Case Study
Sturdy Memorial Hospital Automates & Streamlines AP in Workday
Sturdy Memorial Hospital, established in 1913, offers a full range of inpatient and outpatient services. Their 128-bed facility admits over 7,000 individuals and treats nearly 50,000 patients annually in its Emergency Department. Sturdy Memorial Associates has more than 20 locations with over 90 physicians, providing primary care, pediatrics, and specialty care services. Our commitment to providing healthcare extends beyond our primary service areas in Massachusetts and nearby Rhode Island.
Background
Sturdy Memorial Health is a healthcare provider that had been relying on manual processes for its accounts payable department. With the implementation of a new ERP system (Workday Financial management), the organization decided to incorporate AP Automation software to help streamline the accounts payable department's workflow.Challenges
Before Ascend and Workday, Sturdy Memorial Health was managing Accounts Payable (AP) without automation or Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology, causing many tedious and time-consuming tasks. Their process relied heavily on manual data entry, which is prone to errors and is expensive to manage as every invoice takes needs human resources to enter and process.Solution
Sturdy Memorial Health partnered with Workday Financial Management to streamline business processes but believed that the ERP's native module lacked some features they believed to be needed to meet their Accounts Payables goals.
They decided to look at AP automation platforms that were a part of Workday’s partnership program to guarantee seamless integration. After comparing the platforms side-by-side Sturdy Memorial Health believed Ascend was a better fit for their organization and implemented it alongside the new ERP system.
Benefits
The Ascend software has been able to process more than 65 percent of their invoices without a human touch. The remaining invoices have also been streamlined through the software's OCR allowing for the auto-population of data, making it easier to process an invoice by requiring less data entry and attention to detail for every header or line item. The use of Ascend has enabled the account payable department to work more efficiently, which has freed up time for other tasks.
Customer Success
The account payable department works closely with Ascend's customer success team, and monthly meetings are held to optimize the software's use. The customer success team is always available if needed and has been instrumental in resolving issues. The account payable department has found working with Ascend to be a positive experience.
It's much easier now and it saves us time to work on other things because Ascend auto-populates everything so I don't have to waste time.
- Genny Acosta, Lead Accounts Payable Analyst
Conclusion
By integrating Ascend's AP Automation, Sturdy Memorial Health has been able to streamline its account payable department, reducing manual processes and making it easier to keep track of documents. The visual aids have made document recognition easier, saving time and improving efficiency. The collaboration with Ascend's customer success team has been essential in optimizing the software's use, and the account payable department has found working with Ascend to be a positive experience.