Earlier this week, my colleagues and I had the pleasure of joining other members of the press courtesy of Epson, as the company presented the results of recent research on printing technologies in healthcare. This research was spearheaded by Epson, to highlight significant inefficiencies in documentation in healthcare.
If you have ever used a slow or inefficient printer, especially for bulk work, you would have a good idea of how much of a blow that is to productivity. Now, imagine that situation in a busy hospital with hundreds of insurance claim forms, consent forms, patient records, and prescriptions to print.
Inefficient printing has been known to keep healthcare workers in queues for hours, negatively affecting their productivity and morale. The Epson research found that 95% of healthcare workers across Africa, the Middle East, and Europe say that printer downtime harms daily patient care in a health system that is already facing so many other challenges.
One may be tempted to argue that printing is no longer needed in the modern world as technology advances but that is not the case. One, there is a whole demographic of users who still firmly believe in hard-copy documents. These are people mostly around or above 45 years of age who grew up with no option for sharing and storing documents except through printing. Secondly, some documents are required by law to be printed, like consent forms for surgeries and other medical procedures. These are just a few scenarios in healthcare, otherwise, there is a huge need for printing even in the education sector.
Present at the event was Dr. Lucy Mutara, founder and CEO of AstraDental, a dental hospital founded in 2011 with the philosophy of preventive healthcare. Dr. Mutara shared how Epson printers have been of great support in cost-saving and improving patient turnaround time. The busy clinic whose offices are at Mpaka Plaza enjoys numerous benefits of efficient printing, like plug-and-play equipment that does not require much technological know-how, durable prints to ensure the longevity of medical records, double scanning which greatly speeds up insurance forms, and high yield printing tanks.
The Regional Head for Epson East and West Africa Mr. Mukesh Bektor spoke about the company’s sustainability agenda, given that 80% of respondents in the research expressed major concerns about the environmental impact of printing solutions. Epson has solid sustainability efforts. Some of Epson’s strategies to reduce environmental damage are the production of printers with fewer parts, large capacity tanks in place of multiple cartridges, and Epson heat-free printing that uses pressure as opposed to heat. Furthermore, the company which is well on track to be carbon-negative by 2050 ceased the manufacture of laser printers back in 2011 due to their damage to the environment.
“Through simple technology switches, we reduce energy consumption, carbon footprints, and promote the circular economy, fostering a brighter future for all.” – Mukesh Bector – Epson’s Regional Head for East and West Africa.
We laud Epson’s contributions to different organizations, hospitals, and schools through fast, high-quality, and cost-saving printing solutions that come with great environmental sustainability.
