amerihealth case study

THE CHALLENGEThe AmeriHealth Mercy Family of Compa-

nies’ IS Organization needed to manage

their organization like a business. They

needed to:

■ Work with their customers to defi ne the priorities of requested work

■ Align the IS Organization with their overall strategic goals

■ Set reasonable expectations of delivery date and effort

■ Concisely quantify the amount of work they could handle

■ Manage staffi ng requirements for key initiatives and standard support activi-ties

■ Deliver a quality product that met the needs of their customers

■ Measure and manage cus-tomer satisfaction

THE SOLUTION

The AmeriHealth Mercy Family

of Companies adopted Tracer

to build an inventory of work

requests, departmental activities,

and staff. Work prioritization is made easy

through Tracer.

In addition, as a managed healthcare orga-

nization, the AmeriHealth Mercy Family of

Companies is subject to government regula-

tions and subcontractor contract compli-

ance. Under the Tracer suite of tools, they

were able to organize that work in a “priority

queue,” so that the business is keenly aware

of the need to address regulatory or contrac-

tual items as they arise, above the regular

operating plan for projects and maintenance,

on an ongoing basis.

Tracer standardizes the approach to

completing work products, tracks progress,

and measures performance. By using a

combination of Tracer and Microsoft Proj-

ect, AmeriHealth Mercy built staffi ng models

and “what if” scenarios. The resulting “key

performance indicators” were then defi ned

in Automated Project Offi ce (APO) for con-

tinuous performance monitoring.

With a single-source of reference for all

work, the AmeriHealth Mercy Family of Com-

panies IS Organization is better able to set

schedules, assign staff, meet expectations,

and deliver quality work to their customers.

What does the Tracer suite in conjunction

with APO enable? Improvements in our

delivery mechanisms, demand and work

management processes, development

methodologies, as well as our metrics and

measures. Additionally, the tool suite as-

sists the IS Organization to anonymously

measure customer satisfaction through a

series of questionnaires. None of this would

be possible without the commitment to capture

work in one place, measure according to one

standard, and analyze those results on an

ongoing basis for improvement.

“Our objective in using the Tracer® tools, with Automated

Project Offi ce, was simple: Manage what you can measure.”

Edward M. Figlar AVP, IS Solutions Delivery

The AmeriHealth Mercy Family of Companies

AUTOMATED PROJECT OFFICEAutomated Project Offi ce enables managers and execu-tives to assess performance, identify risks, and take proactive measures to address problems. Using defi ned analytics and a project offi ce type assessment methodol-ogy, the tool:

■ Monitors operations segments to determine which are in trouble

■ Provides visibility into what needs the most attention ■ Provides analytics to improve product quality ■ Enables organizations to leverage the experience and

knowledge of their best people

TRACER Tracer provides “visibility and control” of any service deliv-ery activity. Tracer:

■ Enforces processes ■ Provides a repository for logging and tracking specifi c events ■ Allows detailed tasks to be defi ned, scheduled, and managed ■ Provides detailed time tracking

COMPUTER AID, INC. (CAI)CAI is a global IT services fi rm that manages engagements around the world. Our ability to provide on-time and on-budget results has been critical to our success. Our unique meth-odologies and tools enable us to provide our clients with real techniques for increasing productivity, profi tability, and competitiveness.

THE CUSTOMERThe AmeriHealth Mercy Family of Companies is the largest organization of Medicaid man-aged care plans in the United States, touching the lives of more than 6.5 million mem-bers. With more than 20 years of experience exclusively serving the Medicaid population, AmeriHealth Mercy’s core products include management, administration, PerformRx pharmacy benefi t, PerforMEDsm care management, and PerformCare behavioral health care services.

“The net result is a quality service, and a quality product meeting our Company’s strate-gic and business goals.”

Edward M. Figlar

AVP, IS Solutions Delivery

SOLUTION AT A GLANCE ■ Improves credibility with

business

■ Ensures the IS Organization meets the needs of the busi-ness

■ Improves the quality and timeliness of the delivered solution

■ Signifi cantly improves vis-ibility into the organization’s work effort and work fl ow

“Tracer and APO have helped us improve our relationship with the business by enabling us to better manage the scope and progress of our work-efforts, particularly when it comes to one of our key informa-tion systems products.”

Nancy Hunsberger

AVP, Healthcare Systems

Nancy HunsbergerAVP, Healthcare Systems The AmeriHealth Mercy Family of Companies

Edward M. Figlar AVP, IS Solutions Delivery

The AmeriHealth Mercy Family of Companies

World Headquarters1390 Ridgeview DriveAllentown, PA 18104 USA610.530.5000www.compaid.com

MKT00133-APOAMERH 20100202