Streamlining Patient Support: PHSA's Digital Health Solution with Acro Commerce

The Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) partnered with Acro Commerce to develop a clinical tool called "My Guide: Long COVID". This project aimed to create a new online resource to help patients manage post-COVID symptoms and learn about recovery. 

The key goals for this tool included:

• Providing curated resources to users based on their answers to a series of questions.
• Allowing administrators to easily add or edit questions.
• Storing a user’s curated content locally for later access or sharing.
• Meeting WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards, including a dark mode option.
• Ensuring a mobile-first design.
• Display a status for resource cards to show if a user has previously viewed a topic.
• Guiding users through resources in a specific order with "next steps" at the end of each card.

The primary challenge was to integrate all these features into a single digital asset and launch it as quickly as possible.

The Solution: A Decoupled Drupal Approach

To meet PHSA’s needs, Acro Commerce chose to build the tool using Drupal, an open-source platform known for its performance, security, and flexibility. Thousands of contributors bolster the platform's security, enabling it to handle complex security requirements, such as those for sensitive data. Drupal is also economical because it doesn't incur the license fees associated with SaaS platforms.

Acro Commerce leveraged its decoupled development accelerator, Gesso, to meet the tight deadline. This allowed the user experience, front-end, and back-end work to be done simultaneously, which significantly reduced development time compared to a traditional "waterfall" approach. Gesso also provided a single source of truth for all components, creating a reusable library for future PHSA projects.

This process enabled the launch of an MVP (minimum viable product) in just 110 development days, with further improvements made in subsequent agile sprints. This agile approach, combined with the Gesso accelerator, enabled the launch of the "My Guide: Long COVID" tool in under six months.

Tangible Results: Delivering a Scalable B2B Solution

The collaboration between PHSA and Acro Commerce resulted in a scalable digital health tool that aligns with the BC Digital Health Strategy. The project delivered key outcomes that demonstrate efficiency and future-proofing:

• Accelerated Speed-to-Market: By using the Gesso accelerator and an agile development process, the tool was launched in under six months, which was critical for a time-sensitive healthcare project.
• Reduced Overhead: The use of Drupal eliminates the license fees associated with SaaS platforms, offering a more economical solution.
• Scalability for a Health Network: The tool is designed to be extensible and scalable for other Health Information Networks (HINs) and Provincial Clinical Partners (PCPs), providing critical digital support for specialized services across the province.

This project serves as a clear example of how a custom-built, B2B digital solution can be developed efficiently to address specific user needs and scale across a large organization.

In collaboration with Acro Commerce, the Office of Virtual Health, PHSA embarked on a journey to create MyGuide Long COVID. Acro turned our vision of a patient-facing solution for curated symptom-based best practice strategies and resources into a reality. Together, we crafted MyGuide within a short timeframe to bridge the gaps in care and provide an innovative example of a symptom-based self-management solution for those in our community seeking support.

— Kyla Pongratz - Senior Clinical Leader, Provincial Partnerships and Clinical Innovation, Provincial Health Services Authority

To learn more about how a decoupled Drupal solution can accelerate your next project or to discuss your specific business challenges, visit acrocommerce.com or book a call with our team.