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U.S. Social Security Administration Awards $20.9 Million Blanket Purchase Agreement for Kofax Information Capture Technology IRVINE, Calif. --(Business Wire)-- May 6, 2004 -- Quality Associates Inc. to Implement Company's Section 508 Aware, Kofax Ascent Platform for Faster Processing of Social Security Disability ClaimsKofax (LSE:DCM), the world's largest information capture vendor, and Quality Associates Inc. (QAI), a Kofax Certified Solutions Provider, today announced that the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) has awarded a five-year blanket purchase agreement for Kofax information-capture technology, with a not-to-exceed ceiling value of $20.9 million for Kofax products. QAI will use the Ascent platform and other Kofax technologies to enable the SSA's Accelerated Electronic Disability (AeDib) process to electronically convert vast amounts of paperwork associated with the millions of Social Security Disability Insurance Benefit claims that are filed each year. Once converted to electronic data, paperwork involved in applying for disability benefits can be efficiently stored, retrieved and transferred among processing sites, which ultimately results in accelerated processing of claims. An initial order for more than $3 million has been placed by the SSA for Kofax technology to launch the project. "This agreement is very significant for Kofax for two reasons. First, from a social perspective, our technology will help enable millions of applicants to receive speedier decisions on their disability claims," said Rick Murphy, president and CEO at Kofax. "Second, from a corporate standpoint, this is one of the largest procurements in the history of the information capture market, and we are very excited to have the opportunity to serve the Social Security Administration to the extent that we are." According to Murphy, a primary factor in Kofax winning this business was the fact that the company's flexible Ascent platform was customized to make it the most Section 508-compliant solution currently available (as tested by SSA) in the information capture market. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, requires that federal agencies' Electronic and Information Technology (EIT) be accessible by people with disabilities. Section 508 requires that an agency procure the most Section 508 compliant product currently available on the market. This award is the first SSA EIT procurement to incorporate SSA's newly implemented Section 508 scoring system, designed specifically to identify the most Section 508 compliant product in the group of tested products that met SSA's business requirements. QAI, a leading provider of technical support services and solutions for both commercial and government entities, customized the Ascent platform by incorporating changes in accordance with the provisions of Section 508 to provide additional accessibility features. The Ascent platform will enable the electronic storage of disability claim information and medical information from claimants, doctors, hospitals and other medical providers, allowing the various decision-makers at the SSA and state-level Disability Determination Services to securely access a claimant's electronic file from a central repository. "The electronic conversion of paperwork that Kofax enables is a huge benefit for claimants because, under the current paper-based system, a decision-maker has to have actual physical possession of the file to access information on the claimant's medical conditions," said Scott Swidersky, director of the Information Systems Division at Quality Associates Inc. "With AeDib, this limitation is eliminated, and secure online reviews can be performed by federal and state agency representatives." About Kofax Kofax, a division of DICOM Group plc (LSE:DCM), is the world's leading provider of information capture solutions, according to research by Strategy Partners. Kofax products accelerate business processes and reduce their cost by collecting paper documents, forms and e-documents from throughout organizations, transforming them into retrievable information, and delivering it all into line-of-business applications, databases, and archives. The company's Ascent platform is the most popular information capture application worldwide, and its VRS (VirtualReScan) is the de facto standard for scanning productivity. Kofax products are widely used in finance, government, insurance, healthcare, and a broad range of companies and agencies that must capture critical business information from paper and electronic documents and forms. Note to Editors: Kofax, Ascent and Ascent Capture are registered trademarks of Kofax Image Products Inc. All other trademarks and registered trademarks belong to their respective owners. |
