123. Bluestem Communities & Modified Logic: Streamlining Workflows Across Departments with Document Management

This episode of Raising Tech dives into what it actually looks like to select and implement a document management system across an entire organization.

Amber is joined by Madelyn Giroux from Bluestem Communities and Ashley Jackson & Kelly McCormick from Modified Logic to break down the full journey from RFP to real-world results.

They unpack:

• Why Bluestem moved beyond a legacy, accounting-focused system
• The value of involving multiple departments in tech decisions
• How Laserfiche enables automation, integrations, and better workflows
• Real examples of efficiency gains (like automated pre-hire onboarding 👏)
• Why you shouldn’t just recreate old processes in a new system
• And yes… where AI is actually making an impact today

If you’re thinking about a new system or just want to avoid common mistakes, this episode is packed with practical advice from both the client and implementation side.

At the end of the day, it’s all about this: technology should make your processes easier, not just digital.

Learn more about Bluestem Communities on their website.

Learn more about Modified Logic on their website.

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Transcript

Amber: Welcome to Raising Tech podcast.

I'm your host Amber Barden. And on today's episode, we have three guests representing two different entities. Uh, the first guest I'm going to introduce is Madelyn Giroux Madelyn is the Senior Director of Human Resources at Bluestem Communities.

Bluestem Communities is a not-for-profit, senior living and care organization with five locations, including three life plan communities and two Pace sites in South central Kansas. And our second guest that I wanna introduce are from Modified Logic, and they represent a product called Laserfiche or Laserfiche.

You can pronounce it. Either way, we have Ashley Jackson and Kelly McCormick on the call. Modified Logic specializes in implementing Laserfiche, intelligent document management, electronic forms and workflow [00:01:00] automation software for organizations of all sizes, helping them to eliminate paper, reduce manual tasks, and improve efficiency across departments.

Okay. That was a long intro, so I wanna say welcome to the show everybody. 

Madelyn: Thank you. 

Amber: Okay. So let's talk a little bit about how this podcast came to be and how we're here talking about this topic. So Madelyn, uh, we worked with you, I was the project manager to help you select a document management system, and we went through an entire RFP process until we came to the selection of modified logic and Laserfiche.

So to start off with, can you just talk a little bit about that process? What was that like? What was the benefits? Any advice you'd give anybody else doing an RFP? 

Madelyn: Yeah. I'm happy to do that. So it all started really with the needs of the human resources team. We were finding a solution for our pre-hire paperwork, what we call pre-hire paperwork.

It's paperwork that we have employees complete before they start work. So their background checks, their [00:02:00] consent forms. They were currently all on paper and we were wanting to make them electronic, so we were looking for a solution and as we were working through this process, it became clear that there were gaps within other departments at Bluestem with our current document management system that we were using.

And so we took a step back, brought in Parasol, parasol, helped us complete the RFPs, and Laserfiche turned out to be the best fit for our organization across the board. It was really helpful to, to have you guys, Amber and Parasol to really do that legwork to do the research for us because that's a little overwhelming.

To look at all the different systems and try and figure out what we need. It was definitely helpful to have you as a partner to go through that process. And, we're very happy with with modified logic and Laserfiche being the, being the pick. 

Amber: Can you tell us a little bit about why that decision was made?

Um, because Bluestem did have a document management system in place already, so what needs was it not meeting and why did you ultimately end up going with the selection that you did? 

Madelyn: Yeah, so the purpose of [00:03:00] our document management system, um, that we had prior to Laserfiche was really specifically geared toward accounting and their invoicing processes and workflows and and then their capital expense workflows.

And so in terms of really capabilities to easily make more processes and workflows automated and, um, integrate better with some of the systems like our HR system that, that we're using. Our current document management system didn't have that. And so when we were really looking at what could a document management system do for other departments besides just accounting we found that, uh, Laserfiche was able to really meet the needs for us streaming for ways we can automate and, and make things more efficient for, for us across the board.

Amber: I think it's important to point out that you had multiple different departments looking at this solution, because a lot of times in these projects we only see one department, and then if other departments [00:04:00] wanna use the tool, they're getting a different system or they're trying to fit their processes into a tool that may not work.

So one thing I really liked that you did at Bluestem is you included so many different stakeholders to really look at the needs holistically across the organization. 

Ashley: Yeah. 

Amber: So Ashley, tell us a little bit about modified logic and how is Laserfiche a good solution for senior living communities?

Ashley: Okay, so modified logic is we're considered a Laserfiche solution provider. So our role is to help Bluestem and any of the clients implement the tool. So Laserfiche at its very core is electronic records management tool. It includes intuitive web forms and a workflow engine to streamline and automate business processes.

And I think Madelyn really hit it on the head. Just the automation that we bring and the efficiencies to be gained, um, with the implementation of the tool. It's super flexible, so it gets kind of configured and built out to the way each department works and what their business [00:05:00] process dictates.

And it's also very user friendly. And so usually the adoption is quick. And it's, uh, you know, quick to implement and. The clients just find lots of opportunities to continue further leveraging the tool for, um, improved productivity and honestly just to make the department's lives easier on keeping up with daily work.

Amber: I know one of the things we looked at in the RFP was also integrations with common senior living platforms. So I don't know if you or Kelly could talk a little bit about that. What kind of integrations do you have and how easy was that? Um, to integrate with Bluestem's existing systems? 

Ashley: So with Bluestem for hr, we're, um, just kicking off the, um, getting that integration built out, uh, with their Paycom system.

Um, but common integrations for us is, you know, having a view into the other system to pull data back. So we're reducing like manual data entry. So, um, Bluestem has a lot of active. Intuitive web forms and so we can [00:06:00] have a lookup with the forms as the users are, you know, populating the forms with information that can be prefilled and pulled back from the other system.

Same thing for indexing documents. So we're, you know, we're bringing importing big volume, whether they're scanning or importing documents into our system so we can pull data from, uh, the other system to help indexing so that we're not relying on users to make those decisions. Key hand, key data. Um, so there's really a few different opportunities for integration.

Amber: Yeah. Kelly, anything to add to that?

Kelly: In regards to the integrations, you know, you know, Ashley touched on, you know, the ability to, to look up information and pre-fill in forms and, and that's one of the big points when we do integrations, is to eliminate manual data entry if the information already exists in another system, make it easier on the person who's filling out the form or indexing that document.

So you just provide a couple pieces of key information and the system will go perform those lookups, populate those values for you. But the other piece, you know, in addition to making lives easier for the people filling out the forms or indexing the [00:07:00] documents, is that it enforces consistency, you know, across all the information.

Um, and it ensures accuracy as well. So you don't have people misspelling information as they're filling out a form or indexing a document because it exists in another system. It's gonna exist in Laserfiche and it's gonna be kinda a, a mirror or a replica of that data. 

Amber: That's excellent. I think that's something that gets missed in RFPs a lot is people forget to ask about integrations or exactly how the integrations will work, and then they just end up with a lot of different disparate data and multiple systems and double entry and things like that.

So, um, something for everybody, uh, to think about when you're doing any type of system selection. So Madelyn, I'm curious, have you been able to identify, because I haven't really got a chance to talk to you since the implementation started. So have you had a chance to identify any immediate automations or efficiencies that you've been able to, uh, implement since you went forward with Laserfiche?

Madelyn: Yeah, so we are officially, um, have a new electronic process for our pre-hire [00:08:00] paperwork. So that in itself has brought a lot of automations. We have automatic emails being sent to people who have been offered jobs, um, with information about what. Forms they need to complete scheduling electronically with HR to complete an in-person appointment.

Being able to complete then the forms electronically, which automatically route to the parties who need them, as well as, um, not only internally within hr, but being able to push forms automatically that payroll need to see payroll, sees them right away, not waiting for HR to have to open an email, attach it and send it on to them, um, as well as.

The same with immunization related forms. Our immunization nurses get forms right away in their hands without waiting for, um, manual, manual tasks from hr. So those are exciting things that, that have already saved, uh, time and, and, um, created efficiencies. And we're looking into more efficiencies as well with other possible forms we can make electronic and, and, uh, process through workflows.[00:09:00] 

Amber: So I think one of the things that, um, people don't always think about when they're implementing new systems is how do we change our process to be more efficient rather than just taking what we were doing before and then try to replicate it in a system. So I'm curious to hear both from your perspective, how did you analyze that and how did you translate processes?

Um, so I'm curious to hear from you, Madelyn, and I'm also curious to hear from Kelly how that happens in an implementation from their end as well. 

Madelyn: Yeah. So, I really relied on modified logic on Kelly and Zach and the team for that because what you don't know, you don't know, like when you don't know the capabilities out there or what you've done different, it's hard to, to imagine that, I guess in, in my head.

And so, a lot of times I would ask, okay, what's best practice? What do you, what do you see working in this kinda situations or how do you normally handle this with your clients? There are some things I would say that we still are trying to figure out, okay, in a dream world, what would the process be?

Um, but we already, this was even one step in, in the right direction for making a process more efficient. And then can we [00:10:00] even, um, make it more efficient going forward?

Amber: Excellent. And Kelly, what, how, how do you guide clients through that and where do you see the most success with updating processes for efficiency? 

Kelly: Yeah. You know, I think with, with any process that begins with paper, um, when you're. Digitizing that, going into a more automated solution. It's always gonna be different, you know, so we always say, you know, just because you do things one way, because you have to, because of the paper, or even if you do have like a fillable PDF or something like that, a lot of the processes are still manual.

Um, so what we do is, you know, we always look at the process and say, okay, how are we doing this now? You know, either manually or on paper. Um, and then we're not gonna do it the same way typically because now that we have the automation capabilities, and now that we have the electronic web forms. We can kind of take shortcuts in a way, um, and eliminate some of those redundant tasks or sending out notifications, things like that.

And so, um, and a lot of times the process is gonna be a little bit different when you do digitize it, just because of the capabilities that our solutions have to [00:11:00] offer. And, and really it's a, it's an agile implementation overall. So whenever we come into projects, you know, we, we may start down one path and okay, this is how we're gonna do it.

And then Madelyn will probably tell you this, the same thing is we get to a point where we're like, oh wait, we're not gonna do it that way, you know, so we can always, we, we always adjust on the fly and, you know, nothing's set in stone when we set out on our project. Um, and we always kinda use the term, you know, it is an agile implementation, so if we need to make changes at any point, um, you know, we can make those changes really quickly and adjust as needed.

Amber: So I'm going to name drop a buzzword that I feel like no recorded content can go without these days. And you guys know what I'm gonna say. I'm gonna say AI and uh, when we did this RFP last year, this was one of the first RFPs where we actually asked about AI in the RFP process. And so I'm just curious how, um, how are you integrating AI into the Laserfiche, um, platform?

Is it data to laser, Laserfiche or does this modified logic do anything custom in addition or on top of that? And where, have [00:12:00] you seen any efficiency gains or automations from that perspective?

Ashley: So absolutely Amber. Um, AI is a hot topic. Um, it's. Everything we're hearing from Laserfiche and their development team, and that's where so much, you know, of their resources are being spent today to leverage that, honestly, it's all about, um, where can we eliminate data entry?

Where can we, you know, reduce like. Human error and get information to, um, the users quicker. So Laserfiche has actually released a couple of new features, um, just this year. One's called Smart Fields, and it's a tool that's utilizing AI through like natural language prompts to index documents. So it's the AI with smart Fields is extracting, um, data off of the documents and indexing 'em, eliminating the.

People inputting records into the system from having to do that type of work. We also have a tool called, um, smart Chat, and I [00:13:00] think of it like chat, GPT, but it's on my repository. So you can actually ask Laserfiche, um, leveraging Laserfiche's AI tools questions. So it could be specific things like when is the term date?

And then you can ask smart chat that, and it'll feed you back the response. So wherever we can leverage ai, we absolutely are from a, you know, implementation perspective. Um, just to go back on the efficiencies gained and, you know, not relying on people to have to do that work.

Amber: Okay. Yeah, I'm sure we'll see this. Continue to evolve. And hot tip for anybody who's gonna do an RFP. Make sure you ask about ai, no matter what kind of system it is, since that is the buzzword of the day. Yes. Uh, let's talk a little bit about advice you would give other organizations that are looking for document management systems.

So I'm curious to hear from all three of you, uh, what's your advice before starting a project during [00:14:00] implementation and then post implementation? Like what are your, what, what can you share? What knowledge can you share to help people, uh, make this process easier? So let's start with you Madelyn. 

Madelyn: I would say, um. It was really helpful to have Parasol help us with, with that. Just from me, in my role, I was not fully equipped to do a full RFP and know, know really what we needed to look for and what was out there. It was really helpful to have a partner to go through that together. I would say dream big. So for me, I mean. I don't think we found anything that Laserfiche could not do so far, um, for, for processes that, that we wanna implement.

So, ask for what you really want and ask upfront. I mean, I would say ask all those questions upfront to make sure. We did find, um, when we were going through asking questions about these were our, you know, these were our needs and must haves. These were our nice to haves.

There were other systems that, that didn't have it all. And so have your ideas for what you would [00:15:00] ultimately like upfront and be able to ask those questions too.

Amber: Ashley, how about from your perspective? What, what do you wish people knew? 

Ashley: You know, um, I think sometimes they try to pre-plan everything and you just can't until you use the tool and you get your hands around it.

And so. That's okay. Like to Kelly's point earlier about the Agile implementation, um, that's exactly how we implement the Laserfiche product is to kinda give you a taste and then you can tweak and modify and change. And so I would say don't put pressure on yourself upfront. Rely on a solid partner. Um, our team has been doing this for 25 years, so lean into the expertise of, um, the vendor to help guide the implementation.

I also would say for me, um, projects. From the beginning to the end. It's all based on good communication. And so we really encourage the communication, um, in the Opal Open Channel between our customers. And so hopefully Madelyn, you felt that from our team. But, um, I [00:16:00] think that there are things that are gonna come up that we weren't planning for, and that's okay.

We just need to have the solid communication to talk about it, um, and get that addressed so we can have the best case resolution. So, i, and also back to the system. I would also say, look for a tool that's flexible. It's not like you have to fit into their box. Uh, the system should, you know, be able to be configured to how you operate and how you do business to make you most efficient.

So look for something that's, you know, super user friendly, that you can have that, that quick adoption and excitement from the team. Because these projects typically just can grow and grow and grow. You can further leverage your investment in the products. And I think Laserfiche fits into that.

Perfect. So. 

Amber: Great. And Kelly, what should people know about an implementation? 

Kelly: Yeah. Um, you know, Ashley took the words right outta my mouth. Uh, the, the thing I was really gonna to harp on was gonna be communication. Um, you know, I think that's been the, the biggest value add throughout this project is the, the level of communication that we've had with Bluestone as we've been [00:17:00] going through the project.

Um, so we have weekly meetings, um, but that's not the only time that we're talking. I know Madelyn tell you what we're emailing back and forth, you know, throughout the week. And so, um, and, and like Ashley said, you know, when you're coming into the project. Don't have a set mindset of like, this is exactly what we're gonna do and we're gonna do it exactly this way.

And don't try and pre-plan everything ahead of time. It is good to be really organized and have, you know, Hey, here's our process. You know, have like the sample forums and have things drawn out, but things are gonna come up and things are gonna change. And, and I'll give a, a really good example of, of how communication and, and, you know, kind of pivoting at certain points.

So the project goes. So, um, as we were going through the, the onboarding. Process and we built out some forums and they were doing some testing on, okay, whenever it gets sent out, they're filling out this form. It's gonna be routed here. One of the things that came up was, um, for employees that are under the age of 18, so there's several forms that require a, a parent signature on those.

And so when it's a paper form, you know, of course you're gonna have the parent come in and they add their signature. But since we're emailing out links to these forms, one of [00:18:00] the things that came up, you know, as Bluestone MA doing some testing was, well, how are we gonna verify that the parents actually signing this form?

And it's not. The employee who's adding their signature, and then they're just gonna sign for their parent as well. Um, and so we kind of did some brainstorming and came up with a, with a really cool process to where once the initial, you know, offer letter gets submitted by the, the employer, they're accepting the job, it generates a parent code, and then they have to put in their parent's email and they answer a question, are you under the age of 18?

They say Yes. And then it'll send the parent an email with a code saying, Hey, um, you know, your child or if it's a guardian you know. If they have these forms that they need to fill out that require your signature and you have to use this code, and we built in a rule onto the web form to where if it does require parent signature, then they can't hit that submit button until it's signed and that code is put in and it matches what we have in the database.

And so that was an example of, you know, just because something works one way and a paper process, we may have to change how it works in the digital process. And so because we have that communication and we're able to [00:19:00] have them do testing, you know, as we're doing the implementation. We're able to find that, that pain point and figure out a solution for it right away and not wait until months down the road when we're all said and done and say, oh wait, we forgot about this.

So, um, yeah, communication is key and um, you know, just having, you know, regular touch bases and, and being able to test you're implementing it is, is a big, big help. 

Amber: Yeah. Love that example of how you took a process and, and made it more efficient and automated. That wasn't necessarily something that was out of the box.

So a great example. Madelyn, I wanna circle back to you. Any lessons learned from, um, the other side of the implementation that you wanna share with the listeners? 

Madelyn: Yeah. One more thought that I had regarding during implementation. Ask for a sandbox. So ask, being able to demo with the different vendors.

Um, I think that was a big differentiator for us as well, being able to see how much easier it was to navigate and uh, use Laserfiche as opposed to some of the other vendors that, that we were testing out. It felt a lot more modern, [00:20:00] um, and some of the others just felt more archaic and harder to figure out where things were.

So I think it really helps to kind of see it in action a little bit. But I, I guess I kind of go along with, um, with what Ashley and, and Kelly were already saying about being willing to do things different because you can have in your head how how you think you want it to go or these processes that you think you wanna do.

And it might be a lot different and it might be not what you're used to. And so, um, there will be a lot of embracing change throughout the process, which is good, and we'll get you to where you wanna be. But yeah, there it will, it will be there. 

Amber: Yeah. And, and I know we've already talked, we've already, you guys have all said this multiple times, but I just wanna reiterate it.

I do see a mistake a lot of clients make is they try to take the process they were doing in their old system and make it match the new system and then they fail or they end up having to do a lot of work around. So I think it's really important to be flexible the way that you have to be open to changing your internal processes to match with the system to do, to get the most use out of it.

Okay. Well this has been really interesting. This is actually our first document manager podcast [00:21:00] ever in the last, I think, three or four years. So I hope our listeners get a lot of value from hearing you guys talk about the project and the implementation and the selection process. Before we wrap up, I'd like to just ask if there's anything else you want listeners to know about either the system, the process, the, the experience, anything you wanna share.

And I'll, let's start with, uh, you, Kelly. 

Kelly: Yeah, so I think, you know, talking about laser phishing or anything else to know is that it, it really is a true enterprise wide solution. Um, so I, I think that's one of the great things about laser phish, that's why I love working with it, is that it's not specifically tailored to one individual department.

You know, obviously Human Resources has a lot of forums, a lot of processes that Laser Phish is the perfect fit for. Um, but you know, as Bluestem will show you they're leveraging those division in other departments as well. So I know independent living. Is using it for filing of contracts. They're gonna be doing some, some workflows and form processes as well.

Uh, I know that accounting on the accounts payable side, they're doing invoice processing, routing for approvals. Um, but even [00:22:00] marketing is using it for consents for employees and residents for photos. So e even a, a department that, you know, we think document management systems. Okay. It's like, oh, there's a HR uses this and accounts payable obviously, but even some like.

One off departments of like, like marketing, um, you know, it's is just flexible enough to be able to fit their, meet their needs and their processes as well. So, um, you know, the, the enterprise wide and flexibility, um, you know, the nature of laser facies is really great. 

Amber: Yeah, I love that example. 'cause we did mention other departments were using it.

But we weren't specific. So I love how you kind of threw in a lot of different departments that people listening maybe haven't thought of as being able to automate. Ashley, how about you? 

Ashley: I mean, I would just chime in. I think what Kelly said is perfect. I think that, um, we've hit a lot of the high points already, but, um, you know, communications through the project we're very much relationship focused and, you know, these projects, like I said, they typically grow and expand.

And so looking for the right partner, um, to help guide your implementation to you know. [00:23:00] Bring value to, to the project, um, is is huge and we sure have enjoyed our relationship with Bluestem and are looking for many more years, um, working together and coming up with new project ideas.

Amber: Excellent. And then Madelyn, we'll turn it over to you for any last words you wanna share with our listeners. 

Madelyn: Yeah. Um, I would just echo, I I really appreciate the partnership with Modified Logic and that's something that's really helped to be able to have that support and also, um, as you're looking, think about support from whatever vendor you're looking at.

And not only, um, has the in-person communication support been great, but I know Laserfiche also has a ton of resources online as well. For me, as I dive in, I am, um, really gonna become the super user of Laserfiche to hopefully start doing admin backend stuff for, um, a lot of our processes. And so I really wanna dive in and I know, um, they've got conferences, they've got tons of resources online.

So that I feel like, uh, I can do a lot of, of work myself in terms of [00:24:00] learning as well as I know I have the support, um, of modified logic whenever I run into something. 

Ashley: We always encourage our clients to be as self-sufficient as possible. So there's definitely a lot of knowledge transfer. Um, there's nothing that we're doing that we can't teach you, you know how to do.

We want you to take on whatever ownership you want, um, to be able to build your own forms to do that kind of stuff. So I think that's, um, really important and I'm glad you hit on all the resources that are available, Madelyn, um, because it is expensive, so. 

Amber: Excellent. Well, thank you so much for joining me today.

I'm excited to have this topic out in the world since we haven't done it before. 

Ashley: Thank you for.

Speaker 2: You can find us online@raisingtechpodcast.com where you can see all of our episodes and contact us to provide feedback or submit an episode idea. We are on social media everywhere at Raising Tech podcast. If you enjoy Raising tech, please leave us a review and share with a friend. Music is an original production by [00:25:00] Tim Resig, one of our very own Parasol Alliance employees.

As always, thank you for listening.