Region Uppsala is responsible for health care, public transport, culture, and education, as well as regional development in the county of Uppsala. The Resource Center provides management support and administrative support to Region Uppsala’s operations and the Region’s Office. Handled, among other things, are salary payments, customer and supplier invoices, and financial statements for the entire Region of Uppsala. The Resource Center also has overall responsibility for Region Uppsala’s archive and document management.
Another major part of its business is managing and developing Region Uppsala’s healthcare and administrative systems. It also deals with data output from Region Uppsala’s system.
THE CHALLENGE – MANUAL PROCESSES COST PRECIOUS TIME
Region Uppsala identified a number of manual processes taking an unnecessarily long time and realized that work could be streamlined in several different parts of the business. A central requirement for Region Uppsala was to continue owning its own backlog and standing on its own feet without being dependent on consultants. Ease of use was a crucial part when it came to finding a suitable solution.
Another symptom it suffered from was the lack of transparency and the ability to identify where exactly it was in the different processes.
In this case study, we will be reporting on several challenges Region Uppsala took on using InRule’s low-code platform.
ONE APPLICATION = 1.5 FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES
One of the first processes identified was getting access permission to Agresso, the existing accounting system. Previously, this was managed via a manual process that wasted time and resources which could otherwise be used for other areas, thereby creating more value for the organization.
By mapping the process and digitalizing the working method solely through this application, Region Uppsala saved time and resources equivalent to 1.5 full-time employees. It has facilitated the work for employees at Region Uppsala involved in the ordering process by reducing the overall time. Matters can now be handled more rapidly, and along with more transparent traceability and monitoring, it has made daily life easier for the entire organization.
ABOUT 25 BUSINESS APPLICATIONS LAUNCHED
Since the implementation of InRule process automation, Region Uppsala has launched about 25 different business applications in various areas of its business.
A selection of the various processes digitalized include:
- Registration of manual customer invoices in the accounting system
- Notification of benefit tax/salary deduction
- Travel reservations
- Registration of accounting files
- Sending employment contracts
The latest addition is a solution that manages to get approval to recruit staff. During the fall, the application will be enabled to handle logins and access to various healthcare systems.
After having launched the first applications, Region Uppsala has become self-sufficient to the extent that it is developing new applications on its own and owns its own backlog, independent of any outside party. Of course, there are occasions that require extra manual intervention. InRule’s experts are on hand for this, able to contribute their experience in and knowledge about InRule process automation to refine the processes and work which Region Uppsala has already carried out.
We believe it’s important that we, ourselves, possess the expertise in the tools we’ve chosen to work with, and we now have several people in the Administrative Automation Unit who can digitalize processes with the help of InRule process automation. At the same time, it’s important for us to have good collaboration with InRule’s process consultants. Even if the ambition is to stand on our own two feet, it behooves us to have good support when we encounter challenges we can’t handle ourselves.
Marcus Görgård, Head of the Financial Unit and Unit for Administrative Automation (AdmA)
WHY InRule?
Region Uppsala, using Easit for case management, evaluated if it could continue using Easit while digitalizing other processes. In many cases, this opportunity existed; however, the lack of certain functionality and the ease of use of InRule process automation tipped the scale toward the decision to digitalize some parts in InRule process automation while keeping other parts handled by Easit; still a central part of Region Uppsala’s digitalization puzzle.
In our case, it was about not understanding that the user experience was as simple as we desired. Getting the solutions we sought would require more time than justified. Clarity, provided by the “process flow” in InRule, further adds great value.
Marcus Görgård
INSPIRATION BETWEEN REGIONS
Because InRule has several users in the public sector, there is a clear prerequisite for information exchange, where different organizations can create clear synergies. Among those that benefitted from this is Region Uppsala, which has led talks with the Västra Götaland Region (VGR). Even consultants from InRule participated in these talks to see how and for which processes synergies could be created.
It’s this kind of collaboration that we want to encourage for more regions. A lot of resources, both time and money, can be saved by communicating with other InRule customers. We also have many municipalities as customers, and this collaboration would work well here. In some cases, applications are shared, which is an excellent way to get great value from our public funds.
Tobias Andersson, InRule
Marcus Görgård from Region Uppsala also reconsizes clear advantages for similar talks or collaboration.
After discussions with the Västra Götaland Region (VGR), we’ve come up with new ideas for solutions. We’re convinced that since, by and large, we have the same mission, we have a lot to gain from collaborating and learning from other regions/councils.
Marcus Görgård
RESULTS AND NEXT STEPS
The Uppsala region sees InRule’s platform as a central part of its digitalization puzzle. The ambition is to develop the business, step by step, without marginalizing quality. Instead, new solutions and processes that need to become more efficient are identified, and at the rate, they’re developed, new areas come to the surface. So, quality goes before quantity, but existing solutions work as catalysts for further digitalization.
Below are some examples of areas where Region Uppsala has seen improvements:
- Time Savings: Improving the efficiency of the administration has freed up time, which, instead, can be put towards value-creating tasks
- Integration: Linking different systems
- Facilitation of daily life for employees with appropriate tools and the ability to be able to meet business needs quickly
- Increased transparency of processes
Furthermore, Region Uppsala will continue to take responsibility for its own development and start working through the requests from the different parts of its operations. The vision is also to identify more processes that can be digitalized and automated to free up time for the healthcare staff so more time can be spent with patients.
Something that is very encouraging is that employees in the business who used the different applications now come with wishes about digitalizing other areas that could be streamlined. That, if anything, gives an excellent grade for both ease of use and experienced value!
Marcus Görgård
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