Automation Success at Prevention Point Philadelphia with Integrify

Background

Prevention Point Philadelphia is a nonprofit public health organization providing harm reduction services to Philadelphia and the surrounding area. PPP seeks to promote health, empowerment, and safety for communities affected by drug use and poverty. The resources and services provided by the organization include AIDS Care Groups, syringe services, HIV primary care, overdose prevention services, housing services, and more.

The Challenge

We spoke with Todd Couchman, an Accountant at Prevention Point Philadelphia, about the organization’s challenges before implementing workflow automation. The team’s initial need, the different approval processes at the organization, provoked them to search for a solution.

In addition to a better approval process system, the team needed a better way of submitting receipts, working with bills, internal resource requests, and staff changes and approvals. These use cases stretched across multiple departments, including Finance and HR, and impacted clients externally. 

It was apparent that a change was needed, and the team began to search for one solution that could fix all the pain points the organization faced. They needed a solution that would automate: 

• Approval Processes

• HR Submissions

• Resource Request Form

• And a system that could house all of these requests in one place.

So, the search began, and that is when Todd and the team found Nutrient Workflow. 

Why Nutrient Workflow?

Prevention Point Philadelphia assessed all options and chose Nutrient Workflow as the ideal solution after demos and discussions. Todd shared, “Nutrient Workflow seemed to offer exactly what we needed.” A benefit of Nutrient Workflow is it can be designed visually to simulate or improve existing processes. There was no need for Todd or anyone else to reinvent the wheel with their processes. Those once-manual tasks can be replicated into digital forms, automated processes, emails, and approvals. This was huge for PPP. 

“Nutrient Workflow has completely changed our process and streamlined it tremendously. Having the multiple level approvals and well as system generated emails regarding open tasks when things move along the approval chain, and emailing of final request including a PDF of a bill or receipt has been great.”

Implementation

The implementation phase was significant for the team. Todd worked with the Nutrient Workflow Services Team to get their processes built, up, and running. A task needed in their processes was to have PDF attachments for all approved submissions. This is done with Nutrient Workflow’s PDF Generator Task and a PDF merge, which are both popular on the platform. It allows the team to insert captured data from a digital form into a PDF document that can be shared with others via a download. All of this is done seamlessly with automation.

“Nutrient Workflow has made users much more comfortable submitting expenses, etc, since they have a transaction ID as proof of submission.” Todd Couchman, Accountant, Prevention Point Philadelphia

An open and transparent process for managing requests and workflows creates a sense of comfort and ease for the team. This allows them to clearly understand what is expected of them and how their work fits into the larger picture. Todd shared, “It’s been a game changer for the organization.” 

What They’ve Built

So far, the team has built the following workflows:

• Credit Card receipts

• Vendor bill submissions

• Staff setup and changes to the payroll system.

• Requests for resources for clients.

The end users for these processes include client-facing staff and the account staff. There are approximately 30 users who have access to submit any request in any combination of the above processes, and there are around 12 new requests per day, on average, that go through the Nutrient Workflow system. 

Results

The results have been a “game changer.” Before Nutrient Workflow, the team used PDF forms that were manually filled out and emailed. This was a very time-heavy, manual process that has now been transformed. “The staff have embraced the system and love having the transaction ID as proof of submission.” Since metrics were not captured before Nutrient Workflow, there are no specifics to go off of, but Todd shared that “accuracy has certainly improved.” 

What’s Next?

Regarding what the team will Nutrient Workflow next, it depends on the needs that arise. “We are always willing to add other processes to Nutrient Workflow,” Todd added. Their experience with the Nutrient Workflow and services teams helps Todd feel at ease when discussing the future of Nutrient Workflow at the organization. If a hurdle ever is evident, Penny, a services member at Nutrient Workflow, has gotten them through each time.