Using Agile Methodologies to Expand a Healthcare Provider’s Footprint
Trexin assessed a complex software development environment and developed a radically different approach for delivery that allowed our Client to meet its business commitments in record time.
Business Driver
Our Client, a leader in the health provider space for seniors and Medicare beneficiaries, was on a mission to greatly expand its national footprint. With more than 19 clinics, a significant impediment was the fragmented state of its many custom-developed healthcare IT systems. New features, fixes, and technical hurdles needed to be addressed and organizational priorities realigned to better address the business needs across the many systems. The CTO asked Trexin to assess their current state and propose a new approach to delivery to facilitate growth.
Approach
Trexin first assessed the development and product ecosystems by interviewing Product Managers, Development Managers, and Development Teams, resulting in a shared understanding of the impediments. Initial analysis showed a siloed approach to delivering enhancements across the many applications with no common business prioritization process. Teams would simply work on “their” applications without understanding the business’ highest priority needs. Furthermore, because of limited resources, cross-functional needs were rarely coordinated, which resulted in very long delivery cycles.
The remedy that Trexin introduced radically changed the system delivery approach by applying Agile concepts staffed with self-organized, cross functional, co-located teams working in an iterative and agile development model with immersed executive leadership. Business Leadership then had a venue to prioritize valuable updates without having to deal with silos, and Trexin’s recommended structure stripped away all non- essential features/functions to increase the chances of success.
Results
After four months, Trexin’s Agile architects and coaches trained over 40 people, created a prioritized backlog, and set a cadence of continuous delivery. Through Trexin’s coaching, our Client not only matured their “being Agile” journey, but also enhanced their “doing Agile” rituals and practices. This new approach to delivery in a complex software development environment has allowed our Client to meet its business commitments in record time and position the business for even further growth.
