Medicare Australia Case Study
In the early 1990s, HIC (now Medicare Australia) determined it needed a replacement for its in-house mainframe payroll system - TOPS. TOPS had outlived its usefulness and upgrades to the system could not be justified.
The Challenge
A new system -- written in a modern programming language that could cope with change and handle Australian workplace agreements and self service -- was the preferred option
An assessment process followed and Aurion was selected as the preferred supplier based on superior business functionality and payroll capabilities consistent with Australian Public Sector employment terms and conditions.
The functionality specifications included a requirement that the new system have no customisation requirements, yet still remain flexible and configurable. To make this possible, Medicare Australia was prepared to re-engineer its business processes and simplify business rules.
In early 1996, Medicare Australia's Aurion project team reported to Management: 'If you give us the money to put the system in, allow us to change our rules and enable us to change the way we look at business processes, we believe we can make savings in staff numbers.'
Outcomes
- The project was successfully implemented on time and within budget
- Medicare Australia has since purchased and now uses most modules of Aurion successfully
- Human Resource staff are satisfied with Aurion's ease of use and capability
- The Self Service component of Aurion is currently used by all staff members and has proved very successful since its implementation
- The promised benefits and savings have been realised
- The ANAO People Management Benchmarking Study 2001/02 identified Medicare Australia's payroll staffing factor and payroll cost per employee as 'well within the Public Industry desired target range'
Medicare Australia has since been involved in workshops with Aurion Corporation and other Aurion users to ensure development and enhancement of the product supports changing business needs. Aurion Corporation has provided excellent customer support and the regular system releases have been consistent with legislation changes and business requirements.
Implementation
The first phase replaced the functionality of TOPS yet enabled the operators to continue to work with no deterioration in service.
The rollout of Employee Self Service to the then 4,500 staff in early 2002 was another significant milestone.
Most staff and all managers were trained using training courses, user guides and quick reference guides developed by the project team. A Help Desk was established for enquiries.
The implementation of ESS was very successful and the training format and documentation have been used by Medicare Australia as a standard for implementation of other systems.
The HR function operates very effectively. Currently, staff access Self Service via their Intranet to apply for leave, transfers and claims for payment, maintain their personal details, view their pay details, payslips and maintain bank disbursements. All applications are work flowed to managers for action and messages are routed through email boxes. Staff have embraced the system and its ease of use. Processes that previously took several days and involved handling by various staff are now instantaneous.
Regular system upgrades and enhancements ensure the HR system function remains consistent with capabilities of other organisations. The payroll staffing factor and payroll cost per employee have been identified as one of the cheapest in the Public Sector.
Since the implementation of Aurion, the payroll function is being handled by reduced pay centre staffing numbers. Other benefits have been seen in streamlining complex and inconsistent business rules and transaction processes and empowering all staff to perform processes and access data for themselves. Managers are accountable for ensuring processes are actioned appropriately and using data available via ESS to assist with managing staff absenteeism, performance issues and leave rosters.
"Aurion delivers innovation, value for money and human resource management solutions for Medicare Australia's expanding workforce requirements. We look forward to working with Aurion Corporation to ensure continuing success".
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