Autism Queensland: A Three-Year Salesforce Transformation in Health Services
Over three years, Autism Queensland, a leading nonprofit health services provider, undertook a Salesforce transformation to reimagine how it delivers care and support. This case study explores how Autism Queensland improved efficiency and created better outcomes for their clients using Salesforce.
For over 50 years, Autism Queensland – a leading nonprofit health services provider – has been a lifeline for individuals on the autism spectrum and their families. Through a dedicated professional team, Autism Queensland touches thousands of lives through their services, including therapy, diagnostic assessments, specialised schooling, employment support and more.
With growing demand and the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), Autism Queensland’s legacy systems became outdated. Paper-based workflows and siloed, ageing technology created inefficiencies that risked undermining their mission.
Recognising the need for bold change, Autism Queensland embarked on a three-year digital transformation to modernise their operations and deliver better health outcomes to their community.
In a snapshot: Salesforce transformation for health services and nonprofit organisations
A three-year digital transformation using Salesforce helped nonprofit health services organisation, Autism Queensland, streamline operations, improve client experiences and drive better outcomes for individuals on the autism spectrum.
Salesforce products used: Salesforce Platform, Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Experience Cloud, Non-Profit Starter Pack, Revenue Cloud.
ISVs: Conga, Boomi, FormAssembly, CyberSource
The Challenge
Fragmented Systems and Inefficiencies
As Autism Queensland’s services grew, their outdated and disconnected systems created operational bottlenecks. Staff faced challenges in managing processes efficiently, which impacted their ability to deliver high-quality services.
Frustrating Onboarding and Service Enrolment
For families, enrolling their children in health services was stressful and time-consuming. Paper-based forms and manual processes added to the frustration. Staff also struggled with managing and processing these forms, further delaying support.
Complex Stakeholder Management
Autism Queensland has a wide range of stakeholders: parents, carers, schools, healthcare providers and NDIS planners. Managing these relationships and keeping everyone aligned was difficult without the right systems.
Manual Feedback and Compliance Tracking
Tracking and resolving complaints and feedback was handled manually, making it difficult to ensure a seamless experience for clients. Additionally, staying compliant with NDIS regulations added complexity to an already challenging environment.
The Need for Transformation
To meet the growing demands of their clients, Autism Queensland needed a modern, integrated platform that would streamline operations, enhance the client experience and provide staff with the tools they needed to focus on delivering care.
It’s not uncommon for organisations to rely on point solutions for quick fixes. But adopting a holistic approach to technology use across the organisation is vital for scalability and future needs.
The Solution
Autism Queensland’s mission to deliver better services for individuals with autism and their families led to a collaboration with VISEO, focusing on improving operations and enhancing the customer experience through Salesforce technology. The project was structured in three phases, to ensure a gradual, scalable transformation.
Phase 1: Streamlined Onboarding and Service Enrolment
The first phase focused on replacing paper forms with a digital process using Salesforce Experience Cloud and Form Assembly. This change means families can now complete and submit forms easily online. It eliminating manual handling and making onboarding faster for both staff and clients.
Phase 2: Managing Complex Relationships
With a diverse group of stakeholders involved in every client’s journey (parents, schools, healthcare providers and more) Autism Queensland needed a unified platform. The solution, built on Salesforce Platform, helps manage these complex relationships, ensuring everyone is working together to coordinate health services and care.
Phase 3: Billing and Payment Simplified
In the final phase of the project, the focus shifted to automating billing and payment processes. Salesforce Revenue Cloud streamlines invoicing by reducing errors from manual entry. Conga Composer helps automate invoice generation, while a CyberSource payment gateway means customers can securely pay for services online.
A Complete End-to-End Digital Experience
By 2024, the entire solution was in place, offering Autism Queensland an end-to-end digital experience. From waitlisting to onboarding, billing and post-service support, everything is now integrated within Salesforce, creating a seamless and efficient experience for clients and staff alike.
Key Outcomes & Impact
Autism Queensland’s partnership with VISEO and Salesforce has delivered measurable improvements across operations, client experience and growth. Here’s how:
Efficiency Boosts
- Automated Invoicing: Automation has saved 5 minutes per invoice, totalling 50,000 minutes (833 hours / 104 days) over six months.
- Therapy Admin Team Optimisation: The therapy administration team has been reduced from 12 FTE to 8.5 FTE, due to natural attrition and staff transitioning to other roles.
- Increased Billable Hours: Billable hours per therapist have increased from 40% to 62%, due to better visibility, transparency, and process redesign.
- Fewer Cancellations: Cancellations have reduced by 10%, driven by improved discipline with automated bookings and reminders.
Data-Driven Insights
- Centralised Data Platform: Salesforce provides Autism Queensland with a single, integrated platform for tracking and acting on client data. This helps monitor key metrics like resource utilisation, client volume, and billable vs. non-billable hours.
- Benchmarking Against Peers: With access to real-time data, Autism Queensland can now benchmark their performance against other organisations, an ability that was previously out of reach. This insight supports ongoing improvement.
Client Experience Enhancements
- Simplified Onboarding and Service Enrolment: The 30-minute to 1-hour process of filling out and returning paperwork is now a 15-minute online check-in. Parents can verify and update information with pre-populated fields. This streamlined process applies to both onboarding and service enrolment, reducing the time and effort required for both parents and Autism Queensland staff.
- Improved Client Safety: Salesforce has enabled Autism Queensland to track and address incidents proactively.
Growth and Agility
- Winning New Contracts: Salesforce’s flexibility helped Autism Queensland quickly replicate and deploy their school inclusion model, contributing Autism Queensland being selected by the Queensland Government for their Kindergarten Inclusion Service.
- Expansion into Consulting: Autism Queensland has expanded into consulting, including neurodiversity inclusiveness work for the NDIA and partnerships linked to the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
Employee Experience and Impact
- Empowered Workforce: The transition to Salesforce has empowered Autism Queensland’s staff by eliminating administrative burdens. Employees now have more time to focus on client care and contribute to shaping the future roadmap of their Salesforce solution.
- Less Time on Admin, More Time for Clients: Automation has allowed staff to shift from manual back-office tasks to more impactful activities, like therapy bookings and client communication.
VISEO is seen in our space as the leader. The capabilities of the VISEO team supporting us were pretty obvious, pretty quicky.
Elevating Impact: the Future of Autism Queensland
Autism Queensland has streamlined its operations by replacing paperwork with automated workflows. What was once a complex process of paperwork and manual tasks is now a seamless, automated experience. From onboarding to billing, every part of the client journey has been streamlined, allowing staff and clients to focus on providing the best healthcare and support.
By consolidating and automating data, Autism Queensland has gained better insights for decision-making and service improvements. This updated system supports its growth and strengthens the mission to empower individuals on the autism spectrum and their communities.
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