Learn how a regional healthcare provider overhauled their existing process automation system to Microsoft’s Power Automate to streamline and modernize critical workflow management.
Executive Summary
Trusted community healthcare provider with desire to modernize their backend workflow/process automation management system.
A regional, not-for-profit healthcare system requested support migrating hundreds of process automation flows from its legacy system to another solution. The company’s out-of-date process automation management system was not reliably integrated into the rest of the company’s Microsoft 365 infrastructure and was only able to be maintained and programmed by a select group of formalized IT staff. Withum saw the transformative potential of Microsoft’s Power Automate to provide an integrated workflow management solution to take the company into its next phase.
The Client
A regional, not-for-profit healthcare provider with 300+ locations throughout the Washington Metropolitan Area An established and trusted healthcare system located in the Washington Metro Area with over 30,000 employees and over 300 locations, including nationally recognized hospitals, urgent care centers and specialty care providers. With more than 25 years of growth, the company has been ranked one of the largest employers in the area and services the critical needs of its community.
The Challenge
Out-of-date (and about to expire) process automation infrastructure, only able to be programed and maintained by a small group that needed to service over 30,000 employees
The healthcare company was up against the expiration of their legacy process automation management system and had 200+ flows that they needed to transition to a new solution. In addition to wanting an application that would integrate fully into their existing Microsoft 365 subscription, they were also interested in a solution that could be edited and maintained by citizen developers, not just a formal IT team. This change was also an opportunity to reconfigure the existing process automation flows to make them more efficient and less complex. The company’s legacy solution had additional steps to accommodate non-standard variables, which was also a pain point that needed to be addressed. Because of Withum’s deep experience with Microsoft’s Power Automate, the team knew that this would be the ideal solution for the healthcare company. Withum had already completed several similar projects using Power Automate with successful and scalable results.
Overhaul of the company’s process automation management system to Power Automate, which would, in turn, open the door to using additional Power Platform products to modernize their business
The Approach and Solution
Withum’s Digital Workplace Solutions Team began the Power Automate implementation by cataloging and prioritizing every existing workflow from the legacy system. The team then manually recreated all the flows intended for Power Automated and cataloged the new flows in the documentation.
When each flow was completed, it would be validated and prepared for import into Power Automate. During the process of validation, some duplicative or unnecessary flows were cleaned out, further streamlining the new solution. Due to the outdated nature of the legacy system, certain flows didn’t include all the data when viewed in modern web browsers. Withum caught the error and accessed and captured the rest of the data using other browsers.
The Results
In less than eight months, Power Automate’s process automation capabilities were implemented and launched to the healthcare company without business interruption and before the legacy subscription expired.
Withum successfully migrated all legacy workflows into Power Automate, allowing the client to move off the previous platform without business interruption and before their current contract expired
In addition to the seamless integration with Microsoft 365, Power Automate’s liner, visual and module-based configuration allowed for the inclusion of citizen developers to help edit and manage the process automation flows. The client now has an easy-to-maintain and scalable solution that aligns with their growth and service mentality, including opening the door to leverage other apps in the Power Platform suite of products. Live data can now be accommodated into the system, providing an agile, responsive solution for the changing needs of the growing healthcare company.
With these improvements in place, the long-term work of enhancing company-wide modernization can continue, setting the stage for sustainable growth and quality service.
Contact Us
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