AMHERST, NH – Ektron has developed XML indexing capability with its latest launch of its content management solution.

The concept of XML indexing, which would enable users to index policies and procedures, would make it easier for them to find like documents and other needed information, said Bill Rogers, Ektron CEO and founder.

"Fundamentally, we are automating processes," Rogers said. "Our product is helping manage people's workflow process and manage information so that information they need can be found."

Austin, Texas-based St. David's Healthcare Partnership implemented Ektron's ASP CMS300 product in the spring of 2002.

While the product has met the organization's goal of reducing training and IT time, being scalable and meeting budget, Richard Brown, eHealth manager, said, "The full-blown potential of this communications tool hasn't been met yet."

The next step in communications is to use the content management tool to underpin the organization's vision of syndicating content across the organization's six separate Intranets, Brown said.

By implementing HTML publishing of documents created by hospital policymakers, Brown said the organization would replace a time-intensive, manual-process system with a timely paperless, digitized system.

Ektron's customers include Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana, Anthem, Blue Shield of California, BCBS of Alabama and BCBS of South Carolina.

Jocelyn Young, research director for healthcare technology at Datamonitor, said digitizing healthcare data was the first step in helping to automate workflow.

"What needs to happen next is the management, storage and archiving of digitized data," she said. "This is a natural next step, although it is more challenging to accomplish."

One of the key drivers of CMS is online communications with hospitals and providers and their patients via provider, hospital and patient portals. One of the key drivers of portal technology is to support the changing relationships among providers, payers, patients and employers, Young said. And that is where CMS can deliver.

"There is a lot of untapped potential for CMS ," said Young.