Quanta Dialysis Technologies uses D365 technology to transform patient care

Within just two months of going live, Quanta has: 

Hemodialysis is a vital procedure for patients who have kidney failure. Involving a machine and a special filter that removes waste products and excess fluid from the blood, hemodialysis can be performed in a hospital, a dialysis center or clinic, or at home, depending on the patient’s condition and preference.

The procedure is expensive for individuals and puts a lot of pressure on the health care system. Also, millions of people suffer from kidney failure and lack access to adequate dialysis care.

Quanta Dialysis Technologies is a global company committed to making high-quality and cost-effective dialysis accessible to patients in many settings with their Quanta Dialysis System. This compact device has performance comparable to that of larger traditional machines. It provides the clinical versatility needed to deliver kidney replacement therapy across multiple care settings and to be operated by a broad range of users, bringing dialysis directly to patients.

To support their massive growth potential and goal of saving more lives of patients with kidney failure, Quanta needed to overhaul their IT and operational systems completely to handle a web of complex production, distribution, customer care and finance needs—all further complicated by their need to support the tax and FDA regulatory requirements.

When Quanta began their technology transformation, they had 40 major system touchpoints, 23 different systems—and multiple integrations.

A system to handle life-saving care for thousands of patients

“In order to make access to care affordable for patients, we needed a very effective digital platform to manage large cohorts of patients safely—not hundreds, but thousands upon thousands,” says Quanta Global Digital Director Neil Doyle. “And you’re not going to be able to do that affordably or effectively if you don’t bring in a large amount of efficiency and automation through technology.”

The Quanta team spent months researching potential technologies that would support their innovative plans for long-term growth. Microsoft’s cutting-edge technology and expansive modularity steered them toward Microsoft Dynamics 365.

“I’ve got a lot of problems to solve and dreams to pursue and the team is the same way. We’re trying to make dialysis available to patients around the world, cost-effectively, in a clinic or an ICU environment,” says Jonathan Isenburg, chief financial officer (CFO) at Quanta. “Microsoft provides solutions where I get to focus on those problems and fulfilling those dreams of patients and our company’s dream.”

Complex plans called for a cross-disciplinary team and approach

Quanta needed to move fast to pursue their market goals. The initial implementation would include an enterprise deployment of D365, specifically for life sciences, and spanning the Finance, Supply Chain, Production, Engineering, Enterprise Asset Management and several other modules—all in eight months for a fixed fee.

To help the team achieve this ambitious goal, RSM used the life sciences sector Rapid Value Methodology (RVM). These repeatable processes—which include setup and configuration, business processes and data packages—deliver consistent industry solutions faster. Our RVM models are developed with our advisors’ deep industry knowledge, kept up to date with Microsoft releases and continuously improved with feedback from RSM delivery teams so processes are always fresh.

RSM uses these tried-and-true models to deliver repeatable processes efficiently, freeing up time to focus on the more bespoke aspects of the project. For Quanta, this means working across disciplines to share ideas and insights about life sciences best practices, risk management, FDA approval, value-added tax (VAT) and asset traceability. The depth and breadth of this flow of knowledge across RSM was a boon to Quanta.

“We delivered this project from kickoff in eight months. That is an unbelievable achievement. It would have easily been 12 months if we had to involve other parties to do the validation or to do the VAT processes,” says Doyle. “We benefited from the RSM internal network. People know each other. People share information. And we didn’t have to micromanage every single workstream.”

Managing the human challenges of a technology overhaul

The project took place primarily in the first half of 2022, and the teams faced many challenges. One was simply working across time zones with the Atlantic Ocean in between.

“RSM is (an advisor) that we work with across that ocean,” says Isenburg, who works from Boston and, well, understands the challenges of collaborating with a UK team. “They bring experts to bear both in the UK and the U.S., and they’ll travel to make themselves available when needed.”

COVID-19 also created project challenges. Team member absences caused delays in receiving requirements for development and integrations and delays in the deployment of environments. RSM had to find new ways to meet the business requirements amid those delays. Further complicating matters, the UK experienced unexpected travel restrictions.

 “The complexity of the business requirements, along with these other unforeseen challenges, required close collaboration and clear ongoing communication,” says Isenburg. Our Quanta and RSM teams pulled together, displaying a tremendous amount of care and dedication, resulting in a successful go-live.”

The immediate benefits of the on-time launch

In November 2022, Quanta went live with a real-time, end-to-end system that enabled them to meet the demands of their growing market, maintain FDA compliance, meet VAT needs and satisfy financial stakeholder interests.

The D365 modules and integrated services that were rolled out across the U.S., England and Wales included:

The Asset Management module was of particular importance. As a medical device manufacturer, it’s critical that Quanta carefully tracks each vendor, part and lot end-to-end to meet FDA regulations, as well as quality control issues, maintenance issues and service history. To accomplish this, the RSM security, compliance and D365 teams worked together closely to replace Quanta’s existing tracking tool with D365 Asset Management.

“We use Dynamics Asset Management to manage this compliance information, and it’s been far more effective and compliant than our previous system,” says Doyle. “The benefit has been huge.”

Another RSM team that jumped in to cover unique requirements was the VAT taxation team. It used the Microsoft Regulatory Configuration Service to extend and customize key globalization areas of tax and reporting for effective tax management on both sides of the Atlantic.

Finally, to provide Quanta with more autonomy post-implementation and successful adoption, RSM took a “train the trainer” approach to bring Quanta’s more than 300 D365 users up to speed on the 21 new D365 modules implemented.

Look ahead to further technology transformation goals

For the first time, Quanta can efficiently capture and analyze business activity to improve performance across the enterprise, from sales to the supply chain and shipping. With visibility into trusted, real-time inventory, customer data and financial data, Quanta now has the durable foundation it needs to support global growth.

Now, after quickly seeing significant return on investment (ROI), Quanta is looking ahead to further improvements. “The immediate vision is to leverage the D365 Customer Experience Platform next as we look at how we want to manage field service, customer service, sales and potentially some of marketing,” says Isenburg. “We want to use some of the benefits of the Dataverse and common data structure to limit the cost of integration and build a very robust platform between the two products.”

Isenburg says they’re also excited to pilot D365 Remote Assist to enable video and augmented reality troubleshooting, bolting it onto the Customer Experience platform for streamlined integration. The Quanta team is also exploring Power BI to link D365 data to other business data for more advanced analytics.

“In the end, the (relationship) between Quanta, RSM and Microsoft isn’t just about operating more efficiently as a company,” says Isenburg. “Ultimately, it’s about making a positive difference in the lives of patients with chronic kidney disease.”