CTG Helps Medical Center Accelerate and Streamline Testing With Eggplant DAI

The Challenge and Opportunity 

The client is an academic medical center with multiple hospitals, clinics, and facilities in the Southeastern U.S. who faced significant challenges with manual testing and operations processes. The client wanted to automate testing for more than 50 major workflows, from patient creation, to Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, to ancillary systems like Cerner. This included automation for hundreds of LAB orders for their new LAB ambulatory locations. 

Although Eggplant Digital Automation Intelligence (DAI) Test Automation Software was already in use, its capabilities were underutilized, and testing was not supported by standardized workflows, test data, and documentation. In addition, they struggled with resource constraints on the Quality Assurance (QA) team and unclear roles for text execution and defect management. Based on our existing relationship and specialized expertise in testing within the healthcare industry, the client turned to CTG to optimize their testing practices and maximize use of Eggplant DAI.  

The Solution and Results  

CTG began the engagement with a thorough assessment of manual and automated testing frameworks and methodologies and current Eggplant DAI infrastructure and usage. Our experts looked for gaps in people, processes, and technology to identify areas for improvement. The assessment resulted in the following recommendations:

• Manual Testing: Strengthened QA ownership and consistency by clearly defining roles, improving test data accuracy, and integrating QA into UAT planning and defect resolution.
• Automated Testing: Enhanced automation maturity through team expansion, standardized practices, and full utilization of Eggplant DAI’s capabilities with a formal automation policy.

Several CTG testing experts, guided by an experienced Test Lead, led the implementation of automation enhancements. Using Eggplant DAI, we converted manual scripts to automated ones, optimized existing automation scripts, and expanded automation coverage across workflows. By maximizing the use of automation technology and optimizing testing processes, the client has achieved:  

• Accelerated Testing Execution: The testing process is now significantly faster and no longer requires a Subject Matter Expert (SME) to complete, enabling more logical resource utilization.
• Higher QA Team Productivity: Workflows that previously required multiple testers now only require one, allowing other team members to focus their attention on strategic tasks.
• Broader Test Coverage and Improved Quality: Increased coverage through automation drives high-quality, compliant healthcare software that increases the reliability of systems and improves patient satisfaction and health outcomes.
• Reduced Costs: Testing costs have decreased by cutting manual testing processes and decreasing dependency on multiple resources.
• Efficient Testing of LAB Orders: The previously daunting task of testing almost 1,000 LAB orders has been streamlined. Now, a single resource can handle the testing process, reducing dependency on multiple resources.

CTG’s expertise in managing and delivering on project goals ensured success throughout the engagement. We established a strong and collaborative relationship with the client’s leadership, fostering trust and clear communication, which contributed significantly to our selection over other companies.

Our partnership with the client and the optimization of Eggplant DAI not only addressed their initial challenges, but also brought about transformative changes, enhancing their testing processes and overall operational efficiency. Because of our ownership of this important project and the exceptional value CTG delivered, the client extended their contract with us to provide ongoing support.