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How one platform simplified health program access.
A strong digital foundation gave HRSA a simpler way to manage programs serving underserved communities.
million patients served
decrease in application processing time
increase in providers
More than 70 million Americans live in rural areas where access to healthcare can be limited. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) works to close that gap by strengthening the healthcare workforce and helping communities connect with the professionals they need.
Publicis Sapient worked with HRSA to modernize the digital systems behind that mission. Today, the Health Workforce Connector links more than 21,000 healthcare providers with opportunities in underserved communities. The result is a stronger digital foundation for connecting providers, communities and patients across the United States.
HRSA’s loan repayment and scholarship programs help bring doctors and nurses into these high-need communities, but outdated systems and manual processes made it difficult to scale, track impact and respond quickly to public health emergencies. When Congress significantly increased funding for these programs, Publicis Sapient was engaged to help scale HRSA’s operations and systems to deliver a more robust, needs-based health workforce.
Informed by a deep understanding of their people, process and technology context, we improved the user experience, establishing a web-based digital platform to replace a 35-year-old mainframe system and more than 23 legacy applications. This platform created a customer-centric digital environment and optimized interaction channels. HRSA gained operational efficiencies (application processing time has decreased by 30 percent), completely paperless operations and millions of dollars in savings. A robust data management program was also established (leveraging data engineering, data science and data visualization) to help the client gain critical insights for strategic investments and data-driven policies to maximize impacts in communities. We applied:
HRSA is now well-prepared to respond quickly to emerging public health emergencies with the ability to project potential impact on specific communities and map associated resources to address anticipated needs. Programs have since expanded from four to 10, increasing responsiveness to health crises like Zika and the opioid epidemic.
They’ve proactively influenced policies and programs that promote health equity and data-driven decision-making, significantly increasing positive health outcomes and expanding access to medical professionals for over 21 million patients. Today, 85 percent of health care providers supported by these programs remain in underserved areas past their required term.
Prasad Bhalerao
Public Sector Lead, North America
