The Path Toward an Innovative Physician Licensing System

The Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine (BORIM) was seeking to replace its aging legacy applications and launch a new online licensing system. The Board hired us based on our experience successfully delivering on time and on budget on many large software projects at the State of Massachusetts.

As the most regulated health profession in the nation, the licensing of physicians is, unsurprisingly, a complex and multifaceted process. Limited documentation and support for the legacy applications was an added difficulty, particularly when matched with the complexity of the licensing and enforcement business processes. Further adding to the challenge was the multitude of databases involved, which made the data porting effort an arduous task.It was clear the job ahead would demand a novel and innovative approach to system development, but it was one we proudly dedicated ourselves to fulfilling. Our solution was based on ArcHealth, our software as a service (SaaS) licensing system for health departments.

We utilized an iterative approach through weekly Joint Application Design (JAD) sessions in which we presented working prototypes of the system to our clients. We collected feedback, redesigned, and ultimately perfected the designs through a regimental cycle that maximized client satisfaction. Driving the Joint Application Design process with working prototypes engaged the audience and helped us capture the complex business requirements. This was made possible thanks to the high configurability of ArcHealth system. To tackle the issues presented by the lack of documentation, we reverse engineered the legacy systems to understand the different data structures and properly port all the licensing, compliance, and enforcement data.

On October 26th, 2022, the system was deployed with resounding success. We were humbled by the abundance of positive feedback from the client, and their satisfaction confirmed to us that we had a successful launch. Furthermore, efficient use of our system has helped the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine drop the average processing time for full initial license applications by a striking 70% since launch.

We were successful at this implementation where one of country’s largest system integrators failed thanks to our unwavering dedication to our clients. For us, our clients are our partners, and their success is our success.

Discover how arc, our powerful cloud based licensing and enforcement system, can be customized to meet your specific requirements. To see it in action, book a demo today.