Marie Savage, Director of the Maryland Board of Dietetic Practice, has always believed in efficient processes. And she hates paper.

A decade ago, her board was among the first to move to an online application system—a bold step forward in an industry where many boards still rely on mailing paper forms. “We were the guinea pigs,” she says.

That foresight was critical because the demand for licensure was growing. As telehealth and virtual nutrition counseling have gained momentum, the board’s licensee base has more than doubled—from about 1,500 to 3,500 over the past 20 years, and it continues to surge. Managing that growth with filing cabinets was unsustainable.

But even with an online application system, physical paperwork didn’t disappear entirely. The board maintained copies of applications and sent out annual renewal notices. They had just two filing cabinets to house the tens of thousands of licensee documents—and an overflow storage space Marie couldn’t rely on long-term.

“We were at a storage space because we didn’t have any more room in our filing cabinets,” Marie recalls. Lenelle, Marie’s assistant, primarily managed the files, and they were everywhere. Neither Marie nor Lenelle was a fan of the clutter.

Then came the tipping point: a data breach that proved the board was taking a huge risk by relying on outdated systems. Marie knew they needed a secure, organized solution—but with only two staff members (Marie part-time and Lenelle full-time) and very little money to invest, a massive manual migration wasn’t realistic.

“If we did it ourselves,” Marie estimates, “it would have taken probably a year.” Plus, many of the files contained sensitive data, like checks and social security numbers, so hiring a temporary staff member wasn’t ideal.

Marie decided to follow the lead of other Maryland boards that had partnered with DocuXplorer to modernize their document storage. Working with DocuXplorer’s scanning partner, the Board of Dietetic Practice sent eight boxes of records—roughly 24,000 documents—to be digitized and indexed.

The migration process included:

• Scanning physical files from active and inactive licensees
• Tagging critical metadata such as names, license numbers, and key dates
• Organizing everything into a searchable, intuitive structure that adapts to and supports the board’s workflows.

Today, Marie’s team can access any record in seconds, whether they’re in the office, working remotely, or preparing for audits. For Lenelle, who once spent entire days processing applications and managing paperwork, the change has been dramatic. What used to take 8 hours of filing and data entry now takes less than one hour. 

With the combination of their online application system and DocuXplorer, the team has shifted from time-consuming paperwork to simple oversight

The Board of Dietetic Practice, along with the Board of Environmental Health Specialists, has now digitized over 43,000 records—turning their filing cabinets into indexed, searchable digital records managed in a single, secure location. Together, they completed the project at just 26% of the cost of doing it in-house, saving more than 10 months of staff time—or about $27,770 of their budgets.

By moving from physical filing cabinets to a centralized digital library, the Board of Dietetic Practice has:

• Eliminated storage overflow—no more cabinets or offsite rentals
• Improved security, with enterprise-grade encryption, audit trails, and controlled access
• Saved significant time on application processing and retrieval
• Maintained continuity and accessibility for remote work and any potential disruptions

The benefits go beyond convenience. With retention requirements of 20 years and a steady influx of license applications (about 100 per month), the board’s document system can now scale with its needs.

Marie sees more opportunities ahead. Future goals include leveraging DocuXplorer’s Email Assistant and other tools to eliminate even more manual touchpoints and keep the board operating at maximum efficiency.