Software solutions provider Kiandra has collaborated with Western Australia’s (WA) Health Support Services (HSS) to successfully deliver a critical application replacement to enable the WA health system to process up to $100 million of invoices every year.

Initially implemented in 1998, the Medical Accounts Assessment System (MAAS) is used to assess, process and verify invoices for Contracted Medical Practitioners (CMPs) who provide fee-for-services in WA public hospitals. The original system, previously hosted by Medicare, was decommissioned by the Australian Government on 30 June 2019.

Kiandra and the WA health system’s shared services provider, HSS, successfully hit the deadline and launched a replacement MAAS on 1 July.

While previous estimates had pegged the project as requiring 12 months or longer to complete using traditional software development tools, Kiandra and HSS were able to develop, test and launch the new MAAS in only five months.

Kiandra Co-Founder Martin Cooperwaite said in order to meet the significant requirements of this project in a short time frame, the team leveraged the latest in low-code technology with partner OutSystems.

“A system of this scale, in this time frame, would have been very difficult to deliver in time without the use of low-code. We were able to utilise our partnership with the world leading low-code development platform, OutSystems, and implement a solution in much less time than traditional approaches.”

Low-code technology is widely used throughout Europe and the US but still in an early adoption stage in Australia. A key feature of low-code is that it automates many aspects when developing line-of-business applications – significantly cutting down the volume of hand-coding by developers, while still providing enterprise-grade architecture, performance and security.

OutSystems is the number one low-code platform for rapid application development, topping the lists of industry benchmark organisations Forrester and Gartner. Mr Cooperwaite said the platform, paired with Kiandra’s 24 years’ experience with enterprise-level application development, was a great match.

“At Kiandra, we specialise in core-business enterprise and government application development and have a significant portfolio in health. When we dived into HSS’ requirements for a new MAAS, it was clear that HSS’ decision to choose OutSystems and Kiandra was a sound one. We could create a custom enterprise- grade solution to scope and in time, and deliver a great end-user experience also.”

HSS Chief Information Officer Holger Kaufmann said the new MAAS will enable WA public hospitals and health services to better manage invoices and payments of medical services provided by more than 1000 CMPs in the WA health system.

“This streamlines the processing of up to $100 million worth of CMP invoices each year under one managed system, making it easier and more efficient for our customers,” Mr Kaufmann said.

“Low-code technology has enabled us to respond quickly to the required change and puts HSS at the forefront of application innovation and in a position to continue improving and building on the services we offer to the WA public health system.”