Altova MapForce Ideal for Single Purpose EDI
Its low cost means automation is now affordable.
A software company whose product enabled large cities to communicate with their state needed the ligibility Inquiry/Confirmation documents (270 and 271). This exchange was planned to offer automation savings to both the city and the state, yet their tight budgets precluded a significant capital expenditure. The solution chosen was to offer data exchange that relied upon the business application to monitor, control, and report errors.
Overview
The software provider’s customer (the city) had received informal approval to automate the exchange of medical eligibility for repayment inquiries. They needed to know if their specific case would be reimbursed by the state for service provided to select citizens. Yet, both parties could not budget for a complex automation. Some steps would be manual and active monitoring would save extensive reporting development cost.
The complication was that these new documents are not yet supported by other cities and states. Fortunately, the federal government required use of these Transaction Sets when labor intensive webforms became too costly. As these business documents contain the same information and the same daily process challenge: send the eligibility inquiry before treatment occurs, the process had to be automated.
DCS solution was to:
- Add AltovaMapForce for only these two documents.
- Use EDI INT AS2 for HIPAA compliant, secure data transmission.
- Show the developer how to incorporate some business rules and look-ups into their application. This was straight forward but not trivial.
- Publish a small operators’ manual so a back-up person could do it.
- Use one process to avoid confusion and errors. One process ensured that missing documents were quickly made known and corrected through a manual process.
The level of effort was about 90 hours for the first city and about 8 hours for subsequent cities exchanging with their state.
Description of Work Hours
- Specification and design 40
- Map and unit test 24
- Process setup and testing 8
- User Acceptance Testing 8
- Implementation and post-production support 8
There were few disruptions because the planning was thorough. However, the testing time took longer than anticipated due to lags between submission and approval of test data.
Conclusion
The result a reliable, secure, and economical exchange of citizens’ personal information. Second, there was little on-going I.T. support. The city could capture re-payment from the state much faster.
Let DCS help you set your B2B automation foundation or add more process automation. Setting up the foundation for these processes properly is not trivial but when done correctly sets the stage for growth of your B2B program. We recommend our GROW™ Development service.
- DCS has many years of experience with MapForce and it is likely we have experience with your business application and your key customer’s requirements as well. We know these components intimately; we know how they must be linked.
- We are experts with most practical, customer-oriented experience. Unfortunately, many XML developers do not have B2B and EDI experience.
- We can fine tune your processes and components, and then train users. This increases efficiencies, self-reliance, and avoids waste and shipping delays.
- Finally, our solution is cost effective because Altova is economical.
Using a seasoned expert who knows B2B operating processes will save you time and headaches. DCS is eager to work with your dealer or vendor. Our expertise is with orchestration, we do not sell EDI or XML software
or networks. Your first step is easy; just email DCS for your FREE assessment.
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is the computer-to-computer exchange of routine business documents such as Purchase Orders, Shipment Notices, Invoices, and Remittance Advices without human intervention. Data moves from your customer’s computer system – through the Internet securely – to your computer system.