The Problem
Serving over 50 local markets across the United States of America, Kaiser Permanente is tasked with organizing critical financial processes amongst three interdependent groups positioned in geographically diverse regions. Processes like evaluating requests for equipment and capital, or the reorganization of staffing resources were riddled with inefficiencies, leading to protracted approval and review timeframes, frequent miscommunication, and a severe lack of visibility. Several of Kaiser Permanente’s internal processes began with a spreadsheet, sprinkled with cells carrying complex instructions. Tricky templates made it hard to identify errors along the way as team members manually passed spreadsheets up the food chain, frequently moving data back and forth between users. The informal structure made it challenging to pinpoint a pending project’s precise progress, leaving unchecked files languishing in inboxes. Clunky spreadsheets were challenging to decipher and lacked a crystal clear audit log.
