The Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) is the national and global, professional voice of Canadian nursing. CNA represents 139,000 registered nurses (RNs) in Canada and provides nationally recognized RN certifications in 21 practice specialties, promotes regulation in the public interest, and delivers programs and services to advance nursing excellence.
CNA recently made an historic decision to open its membership to licensed/registered practical nurses (LPNs/RPNs) and registered psychiatric nurses (RPNs) as well as RNs. That could potentially triple the organization’s membership and swell service demand. CNA’s digital assets stand ready, thanks to digital transformation based on Sitecore.
“We’ve delivered consistent improvement for our web users and members,” says Donna Dewar, chief operating officer at CNA. “Our membership process is automated and personalized, and we have communities of practice where people can share information in a collaborative space. What’s more, we’ve reduced our related IT costs by more than 50%.”
Challenges
- Streamline and improve user experience
- Simplify membership sign-up and certification processes
- Increase CNA membership
- Reduce IT complexity and cost
- Consolidate from three websites on three platforms
Solution
- Sitecore® Experience Platform™ (XP) (v8)
- Multilanguage support
- Sitecore® Experience Database™ (xDB)
- Sitecore® Email Experience Manager (EXM)
- Sitecore® Data Exchange Framework (DEF)
- Integrations
- Microsoft Dynamics
- Coveo
- UCommerce
- PSIGate
- Avalara AvaTax
Streamlining access for nurses
Previously, CNA ran three different websites on three different platforms. One was the CNA main website. Another was the NurseONE portal allowing members to access information resources. The third was for CNA’s Canadian Nurse magazine. Running these on disparate platforms increased IT complexity and costs. CNA aimed to streamline its infrastructure and processes while improving the user experience.
“We wanted to provide nurses with an online membership and certification portal, a simplified registration process, personalized membership experiences, and unified data access across multiple systems—all through single sign-on,” Dewar says.
After a rigorous selection process, CNA chose Sitecore for its cost-efficiency, strong digital engagement capabilities, and robust application programming interfaces (APIs). Sitecore partner TechGuilds Consulting came into the picture when, after the initial migration, CNA moved to take advantage of Sitecore’s advanced features to build out an online certification application.
“That’s when we started to push the envelope on Sitecore,” Dewar says. “We were starting to take things to the next level, using Sitecore’s higher value offerings. TechGuilds took care of the programming intricacies of integrating Sitecore with our CRM, and it continues to support every phase of our transformation roadmap.”
CNA consolidated from three web platforms down to one, integrating with Microsoft Dynamics CRM; Coveo search functionality; UCommerce product ordering and payment management; the PSIGate payment gateway; and Avalara AvaTax for managing taxes. Integration with Microsoft SharePoint is planned.
One key benefit related to operational expenses is, CNA standardizing on the Sitecore experience platform enabled the organization to consolidate and reduce the number of technologies from four separate hardware production platforms-each with its own operating system and web server technologies-down to one virtual Sitecore server and one virtual production database server. This reduced the technologies and areas of expertise CNA had to maintain by more than 50%, which in turn slashed support costs in half. The enterprise solution also streamlined and strengthened information security.
These back-end efficiencies transform the customer experience. Now, users can access all information through a consistent interface. It’s easy to initiate, renew, or review membership status; linked to the CRM, the process is automated and personalized. Members can log in to their profiles and see a personalized Call to Action on the main page. Links to their communities of practice-such as the network of nursing specialties-put them in touch with peers and relevant resources. They can add products such as certification exams to their shopping carts, and then pay for them online.
Increased membership, unleashed innovation
CNA is seeing increased membership renewals and a 30% rise in nurses becoming members while applying for their certifications—a dual action that gives nurses the advantage of cost discounts. Process improvements reduced calls and emails to the service center by 65%. CNA staff time—once spent processing memberships—now is free to support new programs such as professional development and accreditation. CNA plans to launch its own online professional development courses, discounted for members. Other milestones for the near future include preparing for LPNs/RPNs and RPNs to join; transforming Canadian Nurse magazine to an all-online format; and launching Sitecore EXM so business users can send out marketing materials though templates. This will streamline compliance with Canada’s anti-spam legislation (CASL), increase customer engagement with emails, and measure impacts.
“We will empower users to manage their own subscriptions, profile information, certifications, and online learning,” Dewar says. “CNA is a central resource for professional nursing in Canada, and Sitecore enables us to fulfill our mission efficiently and effectively.”
Results
- Created online membership and certification portal
- Personalized membership experience
- Unified data access across multiple systems
- Increased conversion and sales by 30%
- Reduced related IT costs by 50%
You can find this case study published by Sitecore here.