks to help banks quickly scan them electronically. Although pattern recognition libraries expanded over the years to incorporate common print fonts like Times New Roman and Arial, this still presented serious limitations, especially as the variety of fonts continued to grow. With one popular font finding website indexing more than 775,000 available fonts in 2021, pattern recognition needed to be supplemented by another approach to character recognition.

Feature Detection

Also known as feature extraction, feature detection focuses on the component elements of printed characters rather than looking at the character as a whole. Where pattern recognition tries to match characters to known libraries, this approach looks for very specific features that distinguish one character from another. A character that features two angular lines that come to a point and are crossed by a horizontal line in the middle, for instance, is almost always an “A,” regardless of the font used. Feature detection focuses on these qualities, which allows it to identify a character even the program has never encountered a particular font before. As the printed examples above demonstrate, however, this approach needs to take several ways of rendering the character “A” into consideration when setting parameters.

Most character recognition software tools utilize feature detection because it offers far more flexibility than pattern recognition. This is especially valuable for reading document images with faded ink or some degradation that could prevent an exact pattern match. Feature detection provides enough flexibility for a program to be able to identify characters under less than ideal circumstances, which is important for any application that has to deal with scanned images.

OCR vs ICR: What’s the Difference?

Optical character recognition (OCR) is typically understood to apply to any recognition technology that reads machine printed text. A classic OCR use case would involve reading the image of a printed document, such as a book page, newspaper clipping, or a legal contract, and then translating the characters into a separate file that could be searched and edited with a document viewer or word processor. It’s also incredibly useful for automating forms processing. By zonally applying the OCR engine to form fields, information can be quickly extracted and entered elsewhere, such as a spreadsheet or database.

When it comes to form fields, however, information is frequently entered by hand rather than typed. Reading hand-printed text adds another layer of complexity to character recognition. The range of more than 700,000 printed font types is insignificant compared to the near infinite variations in hand-printed characters. Not only must the recognition software account for stylistic variations, but also the type of writing implement used, the quality of the paper, mistakes, steadiness of hand, and smudges or running ink.

Intelligent character recognition (ICR) utilizes constantly updating algorithms to gather more data about variations in hand-printed characters to identify them more accurately. Developed in the early 1990s to help automate forms processing, ICR makes it possible to translate manually entered information into text that can be easily read, searched, and edited. It is most effective when used to read characters that are clearly separated into individual areas or zones, such as fixed fields used on many structured forms.

Both OCR and ICR can be set up to read multiple languages, although limiting the range of expected characters to fewer languages will result in more optimal recognition results. Critically, ICR does not read cursive handwriting because it must still be able to evaluate each individual character. With cursive handwriting, it’s not always clear where one character ends and another begins, and the individual variations from one sample to another are even greater than with hand-printed text. Intelligent word recognition (IWR) is a newer technology that focuses on reading an entire word in context rather than identifying individual characters.

To learn more about how OCR vs ICR technology and how they can transform your application when it comes to managing documents and automated forms processing, download our whitepaper on the topic today.

Despite its reputation for being slow to adapt and held back by outdated, legacy technology, the insurance industry is undergoing a tremendous period of digital transformation. A new generation of InsurTech applications are helping insurers respond more quickly to a dynamic market and empowering customers to become more engaged with their policies. InsurTech digital collaboration is a key industry trend.

Digital collaboration tools are critical to this dramatic shift, which has created a unique opportunity for InsurTech developers. By deploying features that allow insurers to streamline workflows and improve communication both with internal stakeholders and customers, developers can capitalize on an emerging need and establish their applications as the “new standard” for digital collaboration in the insurance industry.

Creating Better Digital Collaboration Tools for InsurTech Software

Accessible Viewing

The ability to easily access and view insurance documents is increasingly important to insurance agents and customers alike. When assembling a policy bundle, insurance agents must reference multiple pieces of information about customers as well as detailed actuarial data from a variety of sources. By building HTML5 viewing capabilities into InsurTech applications, developers can help underwriters reference all relevant information within their existing workflow. Rather than ponderously requesting documents from other departments and receiving them via email, and opening them with an external program, they can simply request, search for, receive, or view files without ever exiting their secure application.  

Customers, meanwhile, expect to be able to access their insurance records quickly and easily. Whether it’s a detailed description of their policy or a copy of their proof of insurance, they want the ability to log into a web-based application that allows them to locate and view records related to their account. This can greatly improve communication with their insurer since they’re able to quickly reference different aspects of their policy and identify their needs more clearly. Developers can build viewing features into an InsurTech application so customers can access their essential documents without having to download anything or take any additional steps. Insurers can also use the same features to easily provide updates about policies or rates. 

Annotations

Building an insurance policy or evaluating claims can be a lengthy and confusing process without the right digital collaboration tools in place. Documents often need to be reviewed by people in different departments before bundled services and rates can be finalized. If an InsurTech application lacks collaboration features, insurers may need to resort to emailing documents back and forth along with their comments. There is ample space for miscommunication in this scenario, with vital comments potentially going unnoticed or the wrong document being sent as an attachment.

Built-in annotation tools allow insurers to leave comments, highlight areas of concern, and provide helpful notes directly on the files themselves. Developers can also make it possible to share and view those documents entirely within the application environment, which reduces the risk that someone will overlook important comments or compromise privacy by opening a file with poorly secured software. Annotation markups are stored separately from the original file until they need to be burned into a new copy. This protects the integrity of the source document throughout the collaboration process.

Version Control

One of the biggest challenges with digital collaboration is maintaining version control over documents. When multiple people are working on a file, it’s important to make sure that everyone is using the most up-to-date version of it. This is especially true of insurance documents because rates and risk adjustments can sometimes change quite rapidly. The last thing an organization (or their customers) want is to have inconsistencies spread across several documents due to poor version control.

Developers can combat version confusion by keeping every stage of document workflows within their InsurTech applications. Version problems are usually caused by people downloading documents, working on them in isolation with a separate program, and then uploading their changed versions back into the application. By making it possible to view and annotate content within the application, developers can help ensure that everyone is working from the most up-to-date version of every file. 

Conversion

InsurTech applications must be able to handle a wide range of file types if they’re going to effectively facilitate digital collaboration. Customers often need to upload images as part of their insurance claims and will often provide documents as scanned images that can’t be searched for key text. Without the ability to convert files into more manageable formats, collaboration can quickly become an exercise in frustration and confusion.

Conversion tools not only make files more accessible, but also make it easier to manage content. Several small documents, for instance, could be combined into a single file for faster access, review, and markup. Developers can also incorporate Optical Character Recognition (OCR) into their InsurTech application to extract the text from a document image and use it to create a searchable PDF for more convenient reference. These conversion tools provide a great deal of workflow customization that allows their customers to set up efficient processes that help them deliver better services.

Boost InsurTech Digital Collaboration with PrizmDoc Viewer

Accusoft’s PrizmDoc Viewer is an HTML5 that integrates smoothly into your InsurTech application to deliver a powerful array of digital collaboration tools. Using a sophisticated collection of REST APIs, PrizmDoc Viewer provides support for multiple file types and can easily convert between formats to simplify insurance workflows. It also features a full range of annotation and redaction tools as well as OCR text extraction and electronic signature features.

With three decades of experience developing imaging and document management technology, Accusoft offers a variety of software integrations that can support digital collaboration efforts. From document assembly to secure spreadsheet support, our collection of SDKs and APIs can provide the features your InsurTech application needs to meet the evolving demands of the insurance industry. Check out our InsurTech fact sheet to learn how you can turn our capabilities into your capabilities.

Powerful patient portals are now essential for healthcare organizations to deliver high-quality care, even at a distance. Despite advancements around functionality, however, challenges remain. As noted by Healthcare Info Security, many healthcare providers still struggle with providing solutions to patients in an easily accessible portal that provides the security they require by law.

Here, HIPAA compliance is critical. Healthcare organizations need portal solutions that deliver valuable information without undermining regulatory requirements around data security and handling. Creating innovative, secure patient portals demands HIPAA-compliant tools that deliver advanced viewing and redaction tools while keeping privacy in practice.

The State of Healthcare Security

Security remains a problem for healthcare organizations as attackers ramp up efforts to access private patient and operational information. The healthcare industry saw more than 41 million records breached in 2019 and new attack vectors are now emerging as hackers look to leverage pandemic pressures and breach corporate security. It’s no surprise, then, that last year saw 28,261 HIPAA complaints, the highest number ever recorded, as organizations deployed more user-friendly technology and attackers looked to capitalize on potential weaknesses.

Ramping up security in patient portals and meeting emerging patient needs is a priority for organizations. Accusoft’s PrizmDoc Cloud, a HIPAA compliant solution, is capable of offering user-friendly portal capabilities inside your own secure application. The right combination of existing technology and cloud-based application programming interfaces (APIs) can take your patient portal to the next level. Let’s break down five key cloud-based APIs that can help patient portals deliver on practical potential.

Robust Document Viewing with PrizmDoc Cloud API

Effective medical care depends on documents. From patient consent forms to test results and referrals from other healthcare practices, documents form the core of custom-built treatment plans. While the transition to electronic health records (EHRs) has helped reduce the complexity and confusion that comes with paper-based processes, this digital transition has introduced the challenge of document diversity. 

From typical Word documents to Excel spreadsheets and scanned images of handwritten forms, patients need the ability to access documents on-demand, while healthcare organizations must ensure that patient access options are both secure and HIPAA-compliant.

The PrizmDoc HTML5 Document Viewing API offers document and image viewing while also streamlining the process with key features including:

• Responsive Web UI — Patients and staff can easily view documents and images that are scaled to fit their tablet, laptop, or mobile phone.
• Configurable Controls — Organizations can easily enable or disable tabs, localization, rendering options, and encryption within their patient portal.
• Microsoft Office (MSO) Conversion — Healthcare agencies can integrate true native viewing of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents.

Reliable PII Redaction

Data privacy is paramount for HIPAA compliance. As noted by Managed Healthcare Executive, this is especially critical in the world of COVID-19. With telehealth now the “new normal” — and likely to continue long after the pandemic subsides — organizations must ensure that protection of personally identifiable information (PII) remains intact.

While robust encryption and identity access management (IAM) tools form part of this function, redaction is another critical aspect. Consider the case of children. As noted by the Health Info Security piece, although parents typically have complete access to the medical records of children under 12, PII for those between the ages of 13 and 18 — such as mental health records — may be restricted. For healthcare agencies, this requires patient portal solutions that allow parents access to some data while also protecting specific PII. Here, robust redaction APIs that allow organizations to obfuscate key information are critical to meet regulatory requirements without compromising ease-of-access.

Regulated Image Compression

Images form a critical component of effective patient prognosis and treatment plans, and while DICOM files used in high-fidelity imaging are often a priority for medical agencies, there’s also a need for image compression solutions that enable the portability of more common image types such as JPEGs.

Consider the simple case of patient identification. By attaching high-quality photos to patient records, medical staff are better equipped to ensure the individual they’re assisting — virtually or in-person — is the patient linked to the account. High-quality JPEG photos are also useful to record and track the progress of specific physical ailments over time. Cloud-based image compression APIs streamline this process with the ability to compress individual or multiple files, set desired quality, remove metadata, and set JPEG mode output.

Rapid File Conversion

Complexity remains a challenge for healthcare records management. As patients visit general practitioners (GPs) and specialists, data volumes rapidly increase, in turn making it difficult for doctors to find specific information and create comprehensive treatment plans.

Multi-file combination and conversion to popular formats such as PDF helps solve this problem — not only can healthcare staff create files that are easily viewed by doctors and patients alike but administrators can also set key permissions around editing, annotating, and printing to ensure information remains secure. File format conversion with PrizmDoc Cloud APIs can help enhance patient portals with key features including:

• Easy combination of multiple files into single PDFs
• Data security with optional password protection
• Specific section or entire file conversion
• Searchable output formats

Relevant Watermarking

Last on our list of patient portal APIs is watermarking. By labeling key documents with unique healthcare watermarks, organizations can both improve front-line security and enhance HIPAA compliance. By training staff to only accept and process watermarked images and documents, companies can reduce the risk of potential compromise. If attackers attempt to spoof or modify key documents they can be easily detected because they won’t carry corporate watermarks. These marks also form a key component of auditing and data tracking if healthcare agencies are evaluated for HIPAA compliance by providing a visible chain of custody around document creation, storage, and access. 

User-friendly patient portals are critical for healthcare companies to survive in the “new normal” — and embrace what comes next. But speedy access requires a robust security balance; document viewing, redaction, compression, conversion, and watermarking APIs from Accusoft can deliver privacy in practice and capitalize on patient portal potential.  Try PrizmDoc Cloud API.

TAMPA, Fla. September 9, 2020 – In August, Tampa Bay Tech’s Software CEO Council (TBSC) met to tackle what so many CEOs and founders are experiencing right now as the country continues to reopen. The outlook was optimistic amongst the group as all attendees reported that their businesses were maintaining financial stability and growing headcount.

During this quarterly meeting, TBSC usually gathers to discuss business ideas, philanthropic efforts, and community involvement. This meeting was a little different considering the effects that COVID-19 has had on the market.

“It’s important for TBSC to keep our meetings going, especially during a pandemic,” states Seng Sun, CEO of SunView Software. “We can rely on each other to share feedback and ideas regarding the management of new COVID-19 protocols.”

Prior to the meeting, the members participated in a brief survey about the impact that the pandemic had on their businesses.

“Across the board our CEOs reported challenges in the past several months, but I was encouraged by the optimism for not only ending the year in a positive place, but heading into 2021 with solid strategies to grow,” reported Jill St Thomas, Tampa Bay Tech’s Executive Director. “The commitment of these leaders to support one another absolutely embodies our mission of building a radically connected tech community in Tampa Bay.”

“We need to understand the way the pandemic has influenced not only our own business plans and strategies, but how it will affect the technology landscape in Tampa Bay,” states Jack Berlin, CEO of Accusoft. “We have light-hearted meetings, but we do discuss serious subjects. I took over a page of notes on ideas my peers shared, and I’m interested in implementing them across my teams.”

Members of the group in attendance included: Jack Berlin, CEO of Accusoft, Kevin Coppins, CEO of Spirion, Seng Sun, CEO of SunView Software, Ed Holmes, CEO of FairWarning, Gregory Ross-Munro, CEO of Sourcetoad, Paul Toomey, CEO of Geographic Solutions, Chris Karlo, CEO of Mercury New Media, Jody Haneke, CEO of Haneke Designs, and moderator, Jill St. Thomas, Executive Director of Tampa Bay Tech.

For more information about TBSC, visit the group’s website at https://www.tampasoftwareceos.com/.

About Tampa Bay Tech

Tampa Bay Tech is a 501(c)6 non-profit technology council that has been engaging and uniting the local technology community for 20 years. With over 100 companies representing thousands of tech employees – as well as thousands of students within the area’s colleges and universities – Tampa Bay Tech provides programming and initiatives to support all those in the technology space. Through their membership and partnerships, their mission is to build a radically connected, flourishing tech hub where opportunity is abundant for all. Join the TBTech community at tampabay.tech and follow us on Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram and Twitter.

About Accusoft

Founded in 1991, Accusoft is a software development company specializing in content processing, conversion, and automation solutions. From out-of-the-box and configurable applications to APIs built for developers, Accusoft software enables users to solve their most complex workflow challenges and gain insights from content in any format, on any device. Backed by 40 patents, the company’s flagship products, including OnTask, PrizmDoc™ Viewer, and ImageGear, are designed to improve productivity, provide actionable data, and deliver results that matter. The Accusoft team is dedicated to continuous innovation through customer-centric product development, new version release, and a passion for understanding industry trends that drive consumer demand. Visit us at www.accusoft.com.