Automated invoice verification at Munich University Hospital

The University Hospital of Munich (KUM) is one of the largest hospitals in Europe. With 2080 beds and 45 clinics, institutes and departments, the hospital treats over half a million patients every year. Invoice verification is automated, and thus quickly and efficiently with the solution tangro IM.

Firstly, a central invoice address was introduced and a central scanning workstation was set up with a defined number of users. This allowed the incoming flow of invoices to be channelled to the right place. The second step was to automate invoice verification in SAP.

This solution tangro IM offered exactly the functionality that the hospital needed to process incoming invoices: complete integration in SAP and a user interface that is identical to the ERP system. Most importantly of all, however, tangro IM is embedded in the SAP ERP system. Data in SAP can be accessed in real time, with no need to read it out. And because there is also no need for an upstream system for interpretation, the hospital is saved additional investments. "The tangro IM user interface mirrors the SAP interface. This makes it easy for users to get to grips with the system, so only a few hours' orientation are needed," says Veronika Lehmann, who works in the medical technology and IT department (MIT) at KUM.

Thanks to process automation with tangro, invoice processing has been significantly accelerated. Invoices linked to a purchase order are now processed three times faster than before. Documents with no errors or variances can now be posted in two days, and where there is a variance from the purchase order, payment now takes a maximum of just five days. The process for invoices with no purchase order reference has also been significantly optimised – and there is now no risk of invoices being lost in the post. "The automated processing of incoming invoices with tangro IM generates a six-figure sum each year because we can now take advantage of cash discounts that were simply lost before," reports Christian Lechner.

The clarity of the approval process has dramatically improved as a result of automated invoice verification. As a result, KUM can now react more quickly and knowledgeably to external queries. It is also clear at all times what the status of an invoice is and who is currently handling it. "Invoice verification with tangro is a success story," sums up Lechner. "The whole process is now much more transparent and the data is of a higher quality. We now have a state-of-the-art process that allows us to get the necessary tasks out of the way more quickly."