Adventist Retirement Plus (ARP), a Southern Queensland-based retirement accommodation and aged care services provider, has implemented SAP Business ByDesign to further its digital transformation. The cloud-based SAP business software allowed the organisation to improve operational efficiencies and optimise its core systems, aiming to meet the expectations of today’s healthcare industry.
The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety’s final report emphasised the need for more innovation and research in the aged care sector to improve the lives of older individuals in residential care and those receiving home care. Given the significant challenges accelerated by the global COVID-19 pandemic, many providers are now incorporating digital technology platforms in their systems to help improve administration, management, and financial tasks required to deliver essential services.
With this, Adventist Retirement Plus (ARP) has recently embarked on a digital transformation journey in order to modernise its business-critical processes and generate better outcomes for more than 400 residents and home care customers. The not-for-profit organisation — which operates across four locations in Queensland to cater services on supported living, retirement living, and residential aged care — previously relied on a number of disparate applications and manual, paper-based reporting processes for its business operations.
ARP CEO Eric Anderson said that the company needed a solution that used a single-client record, a finance system, and a common platform that was all integrated with clinical systems. To support its business objectives, he added that ARP decided to create an ICT roadmap that would lead to developing a cloud-based finance and asset management platform, delivered through SAP Business ByDesign and Health Metrics’ eCase solution.
“The focus was on giving our staff more time with our residents, with an uptick in time availability achieved through less duplication of work. It also supported expansion efforts, which were typically hampered by inefficient software and infrastructure,” he explained.
Designed to serve all the key needs of a growing business, SAP Business ByDesign offers applications for Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Financial Management, Project Management, Supplier Relationship Management, and Human Resources to name a few. Recently making its return to Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Cloud Core Financial Management Suites this year, the SAP business software was developed to target the Software as a Service (SaaS) space, recognising the increasing adoption of SaaS solutions, particularly in the middle market.
ARP Embarks on a Digital Transformation Journey with SAP Business Software
Platinum SAP Channel Partner DXC Technology co-developed a platform that worked for ARP’s specific goals and assisted the company with the integration of SAP Business ByDesign. Health Metrics’ eCase is an aged care-specific solution that integrates with the SAP business software and maintains the overall patient experience with CRM, waitlist, and exit-transfer processing features.
Implementing SAP’s cloud-based ERP solution and Health Metrics’ eCase has enabled ARP to optimise its core processes and helped the organisation achieve the following value-driven results:
- Enhanced management oversight with full visibility into all sites and allowed transactional analysis to be undertaken in real-time using the analytics dashboard feature.
- Simplified business processes with clear accountability between departments, enabling staff to better support clients.
- Improved cash flow as a result of accurate and timely order-to-cash processes.
- Gained insights into business expenses and allowed the company to create more accurate forecasts across all of its locations.
- Reduced data reconciliation activities with a comprehensive integration of finance and asset management functions with its other core systems and services
“SAP and Health Metrics’ joint solution has totally transformed our finance management processes. Our staff can now more quickly and easily find and share relevant information, and we’ve seen a tangible rise in the time our staff can spend with residents as a result,” Anderson maintained.