ERP Implementation delivers strong ROI through effective methodology

Case Study | Seasons Hospice Lawson Implementation

Lawson Implementation Offers Hope for Hospice

Cost savings & process efficiency position Seasons for growth

Client Profile
Seasons Hospice is a national provider of high quality hospice and palliative services to meet the needs of the people and communities they serve. Through their mission of Honoring Life ~ Offering Hope, they ease pain and provide physical and emotional comfort and support for patients and their families and friends.

focus and direction for the project, and ultimately served as the backbone for success. The DTO methodology includes five phases: Vision, Definition, Construction, Deployment and Support.

Business Problem

VISION

The goal of the Vision phase is to gain visibility into decision-making business analytics. To accomplish this goal, Technisource first Seasons began experiencing difficulties as their business proanalyzed Seasons core business processes related to accounting cesses failed to meet their increased growth. Their accounting and confirmed their ERP selection was appropriate. They then and reporting processes were highly manual, relying mostly on reviewed Seasons critical success factors Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and project goals for the implemenrequiring additional staff members to Technisource offered the perfect (CSF) andorder to set appropriate expectatation in support the processes as the business grew. As their staff and infrastructure blend of highly qualified, very tions. Technisource determined it would grew, Seasons profit margins decreased. senior experienced individuals help Seasons accomplish the following business objectives: Additionally, company executives and who would be able to get this projleadership desired a single source of ect implemented at a reasonable Reduce the number of manual processes Provide greater business visibility truth that would provide a better way to price and deliver strong ROI. Deliver enhanced customer service analyze data and derive new key performance indicators (KPIs) necessary to plan ~ David Donenberg, CFO DEFINITION strategically for growth. Seasons Hospice With Seasons strategic objectives in mind, Technisource then defined the scope of To meet the demands of this growth and work involved, formed the right project team and developed a position themselves for a thriving business in the next decade, project plan. Seasons selected Lawson 9.0.1 to provide a scalable, robust and flexible ERP solution to streamline reporting, capture data Technisource clearly defined the projects goals and objectives. and automate data entry. However, Seasons quickly realized They had a very practical application of how the technology that they needed expertise and knowledge of best practices in should be applied, while balancing best practices with our speorder to maximize the capabilities of this ERP software. cific situation, said David Donenberg, CFO of Seasons Hospice.

The Technisource Solution

Seasons chose Technisource because of their experience as a leading Lawson implementation provider, as well as their flexibility and scalability to assist with the implementation. Technisource mapped out the implementation through its proprietary Deliver to Order (DTO) methodology, which provided

CONSTRUCTION
In this phase, Technisource created automated processes, added new reporting features, developed custom interfaces from the patient billing system and established controls to secure data integrity. This phase included two formal testsSystem Testing

and User Acceptance Testingto identify and resolve gaps in the software and validate business processes will function in accordance with operations.

DEPLOYMENT
Once the solution was tested and validated, Technisource transitioned and deployed the system to 50 functional users. They also provided company leaders with the ability to deploy management reporting to operations.

Also, because the system provides a large cost savings over time, Seasons can now invest in other areas of business development. These improvements will lead to enhanced customer service as the company continues to grow. At the completion of the project, Seasons extended their service agreement and engaged Technisource to assess other gaps in Seasons IT infrastructure. Over time, we will become more self-sufficient on the features and functionality of the system, but having Technisource as a guide for quick problems where we are resource constrained has been critical for us, said David Donenberg.

SUPPORT
Technisource provided Seasons a managed services agreement, giving them the ability to manage the complexities of their new software environment without the immediate need for in-house expertise to support a large-scale ERP product.

Value Delivered
The capabilities of the new Lawson solution helped streamline business processes and provided an immediate ROI. Because manual processes were replaced by quicker automated ones, Seasons was able to reduce the time to close from 15 days to 8 days, with the goal of further reducing it to a 5-day close. In addition, cash reconciliations are now being performed on a weekly basis, instead of one month after close. A reduction in manual processes also meant that fewer personnel were needed to support those processes. Seasons was able to put a hiring freeze on clerical staff, helping to improve its overall profit margin. Prior to the system implementation, Seasons was hiring one clerical resource for every increase of 50 patients of the average daily census. Now, that number has been reduced by 25% to one clerical resource for every 200 patients. Technisources expertise with the Lawson system helped create an improved business intelligence platform. Executives and operational leaders now have enhanced visibility into business decision-making information via reporting, dashboards and analytics. Due to this single source of truth, leaders are faster to react to changing business situations and create compelling reports complete with accurate information.

For more information, visit www.technisource.com.

RESULTS at a glance
The Technisource-led implementation helped Seasons Hospice: Shorten time to close from 16 days to 8 days Reduce headcount by 25% Increase profit margin Enhance business intelligence, visibility & financial reporting

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2011 Technisource, Inc.