CareCore National uses DevOps approach to cut defects by 50 percent
Company Size
1,000+
Region
- America
Country
- United States
Product
- IBM Rational DOORS Next Generation
- IBM Rational Focal Point
- IBM Rational Team Concert
- IBM Rational Quality Manager
Tech Stack
- IBM Rational Jazz platform
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Innovation Output
- Productivity Improvements
Technology Category
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - API Integration & Management
- Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms
Applicable Industries
- Healthcare & Hospitals
Use Cases
- Predictive Maintenance
Services
- Software Design & Engineering Services
- System Integration
About The Customer
CareCore National is a specialty benefit management company founded in 1994. The company offers customized programs to improve the use of diagnostic imaging and enhance the quality of patient care. It also provides solutions for managing cardiac and oncology care, and programs for sleep apnea, musculoskeletal pain management, and lab services. CareCore serves health plans in the United States and currently manages treatment affecting more than 30 million people. One of CareCore's primary goals is to react quickly to meet customer needs. Over the years, the company’s core development applications had grown to meet these changing needs.
The Challenge
CareCore National, a specialty benefit management company, was facing challenges with its software development processes. The company was using a reactive, project-focused approach that was not providing the speed and responsiveness needed to meet customer needs. The lack of integration between development applications was hindering overall speed. The company was tracking requirements and work items using Microsoft Team Foundation Server (TFS) software. However, many stakeholders were still submitting requirements using email or other methods, making it difficult to gain a comprehensive picture of all the requirements needed. As a result, 70 percent of the company’s software defects were attributed to poor requirements development. The company wanted to overhaul its processes and shift from a project-focused approach to a more strategic approach.
The Solution
CareCore National decided to implement IBM Rational DOORS Next Generation, IBM Rational Focal Point, and IBM Rational Team Concert software, integrating these applications with its existing IBM Rational Quality Manager software. The company used Rational Focal Point software to create the project and distribute the necessary components to the other Rational applications. Stakeholders put information from spreadsheets, diagrams, and text documents into the requirements software, without worrying about prioritizing the information. Software architects then worked in the software to analyze the information and create requirements. Developers built work items from the set of artifacts and assigned the work items to appropriate staff members. As developers worked on their assigned tasks, they used Rational Team Concert software to track their progress and verify that they were meeting the requirements established through the Rational DOORS Next Generation software. Quality assurance (QA) staff then used the same requirements to build test cases and plans.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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