Case Studies

The Prelude Experience.

Helping Albright Care Services reduce their concerns over their IT infrastructure risk and organizational exposure, Prelude Services was chosen as an outsourcing partner to help improve their business through innovative technology.

Customer Information:

Albright Care Services (ACS) is a not-for-profit corporation serving Pennsylvania’s entire Susquehanna Valley. A spectrum of care options is offered by the ACS system in a number of locations throughout the organization’s service area. They service over 700 independent living, assisted living, and skilled nursing beds as well as 72 units in a HUD-approved housing complex. ACS is currently in the process of broadening its reach to provide services to the Williamsport, PA community through the new LIFE (Living Independently for Elders) Center. LIFE is Pennsylvania’s version of the nationally recognized Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE).

Business Need:

ACS had concerns that their IT infrastructure was creating risk and exposure for the organization. Hardware was outdated, access to business applications was not consistent, and staff was frustrated with the timeliness of customer support from IT. They needed to obtain a true picture of what the real issues were so they could assess what items should be changed. They wanted to put a strategic IT plan in place that included a road map for reducing future costs, lowering risk, and ensuring the organization was compliant with the technical safeguards of HIPAA. They also wanted to implement IT standards and policies as well as an environment where staff training was provided on a consistent basis.

Implementation:

ACS chose to take part in a no-risk organizational IT assessment offered by Prelude. The assessment process began by Prelude meeting with specific business units such as IT, finance, clinical services, and billing to assess both technical and business systems. Prelude then documented all findings and recommendations in a report that was submitted to and reviewed by the ACS management team. Many of the items that were a concern for ACS were validated. Potential cost savings were identified as well as areas where increased efficiencies could be realized.

ACS made the decision to outsource support of their entire IT infrastructure to Prelude. Prelude transitioned support from existing staff within 30 days and corrected several mission-critical issues that were creating risk. We began accepting Helpdesk calls from users to assist them with issues. Prelude worked with ACS management to create a plan to replace outdated hardware at all locations and have all business applications located in the Prelude data center. Within 90 days, Prelude was able to accomplish these two items as well as get ACS in compliance with software vendors, increase network speed, and provide onsite training for all staff.

Albright Today:

ACS has a solid IT foundation in place so that it will be able to provide the next generation of resident care that will be upon us in the next few years. Business units are effectively working together to maximize productivity and reduce costs. Staff have reliable workstations and increased speed when accessing applications and other business-related software. All ACS locations have the ability to contact the Helpdesk with issues 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Users are consistently attending training classes to maintain their proficiency with Microsoft Office applications.

In addition, a strategic IT plan is in place to organize projects and serves as a road map of desired outcomes. Now that all systems are stable and data is accurate and easily accessible, initiatives such as enterprise reporting of key indicators can be launched.

From Albright:

"I am truly amazed by what Prelude Services did for Albright Care. They guaranteed me they would execute a complete turnaround of my IT infrastructure. They assured me my risk and exposure as it related to IT would be reduced. They promised all business applications would be consistently available. They pledged they would train all of my staff so they could be more efficient. They said their customer service was second to none. The hardest decision I had to make was to trust a vendor that I did not even know to accomplish these things. I made the right decision." — Seneca Foote, President/CEO