Problem

Manual reviews threatened healthcare compliance standards

The team of auditors at a large biotechnology company needed a way to streamline expense approvals and improve compliance in order to support the growth of the organization. They were determined to find a solution in keeping with the company’s mission of finding transformative solutions through innovative technology. 

Up to that point, the company had been manually verifying every line item within every expense report, an expensive and time-intensive process. Auditors began searching for an efficient way to auto-approve their low- and medium-risk reports without switching between systems. Although the first solution they employed allowed them to accomplish some of their goals, it did not deliver the full functionality it promised, leaving them unable to set up the audit rules necessary to properly assess and mitigate travel and expense risks, especially those related to the identification of healthcare professionals and compliance with the Sunshine Act. It also did not allow them to reject a single line item without rejecting the full expense report.

Solution

Custom auto-approvals ensure accuracy and streamline reviews

The company was intrigued by AppZen’s Expense Audit’s artificial intelligence in the form of its autonomous spend-to-pay platform. AppZen’s AI is trained specifically for finance on millions of transactions, which enables finance teams to complete tasks autonomously–meaning, from start to finish without any direct human intervention.

Their team of auditors recognized right away this was a system that could grow as their company grew, by incorporating additional AI models found in AppZen’s AppStore. These Apps cover various policy and compliance checks, and auditors were especially excited about the App built specifically for ensuring compliance with the Sunshine Act, which they hadn’t seen in any other audit system. They also appreciated the one-click view into expense reports, the dashboards for deeper analysis and reporting, and a dedicated Customer Success Manager who would meet with them regularly to ensure all configurations were optimized to their satisfaction.

 

Result

Major cost savings transform their finance function

After implementing AppZen, the company saw immediate benefits from auto-approving low-risk reports and streamlining its HCP reporting and Sunshine Act compliance, achieving a 50% auto-approval rate with minimal false positives within the first two months. And it expects that rate to increase as it begins auto-approving medium-risk reports, as well. Their auditors saved hours of manual work in those first months and now have more free time to focus on other strategic initiatives. They’re able to easily access reports they can provide to management, and give closer scrutiny to repeat policy offenders and high-risk employee spend. With the time saved, their team of auditors has even been able to expand their roles within the company, leading to professional growth that has benefitted both employees and the organization.