A medical staffing company identified the need for a better solution for its business-critical Applicant Tracking System (ATS), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and scheduling tools.
Their main function as a company is to help healthcare facilities fill vacant shifts for medical personnel such as physicians and physician assistants. Because of this, an efficient and effective database and scheduling tool is critical to their success as a company and the success of their customers as well. This staffing company partnered with Prominent to develop an expansive ATS that includes a streamlined CRM and scheduler, serving as a long-term asset to their business.
Why Custom Software?
Because it required manual input of information and performed slowly, the system our client previously used for scheduling doctor and provider shifts was prone to errors. They also found that their overall workflow became unacceptably slow and cumbersome because they couldn’t integrate the system with QuickBooks (their accounting system), nor did it integrate well with their commercial off-the-shelf ATS/CRM system.
They soon realized that they needed custom software that could intuitively display and manipulate scheduling for multiple facilities and medical providers, accurately track revenue and expense information, and eliminate the potential for errors. They also understood that the interface of many scheduling tools tends to be too complex for the average user, so they needed a software provider that was adept enough to keep the user interface intuitive and easy to use, hiding the complexity of the integrations on the back-end.
Because they chose custom software, they didn’t have to settle or compromise on different parts of the application; instead, we could provide them with the exact features and interface they wanted.
The Results
Once we began working with this client, we implemented a robust, automated system that drastically increased employee efficiency and reduced human error. Where other companies struggle with complex integration, we thrive on it. In this particular staffing company’s case, the custom interface allowed for the integration of a variety of complex features into the software to streamline the user experience, ensure accuracy, improve internal processes, significantly increase efficiency and ensure scalability for future enhancements.
This integrated system has allowed our client to maintain a single source of truth for facility invoices, to export data cleanly, to automatically pay providers, to streamline accounting functions, to run sophisticated reports, to provide self-service features to customers, and much more. All of this has resulted in increased satisfaction from both their facilities and medical providers.
Ultimately, this system has proven so successful that a nationwide medical provider has expressed interest in purchasing the scheduler software that we developed.
Increased Efficiency
Originally, our client was told that QuickBooks integration was impossible with scheduling software. However, Prominent was able to overcome the integration challenge, ultimately saving the client’s accounting team over 10 hours per week as well as minimizing the number of human errors and financial inaccuracies.
We also implemented custom functionality to upload, track and review forms. This has empowered this staffing company to process hundreds of forms per week more easily. We increased their employee efficiency by providing them with bulk functions that they can perform 100 times faster than they could previously. Functions that previously took minutes have been reduced to sub-second tasks. The increase in employee capability has given them the ability to handle growth competently without hiring, training, and managing additional employees.
Furthermore, we replaced a system that now allows this company to query for facilities and providers in ways that weren’t possible in the old system. We did this by designing a user-friendly feature that provides the potential to win hundreds of bids per year that they otherwise may have lost, increasing their overall revenue.
Reduced Errors
We delivered a reporting solution that creates financial reports and can track goals, consistently calculate bonuses, and display at-a-glance facility financial data. By transforming a time-consuming manual process into an automated process, we have eliminated human error and significantly reduced the time spent creating reports.
We also developed a payment and billing integration solution that handles contract/dollar changes more flexibly and robustly, further increasing employee efficiency. This solution has reduced errors in billing and payments because employees can now automate calculations versus manually making them.
Technical Overview
The technical stack for this project incorporated Amazon Web Services (AWS), Vue.js, Node.js, MySQL, and Linux. Additionally, our team included the following roles:
- Lead Developer Developers
- UI/UX Designer
- Project Manager
- Business Analyst
- Quality Assurance
- System Administrator
- Architect
Why it Worked
To ensure we were developing the most valuable solution, Prominent performed a solution roadmap to evaluate the staffing company’s situation, outline the software development options, give price estimates and provide high-level roadmaps for each option to make this application a long-term asset for them. Through the solution roadmap, we identified key features and functionalities of the software and developed query functionality that wasn’t possible in their previous system, resulting in 100 percent additional revenue for each additional shift that is won because of the advanced functionality.
Another key reason that this project succeeded is due to our experience with integration. We excel at integration; in the case of this client, we effectively integrated with their accounting system, where others before us had failed at.
Overall, this project worked because we identified their pain points and focused on processes that were reliable, scalable, valuable, and that provided time-saving results for their team. Additionally, we are continuing to add features to this software to further increase value to their business.
