Medtronic

Valid helps modernize Medtronic application

Medtronic pioneered the first implantable pacemaker for heart patients some 60 years ago. Now the company provides various devices and services that millions of people around the world owe their health - and often their lives - to. With iCARS (Individual Cost Acquisition Request Service), Medtronic is helping patients in Germany streamline their requests for reimbursement for treatments. Valid helped Medtronic modernize the iCARS system.

Medtronic Germany supports patients, health insurers and healthcare providers in the administrative processing of healthcare reimbursements. The iCARS system plays an important role in this: this application archives relevant application and patient data, generates correspondence between patients, health insurers and providers, and monitors the status and progress of applications.

Challenge: modernize critical system

There was a need to modernize the outdated iCARS system as it came to the end of its technological life cycle. The system was standing in the way of innovation. The continued development of the platform was lagging behind the needs of the business.

Link is a component within the IT Shared Service Center EMEA. Link develops out-of-the-box software to support logistics processes, among other things. From a previous collaboration with the IT organization in Germany, contact was quickly made with the question of whether the Link team could bring iCARS up to date. At Link, Maurice Spee led the project as business analyst/project manager on behalf of Valid, under the supervision of Patrick van Weert.

Valid has worked with Medtronic EMEA for many years, including infrastructure and system management. Valid's expertise is also used for application development.

Medtronic office
Medtronic office design
Solution: rebuild functionality

To ensure business continuity of the iCARS solution, the Medtronic EMEA Link team rebuilt the core functionality of the application based on C# in Azure on the SQL platform.

The development was done according to the Security and Privacy by Design principle. The new environment meets the legal requirements and regulations regarding Data Privacy and Protection (GDPR). But of course also meets Medtronic's own high standards with regard to patient and product safety, and data retention and security.

Another principle is Continuous Improvement: working continuously to improve. Not only of the software itself, but also of the business processes it supports.

Collaborative advantage: thorough review

With iCARS, patient data is involved, so there was a lot of focus on security and privacy. Van Weert: "Maurice did a very good job on that as well. It was the first time within the Link team that all aspects of regulation, privacy and security were reviewed so comprehensively."

Patrick van Weert: "The cooperation is always very good. Maurice has shown that again. He is a very experienced business analyst with a lot of knowledge, and embodies Valid's corporate culture. Which is open and honest, solution-oriented, and adding value to move forward. And with a feeling for the human aspect.'

One of the characteristics of application development-Valid-style is agile: short development cycles in close involvement with the end customer. On several occasions, Spee traveled to Germany with a developer to show the customer the state of affairs there and to get feedback for further improvement. In addition to the technological knowledge, therein lies the strength of Valid's approach.

"Many compliments for the way the project went and for the final result. "

Patrick van Weert Senior IT Supervisor Medtronic
Valid - consultation workstations
Valid - collaborate 2 (2)
Result: job done on time, Medtronic is ready for more

The project was delivered on time and on budget. No failures occurred during and after the migration. Much attention was paid to user acceptance. The introduction of a Hypercare phase, in which support was provided directly from the Link team, helped ensure that questions and issues could be resolved immediately.

The intention is that these positive experiences will lead to a spin-off: more projects within Medtronic EMEA Germany and in other countries.

Medtronic
  • Founded in 1949
  • Active in more than 150 countries
  • More than 95,000 employees
  • Offers innovative solutions for more than 70 health conditions, from Parkinson's to diabetes
  • 2.5 billion invested in R&D
  • More than 75 million people use Medtronics technology
Medtronic
  • Business-critical application future-proofed
  • Project successfully completed within time and budget
  • State-of-the-art technology
  • Continuity application guaranteed, also in the future
  • Security and privacy by design
  • GDPR and Medtronic Governance Compliance
  • Successful pilot for Test Center of Excellence India
Added value Valid
  • Tight but not rigid project management
  • Introduction of agile working methods
  • Added value throughout all aspects and phases of the project
  • Knowledge of business
  • Result-oriented
  • Structured, yet flexible approach
  • Teamwork