Digital transformation initiatives improved productivity at United Methodist Communities of New Jersey, which has several continuing care retirement communities in the state, according to a newly released case study by the LeadingAge Center for Aging Services Technologies.

The goal of the project was to centralize all of the organization’s data into a functional data warehouse. After evaluating areas where UMC could automate its business lines to improve efficiency and reduce costs, the work began. The analysis involved engaging numerous stakeholders and subject area matter experts across the organization to gather information.

“Before the project began, UMC had limited experience with [robotic process automation] and had only a basic understanding of the organization’s critical business processes. Many processes were still being performed manually, leading to inefficiencies across various departments,” according to the case study report. “Additionally, UMC’s data was siloed and scattered across multiple systems making it difficult to gain a comprehensive view of the organization’s performance.”

The case study showed that integrating robotic process automation translated to a 75% reduction in processing time and an estimated savings of more than $250,000 in recaptured labor productivity since its implementation. 

“Eliminating the need for employees to manually look up information also improves overall efficiency and processing time. Additionally, the low-code Microsoft PowerApps allows for easy customization and scalability and ensures we can adapt it to the changing needs of the organization,” according to CAST.

A challenge in the process was how to transfer more than 80,000 resident documents and attachments, including lab results, entrance agreements, power of attorney and other important documents to the new system without losing the integrity of resident data. To address this challenge, UMC, along with the Robotic Process Automation Center of Excellence, created an RPA bot within 14 days that would automate the process of categorizing and uploading the documents to the new system. 

“The deployment of the bot was a success, and within a week all the documents were transferred to the new system, saving a significant amount of time and Labor,” according to CAST. “The RPA bot was highly efficient and helped to maintain the integrity of resident data during the [electronic medical records] migration process.”

Lessons learned from the case study:

  • Allocate necessary time for RPA projects, which are detail-oriented and time-consuming.
  • Clear and effective communication is necessary to ensure that stakeholders understand the RPA objectives and how to implement them.
  • Involve executive leadership to develop clear policies to protect and manage sensitive data.
  • Identify and address any technical skill gaps within the team.
  • Provide proper training for employees to adapt to these RPA changes.
  • Test and validate the RPA solution before going live.

Read the case study here.