Accounts payable management is challenging for companies with comprehensive operations in the country. The more branches and units in operation, the more complex is the processing of local costs with rents, essential public services (such as electricity and water), and taxes (mainly state and municipal).
Manually managing different accounts in different cities requires excessive time and strict control to avoid delays and manual errors. But this challenge can be efficiently overcome with robotic process automation — robotic process automation (RPA).
Investment in RPA generates consistent and immediate financial results, as it reduces bureaucracy and eliminates the need for manual processes, generating surprising efficiency gains. One of the largest Brazilian healthtechs managed, among other benefits, to eliminate more than 400 hours of dedication to accounts payable with an RPA solution developed by act digital. We tell you everything about this successful case below. Check it out!
Client: healthtech with comprehensive operations in the sector
The company that hired act digital for this project is a technology-based startup that operates in the health area (heathtech) and that has democratized access to medical services, offering quality care at a price and structure suited to customer demands.
With more than 35 units in operation in Brazil, the startup has a complete infrastructure to carry out consultations, exams, procedures, and low-complexity surgeries. Technology is intrinsic to the business model and is present both in medical and diagnostic equipment and in the customer service structure, which has an app, telemedicine, and digital issuance of test guides and medical prescriptions.
Challenge: reduce financial inefficiency
Over the last 10 years, the healthtech has expanded its operations, which started with the creation of a single medical center. Today, the group is present in two states in the Southeast with more than 35 medical centers located in different cities. Growth demonstrates the value of the services provided and increases the financial results of the startup, but there is an increase in financial and tax complexity.
Balancing and controlling unit management costs is essential to maintain the financial viability of the business model. The challenge faced by the startup when it sought the support of act digital was to reduce the costs of failing to pay expenses, services, and taxes. The difficulty is due to the fact that each unit has specific expenses with rent, essential public services, and taxes.
The processing of these accounts payable was done manually, imposing operational costs (mainly with personnel) and subjecting the healthtech to failures arising from the lack of centralization of information (such as delays and payment errors).
Solution: RPA by automation anywhere
Robotic process automation (RPA) was the solution developed by act digital for the healthtech. The objective of the project was to structure a system capable of searching for information on accounts payable in different environments (web portals and emails, for example) and, based on this data (which includes invoices related to rents, essential services, and taxes), provide for the generation of purchase orders issued by the startup’s ERP system, dispensing with integrations and human manual tasks.
Applied Methodology
The solution was developed in four core steps:
- Preparation of operating instructions for the portals and systems involved in the process;
- Development of robotic processes, tests, go live, and assisted operation with the customer;
- Elaboration of an improvement plan with prioritization of the RPA development backlog together with the client; and
- Implementation of a communication protocol with the business areas in cases of operational incidents.
Applied Technology
The following technologies were applied to implement the solution:
- RPA
- Automation Anywhere
Results: gain in financial and operational efficiency
The robotic automation of processes is a tool that generates excellent results, as gains are perceived as soon as the technology is implemented. That’s what happened to the healthtech, which quickly managed to solve the challenges faced in the area of accounts payable until then. Check the results obtained!
- Monthly efficiency gain of more than 400 hours;
- 400+ robotic process completion or incident alerts sent to stakeholders;
- Execution of more than 1,400 downloads of invoices and guides, with the respective creation of purchase orders in the ERP with data captured by OCR reading of documents;
- Interaction of more than 20 RPAs with dozens of portals and tools from different companies and municipalities;
- Reduction in personnel costs and manual labor hours for processing accounts payable
- Reduction of legal risks and penalties caused by errors in the payment of expenses, services, and taxes.
The financial return with increased financial efficiency and cost reduction is enhanced in the long term and strengthens the economic viability of the startup so that it continues to expand its operations continuously.
How we can help your company
act digital has expertise and specialized professionals who understand each market segment to develop tailor-made solutions for the client, respecting the particularities of their economic activities. For the pharmaceutical and health sectors, we apply technological knowledge on all business fronts to promote the effective digital transformation of companies operating in the sector.
Our technological expertise is used to optimize and automate processes, generating excellent efficiency gains, as in the case described in this article. But we develop other types of solutions, focused on medical care, accessibility to health services, digital patient experience, predictive data analysis, among other demands.
Among the tools and technologies we use to develop solutions in the health area, the following stand out:
- Big Data and Cognitive Computing
- Artificial Intelligence
- Telemedicine
- RPA and APIs
Do you want to implement the robotic automation of processes or advance even further in your company’s digital transformation journey? Let’s promote innovation in healthcare together! Talk to our experts.
