Western Victoria Primary Health Network

Western Victoria Primary Health Network (PHN) is operating more efficiently than ever since implementing TechnologyOne’s enterprise solution

Case study highlights

  • Grew from a $10m to $35m organisation
  • Reduced payroll processing time by 1/3
  • Automated manual paper-based processes

Challenge

Western Victoria PHN is a not-for-profit organisation, focused on working with health service providers, including hospitals, consumers and communities, to develop and improve access to primary health services.

Established in July 2015, the organisation was seeking to consolidate multiple software systems, following the merger of Barwon Medicare Local to the Primary Health Network - a Federal Government initiative designed to achieve an organised primary healthcare system, by replacing legacy Medicare Locals with 31 PHNs across Australia.

“We went from a $10 million organisation with one office to a $35 million organisation with four offices, so geography and integration became big issues for us,” said Tony Ficca, Director of Finance and Corporate Services.

“We had lots of manual processes and workarounds, which were prone to error, and there was a general lack of efficiency within the organisation.

“Timesheets, leave requests and purchase orders were handwritten and faxed around, and we were using Excel spreadsheets to complete management and board reporting,” Ficca said.

“We needed to streamline and automate business processes for our long-term sustainability.”

Solution

Western Victoria PHN implemented TechnologyOne’s OneCommunity solution, including Financials, Human Resource & Payroll and Enterprise Budgeting, as part of a wider strategy to increase simplicity, reduce complexity and mobilise its workforce.

“We wanted enterprise software that was deeply integrated and scalable to meet the growing needs of our organisation,” Ficca said.

“Mobile functionality was also crucial, given we have a highly mobile workforce travelling out in the field.

Ficca added: “One of the big advantages of TechnologyOne’s software is the Ci Anywhere platform, which enables staff to work and collaborate on any device, anywhere and at any time.”

Outcome

Since implementing TechnologyOne’s OneCommunity solution, Western Victoria PHN is operating more efficiently than ever.

“Previously all our reporting, contracts management and performance reviews were done in Excel spreadsheets, whereas now everything is automated and a lot faster than before,” Ficca said.

“We’re also using Enterprise Budgeting as the main platform for developing our budget.

“We’re seeing substantial savings in a lot of aspects, for example, our payroll now takes one third of the time to process.”

Director of Finance and Corporate Services
Western Victoria Primary Health Network

One of the big advantages of TechnologyOne’s software is the Ci Anywhere platform, which enables staff to work and collaborate on any device, anywhere and at any time.

Perspective

Western Victoria PHN’s core purpose is to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of health services for patients and improve coordination of patient care.

“When we merged we had a myriad of software systems with lots of manual workarounds, so there was a desire to streamline,” Ficca said.

“Our goal in implementing TechnologyOne’s enterprise solution was to improve integration, maximise efficiency and deliver more robust processes across the organisation.

“We weren’t necessarily concerned about receiving a high rate of return on our capital spend, it was more about staying current and future proofing our operations so we could easily scale and grow.

Ficca added: “Given we’re a relatively small organisation, we didn’t have the capacity to implement the whole TechnologyOne solution in one go, so we were able to stagger the implementation into smaller, more manageable bites.

“This was really important for an organisation of our size, given we only have one person in payroll and a team of three in finance.

“We’re at the point now where we’re re-evaluating some of the other systems and the next phase involves rolling out TechnologyOne’s Purchase Orders module,” Ficca said.

Spotlight

Serving a population of 600,000 people across a land area of more than 79,000sq kms, Western Victoria PHN needed a flexible software solution that allowed its workforce to stay connected on-the-go.

“Previously our geography made things problematic because staff had to complete paperwork out in the field and then process it manually back at the office,” Ficca said.

“We needed software with mobile functionality, that enabled our staff to approve things like time sheets out in the field to avoid processes being held up.”

Western Victoria PHN has embraced the use of smart mobile devices through Ci Anywhere to transform its mobile workforce into a connected team.

By providing the core functionality, security and a consistent user interface for each of its products, Ci Anywhere allows Western Victoria PHN to access its enterprise data from any device, anywhere and at any time.

“The functionality that Ci Anywhere offers is very beneficial for a highly mobile organisation like ours,” Ficca said.

“It’s easy to use and best of all, it removes paperwork, automates processes and integrates everything online.”

About Western Victoria Primary Health Network

Western Victoria Primary Health Network is one of 31 Primary Health Networks across Australia and one of six in Victoria. The not-for-profit membership based organisation serves a population of approximately 600,000 people across four regional centres in Horsham, Ballarat, Geelong and Warrnambool.

Western Victoria Primary Health Network website

Publish date

15 Jun 2018

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