Routes Healthcare boosts care operations with BPA tech
Routes Healthcare has connected a range of cloud applications and internal databases with its Sage 200 finance system using Codeless Platforms' BPA Platform.
The health and social care provider says the integrations have improved employee communication, financial management, and business continuity across its North of England operations.
The project links Sage 200 with Access PeoplePlanner, Access Care Planning, SharePoint, and Tradeshift. BPA Platform also connects a learning management system, an applicant tracking system, Trustpilot, and several SQL Server-based systems.
Routes Healthcare provides home care services, including domiciliary community care and complex care. It also provides short and long-term cover across nursing and residential homes, hospitals, and respite centres. The organisation is registered with the Care Quality Commission.
Luigi Salzano, Chief Technology Officer and IT Director at Routes Healthcare, said the organisation had inherited disconnected systems and inconsistent information flows.
"When I joined the company, we had a collection of disparate systems that didn't really talk to each other. There was no process orchestration between them, and precious little integration or touchpoints," Salzano said.
He also described a fragmented data landscape in which teams relied on spreadsheets and manual reporting. One of his early initiatives focused on consolidating information into a single view for the business.
"In addition, the organisation lacked a centralised data pool. Data existed in CSV files, Excel spreadsheets, and manual reports, so one of my first initiatives was to bring everything together into a single, aggregated source of truth for the business," he said.
Staff communications
Routes Healthcare says it uses BPA Platform to automate employee-management and internal-communications processes. Salzano said the organisation needs to keep information moving between systems, including rotas and contact details.
"Keeping rotas and contact details moving is essential, so we use BPA Platform to create a replicated set each morning, which gets sent to all our managers. We also communicate content from SharePoint, using BPA Platform to push it out across the organisation, as well as contact our workers through just-in-time messaging via ToucanText," he said.
With staff supporting care delivery across multiple settings, timely messaging and consistent data are central to operational resilience, particularly when managers and frontline teams rely on different software systems.
Recruitment flow
Routes Healthcare also cited recruitment as a major area for automation, reflecting turnover levels common across social care. The organisation uses an applicant tracking system and has integrated it with Indeed.
"We use an applicant tracking system (ATS) and have integrated it with Indeed. BPA Platform helps augment the ATS by automating reference checks: gathering new references, confirming they've been received, and feeding that information back into the ATS," Salzano said.
The integration work is intended to reduce manual effort in routine tasks and speed up information exchange between systems. It also supports more consistent tracking of steps in the hiring process.
Invoice integration
Another focus is invoice processing through Tradeshift, which NHS Integrated Care Boards use for invoice management. Routes Healthcare said BPA Platform underpins its connection to the system.
"Building our integration through BPA Platform means we can exchange data seamlessly with the ICBs, ensuring invoices flow efficiently between our systems and theirs without manual intervention. It's a key part of how we connect with the NHS digitally and maintain smooth financial operations," Salzano said.
Integrating finance systems with external platforms is a recurring challenge for care providers working across multiple commissioning arrangements. Routes Healthcare described the Tradeshift connection as central to routine financial administration with NHS bodies.
Compliance monitoring
Routes Healthcare said it operates in a regulated environment and uses BPA Platform for compliance-related processes. Salzano cited workforce requirements and care regulation as key drivers for monitoring and alerts.
"We're regulated by the Home Office for our workforce and by the CQC for the care we provide. The platform helps us monitor and alert on things like employees with visa restrictions or upcoming compliance deadlines, allowing us to inspect our data and take action proactively," he said.
This approach places integration software at the centre of operational checks that depend on accurate employee and service data. It also reflects a broader trend in regulated sectors, where automation is increasingly used for deadline tracking and exception management.
Continuity planning
With many systems delivered as software as a service, Routes Healthcare also uses BPA Platform as part of its business continuity planning. The organisation said it needs a failsafe approach during outages, given the nature of its services.
"This is essential given the vulnerable people who rely on our services," Salzano said.
"It's a core part of our infrastructure that we rely on. If we lost it, replacing it would take a significant amount of effort, which shows how critical it is to us. While we use it in specific situations, it's incredibly versatile. In our environment, it typically acts as the glue between touchpoints, taking SQL-based inputs and turning them into automated processes," he said.
Salzano also estimated the impact on internal development work where the platform is used, adding that the organisation has lowered overheads in those areas.
"From a value perspective, it consistently reduces development effort by at least 50% in the areas where we use it. It's stable, reliable, and significantly lowers ongoing maintenance overhead, which delivers real operational savings over time. We don't use it for everything, but where we do, it acts as a genuine accelerator and provides strong return on investment," he said.
Codeless Platforms positions BPA Platform as a low-code product for integration and automation. Routes Healthcare says it has applied the platform across HR, operations, compliance, communications, and finance, with further integrations expected as systems and processes evolve.
