Case Study
UST transforms IT support for a U.S. healthcare provider, delivering up to 50% cost reduction, strong ROI, and higher employee satisfaction
OUR CLIENT
This leading U.S. healthcare provider operates an expansive care network of 370+ facilities across 29 states. Over 50,000 employees rely on state-of-the-art technology to safeguard patient safety and operational continuity, especially in the non-urban communities it serves.
THE CHALLENGE
Cost inefficiencies and SLA shortfalls caused challenges for the IT team
The client operates a complex, distributed healthcare network that serves millions of patients annually. The company required consistent IT support that can scale across diverse hospital systems and care environments. The main challenges were:
- Inconsistent SLA attainment: The client faced persistent challenges in IT service delivery. Its previous service provider struggled to meet service level agreements (SLAs), leaving the organization vulnerable to delays in issue resolution and inconsistent service quality across facilities.
- Operational risks: For an enterprise where downtime directly impacts both clinical and administrative functions, the lack of reliable systems posed significant operational risks. The IT team handled approximately 100,000 support cases each year, involving more than 50,000 users.
- Rising costs: The client was operating under a service delivery model that lacked efficiency and flexibility. The mismatch between price and performance created financial strain, leaving limited room for IT innovation and investments in system modernization.
- Recurring disruption: The complexity of the company’s IT ecosystem led to recurring outages and service disruptions. Over the past four years, they have taken steps to consolidate and integrate their systems, which has reduced the frequency of outages. Yet, a degree of instability remained, underscoring the need for a partner capable of delivering a reliable, first-line, scalable IT service desk solution.
THE TRANSFORMATION
Centralized clinical service desk designed for scale, speed, and consistency
UST introduced a voice and chat AI-powered IT service desk, which served as the frontline support function across the provider’s nationwide network.
As the first point of contact for all IT issues, the service desk now manages user requests and incidents quickly and consistently, improving both employee experiences and operational reliability. The solution includes:
- Level 1 (L1) enterprise service desk (voice and chat): UST set up a dedicated L1 service desk to handle all users facing IT issues. This frontline team handles basic service requests and tech issues.
- Incident management and triage: Support teams handle high volumes of tickets for common issues, such as password resets, connectivity problems, and application usage queries.
- Ticket categorization and routing: Issues requiring deeper expertise are escalated efficiently to Level 2 or Level 3 teams, ensuring minimal disruption and fast resolution.
- Knowledge-at-scale: We developed knowledge-based articles for each hospital, matching its unique systems and workflows. This improved issue resolution accuracy and accelerated staff onboarding.
- UST SmartOps automation: AI-driven automation now handles routine and repetitive tasks, reducing resolution times. This helped the in-house IT team focus on system modernization, security enhancements, and proactive technology planning rather than being consumed by routine support requests.
- U.S.-led, globally enabled delivery: To address cost and performance concerns, UST transitioned service delivery to cost-effective centers in Mexico and India. This global delivery model improved efficiency while maintaining high-quality support, ensuring zero service disruptions and scalability, thereby enabling consistent SLA achievement.
THE IMPACT
Significant business benefits: 40–50% cost savings and 15% fewer ticket escalations
The transformation delivered by UST has had the following direct, quantifiable impacts on the healthcare provider’s operations:
- Up to 50% cost reduction: By transitioning to UST’s global delivery model, the healthcare provider achieved 40–50% cost savings on the total contract value, generating a substantial return on investment. This reduction has freed resources to reinvest in strategic IT initiatives, amplifying the organization’s ability to innovate and sustain long-term growth.
- 15% fewer escalations: UST centralized IT support and introduced 15 new first-contact resolution tools, resulting in a 15% reduction in ticket escalations. UST SmartOps AI-automation helped resolve issues more quickly, improving efficiency and freeing staff to focus more on patient care.
- Elastic capacity: The service desk can flexibly absorb demand spikes of 8–10% at short notice, a critical capability in healthcare where incident volumes fluctuate unpredictably.
- 96% faster time-to-resolution: SLA commitments are now consistently met or exceeded with 96% faster incident resolution and minimized user downtime. This reliability directly benefits clinical staff, who rely on uninterrupted access to systems for patient care.
- Improved decision-making: With UST managing first-line support, IT leadership can focus on higher-value decision-making and prioritize long-term investments, system stability, and security improvements.
- Continuity and risk reduction: Centralizing the patient service desk across all 60+ hospitals has created a consistent user experience, reduced variability in service quality, and lowered the risk of operational disruptions.
Learn more about how UST delivers scalable healthcare IT support services that strengthen patient care and operational efficiency.