By Kevin Peterson
The ultimate goal of every business is to enhance their overall productivity and profitability while also minimizing expenses. Businesses in every industry should seek to find the right solution that will enable them to improve business workflows and customer experiences.
With the evolution of technology, numerous tools with advanced capabilities are hitting the market to help simplify these enterprise processes. Electronic signature software is one feature among those, which allows the document to be signed electronically, thereby streamlining the overall document approval process. It is a secure alternative to the traditional paper-based processes, which has started to infiltrate almost all aspects of businesses.
eSignature software caters to enterprises dealing with time-sensitive documents, including financial services, human resources, real estate, and many more departments. Every industry will have different business practices and regulatory compliance with concerns about digital signature verification. Catering to those needs and requirements of your business industry is why many digital eSignature systems are emerging. According to the research done by P&S Intelligence, between 2017 and 2023, the digital signature market in the U.S. will have increased by 20%, with a total market value of $1 billion.
Here is a look at how eSignature software impacts various industries.
Healthcare Industry
The broad healthcare industry is comprised of everything from a patient’s health records, details about doctors, healthcare workforce, and many other parties who are connected within the healthcare industry. Regulations concerning the security necessary for the storage of these documents and other forms of digital records are very crucial for the successful management of healthcare institutions.
Healthcare providers, administrators, and professionals alike believe it’s time to automate the processes of procurement, medical bills, appointments, and patient on-boarding to gain a competitive advantage. As a result, eSignature verification stipulated by the federal government through the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is replacing traditional paper-ink signatures.
The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) research revealed that more than 87% of healthcare providers use either a smartphone or tablet in their workplace. Around 91% of those doctors say using tablets provide easy access to healthcare information from anywhere, plus utilizing a mobile device offers them 1.2 hours of more productivity gains per day.
Digital signatures ensure that these documents are approved in compliance with the HIPAA policies with have the highest level of security. The entire medical history of patients, including their allergies and medications, can be quickly reviewed electronically before patients walk into a hospital, which improves the quality of care they receive while also enhancing the patient experience. With the software, healthcare providers can digitally sign various forms and documents such as hospital forms, billing forms, insurance consent forms, lab reports, care documents, drug prescriptions, and much more.
Financial Industry
Signatures are required for almost every transaction for financial and insurance companies. As the world moves toward being digital, banks and other financial organizations are trying to switch as quickly. Many organizations are currently thriving on digitization to provide improved customer-centric services.
To secure their sensitive data from theft and unauthorized access, financial institutions usually follow various processes. These include encryptions, OTPs, two-factor authentication for both mobile and internet banking, and much more. Handling the document signature verification process digitally is much easier when banks adopt an eSignature solution. Digitization of document submissions and approvals displaces the current paper processes, making it easier for financial teams to handle document storage and retrieval effectively.
eSignature software also enables financial institutions to incorporate a layer of security onto documents while staying in compliance with industry regulations to protect the sensitive data. Remote singing features of the digital signature software allows parties (all parties involved in the agreement) to sign and approve the documents even when not present physically. Adding to this, eSignatures are becoming more accepted worldwide, making it an ideal solution for a seamless workflow.
Government Agencies
Government organizations witness slow progression due to paper-intensive workflows. A secure cloud-based eSignature platform can help government employees to automate the document submission & approval process, thereby lessening the lengthy experience. Most government-affiliated organizations are adopting this type of software to take control of the process it takes to get documents certified and signed quickly.
Usually, government organizations launch various forms, including tenders, contracts, proposals, and many others, which require the signers to fill in the forms thoroughly to receive funding. The eSignature scans and locates any missing data to find any omitted crucial data, which not filled in can result in multiple issues. Electronic signature software will not accept any digital forms until all required fields have been filled out. Once the forms are submitted, the data will be automatically captured, enabling access to those end-to-end records electronically.
IT and Cyber Security
With the increasing number of cyber security threats, IT professionals are finding the web as a dangerous place to store valuable company data. According to the PhishMe Inc. research reports, a single phishing attack costs a mid-sized company over $1.6 million. However, incorporating eSignatures software is among the most effective cyber security measures to deliver the promised information safely and securely to their clients.
This type of software ensures full protection for your documents against cyber-threats & attacks, so you don’t worry. It implements a multi-factor authentication process, including fingerprint authentication, password protection, voicemail verification, and much more for mobile and web users. The electronic signature audit trail stores the record of the document viewing and signing history, including the IP address of the signer.
Even some of the more advanced platforms come with a tamper-evident technology to prevent anyone from tampering with your electronic signature document. So, with the advanced eSignature software, you can confidently sign and approve documents, while avoiding phishing attempts, malware, and ransomware threats.
Real Estate Industry
Real estate business processes can be exhausting due to various time-consuming tasks, including client meetings, bundles of paperwork, and complex legal restrictions. Fierce competition within the industry often requires the agents to turn around their tasks quickly, everything from bids, contracts, and paperwork to a final agreement, to close the deals. Adding to this, signing a daunting stack of documents including a title assurance, NOC, purchase agreements, or a power of attorney means a lot of stress for both the agents and their customers.
Meeting deadlines while relying on the traditional paper-wet ink signatures may involve various issues such as sign mismatching, incomplete fields, or supporting documentation, which could lead to a deal cancellation. To overcome these issues, most real estate agents are trying to adopt an eSignature software solution that allows the signing or approving of documents digitally. An electronic signature platform enables both agents and their customers to securely sign and/ or approve contracts in digital forms from anywhere instantly. The software also sends automatic reminders to all the parties (involved in the agreement) to notify them about the contract initiation and expiry dates.
The top-notch encryption security of the software ensures all sensitive documents are protected against unauthorized access and theft. It highlights mandatory fields within the documents and eliminates incomplete records; they may require extra time spent on revising paperwork.
The Bottom Line
Regardless of the size or type of business, almost every industry is adopting an electronic signature solution to simplify and streamline the document management and approval process. Every industry from healthcare providers to financial managers are looking to comply with specific privacy regulations and thus, are purchasing a digital signature software. So, this may be the right time for your company to invest in digital signature software to automate and streamline your processes to enhance overall productivity.
Purchasing a software solution is a critical process that involves time, money, and workforce to pinpoint the issues with your existing paper-based signature process. Finding these issues allows your company to figure out what you want to achieve with a new system. Make sure to compare various solutions available in the market to choose the software that provides the features you require to optimize your business processes.
Featured photo credit: Depositphotos
