CTG Launches Application Testing Solutions in North America

A suite of Professional Services – Including Automation Intelligence-Powered "Testing-as-a-Service" – All Designed to Increase Testing Coverage and Reduce Risk

Initial Focus on the Healthcare Industry

BUFFALO, N.Y., March 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CTG CTG, a leading provider of information technology solutions and services in North America and Western Europe, announced today the launch of Testing Solutions in North America. Initially focused on the healthcare industry, this comprehensive suite of testing solutions provides expertise in testing healthcare applications and user customizations to avoid errors and defects that can put patient safety at risk and ultimately adversely impact a client's financial performance.

"Our offerings in Testing Solutions demonstrate CTG's ongoing commitment to developing industry-leading solutions that help our clients leverage technology to meet the unique challenges facing their organizations and industries," said Filip Gydé, CTG President and Chief Executive Officer. "For example, our Testing-as-a-Service offering leverages CTG's partnerships with industry-leading automation tool providers to revolutionize and support traditional manual, in-house testing by providing end-to-end testing support that helps healthcare organizations realize significantly improved testing results with less effort by applying the power of Automation Intelligence. TaaS enables healthcare organizations to avoid the costly issues that can occur when they assume sole responsibility for the implementation and optimization of their automated tools."

System customizations present testing challenges

CTG Testing Solutions fills a specific healthcare industry need for application testing. In many cases, applications such as electronic health records (EHR) are highly customized to the unique needs and workflows of the organization. This reality, coupled with increasing upgrades and updates and already stretched internal HIT teams, can lead to unintended inefficiencies, workflow challenges, failure to effectively support patient care, and billing issues when these systems are not "real world" tested after each release cycle.

"Working with healthcare clients across the U.S. has made it very clear to me that resource bandwidth isn't a luxury, it's a necessity that has real patient safety and organizational financial implications. Despite that reality, resource constraints are the number one challenge identified by our clients. Most HIT organizations are already stretched well beyond the capacity of their internal teams just trying to keep up with day-to-day operational support and strategic optimization projects," commented Robert Barras, Vice President, North American Sales for CTG. "When you add increasingly frequent system updates and upgrades throughout the enterprise that require rigorous testing across customized and integrated systems and workflows, most organizations can no longer keep up. Some are falling dangerously behind."

Although software vendors rigorously test new or upgraded capabilities, they are unable to test the now common and countless customizations and integrations that healthcare organizations have in place for their EHRs, billing, claims, care management, and other enterprise systems. Inevitably, the upgrades conflict with customized workflows, which can result in information not being updated throughout the system, touching off any number of workflow issues.

Customized environments strain internal testing teams

While customizations served to benefit organizations by conforming these systems to unique workflows, it has also resulted in complex and time-consuming application testing requirements for in-house HIT teams.

"Finding the time, talent, and budget to support application testing effectively is a persistent challenge. Customized systems and increasingly frequent update cycles compound an already complex technical environment and increase the burden of managing in-house testing, especially when it is conducted manually," said Tanya Johnson, CTG's Managing Director, Testing Solutions, North America. Johnson, a healthcare industry veteran and application testing expert, will be leading the Company's Testing Solutions team in North America.

Johnson continued, "CTG's Testing Solutions team is well-versed in addressing the risks and resource challenges that organizations face with in-house testing. By combining CTG's IT and healthcare experience with our proprietary testing methodology, STBoX (Software Testing Based on CTG eXperience), and the artificial intelligence capabilities of CTG's automation technology partners, we have created innovative and comprehensive solutions that aid our clients in the early detection of software and workflow defects.  Ultimately, our solutions achieve higher test workflow coverage and accuracy—all with the end goal of improving clinician efficiencies, minimizing end-user frustrations, and reducing patient risk and the opportunity for organizational financial harm."

Gydé concluded, "While CTG is excited to offer testing solutions designed to address the unique challenges our healthcare clients are facing, it is important to note that CTG has always offered U.S. clients testing services as a part of our Application Solutions. CTG Belgium has also delivered focused testing solutions for over 20 years. Today's launch underscores our continued commitment to delivering solutions that address real client needs, and it comes on the heels of our announcement earlier this week of our acquisition of StarDust in France and Canada, whose suite of testing solutions perfectly complements CTG's offerings and will allow us to expand our offerings throughout Western Europe and North America. Taken together, our launch of Testing Solutions and the acquisition of StarDust support our growth strategy to expand and evolve our offerings to address the needs of all of the clients and markets that CTG serves."

Innovative end-to-end testing services

Modular by design for added flexibility, CTG Testing Solutions offers services designed to close the testing gap for provider and payer organizations:

• Advisory and Testing Program Development: Helps organizations establish or improve their testing program by conducting a current-state assessment followed by the development of a roadmap for reaching an organization's desired future state.
  
  
• Testing-as-a-Service (TaaS): Delivers customizable managed services that include fully automated or hybrid/manual testing to support all phases of the testing cycle: planning, automation tool selection and implementations, training, test-script creation and test execution, and dashboards and reporting.
  
  
• Test Tool Implementation and Support: Helps clients plan for, select, and integrate industry-leading test automation and management tools.  Offers flexible support options to meet peak resource demand periods, such as during EHR implementations, optimization initiatives, and upgrades.
  
  
• Testing Training Programs: Provides onsite or remote training on automation tool usage, delivered via small groups, or one-to-one using a "two-in-the-box" model where a testing expert works with a client user to give them the knowledge and best practices required to improve their testing program.

About CTG:
CTG CTG has developed a reputation for responsiveness and reliability—traits that our clients say set us apart—since our founding in 1966. Today, we provide comprehensive information, technology, and business solutions that address critical challenges for clients in high-growth industries in North America and Western Europe. Backed by a proven track record of reliable delivery, CTG fosters long-term client relationships and trust, which allows us to develop strategic insights that maximize client investments and competitive advantage. CTG has operations in North America, Western Europe, and India and regularly posts news and other important information online at www.ctg.com.

Investors:
John M. Laubacker, Chief Financial Officer
(716) 887-7368

Media:
Amanda LeBlanc, Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President, Global Marketing
amanda.leblanc@ctg.com
(225) 772-8865

Stephanie Janard
Amendola Communications for CTG
sjanard@acmarketingpr.com
(828) 288-2831 or (828) 962-2054