Simplifying Complex Staffing Budgets for Healthcare Operations

When Matthew Pawelski joined Boston Children’s Health Physicians (BCHP) as Director of Budget Operations & Reimbursements, he stepped into a world of complexity. Managing budgets for nearly 70 cost centers, the team was drowning in fragile Excel files and manual processes that left little room for confidence or agility.

“Staffing is so complex – doing that in Excel would be insane,” Matthew shared. “Before Centage, everything was in linked workbooks. If one broke, it all broke.”

BCHP knew something had to change.

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The Problem

• Excel couldn’t keep up with their dynamic staffing models and multi-division budgets.
  
• Updating assumptions or rolling up reports across locations was a manual, error-prone nightmare.
  
• Their lean team was spending countless hours fixing broken links instead of focusing on strategic decisions.
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The Centage Solution

Implementing Centage was like turning on the lights in a dark room. Suddenly, their team had:

• ‍Driver-based staffing models that updated seamlessly without endless spreadsheet gymnastics.
• ‍Consolidated reporting across all divisions at the click of a button, giving leadership real-time visibility.
• ‍Revenue forecasts built on assumptions like collections per visit, automatically calculated within Centage instead of separate Excel models.

“It’s just so much easier,” said Lydia, the budgeting power user. “Before, one break in Excel messed everything up. Now, everything updates in one place.”

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The Impact

For BCHP, Centage isn’t just software – it’s a lifeline. It turned budgeting from a painful scramble into a structured, reliable process.

• ‍Eliminated fragile spreadsheets and manual errors
• Saved hours each week by centralizing assumptions and reporting
• ‍Built confidence across finance and leadership in the numbers they use to make decisions

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Looking Ahead

BCHP is eager to expand their use of Centage’s newest features, including AI-powered insights, embedded analytics dashboards, and intuitive spread method wizards to make budgeting even faster.

“It’s a no-brainer. With staffing this complex, Centage makes it manageable. I can’t imagine going back.”

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Centage delivers the full FP&A toolkit—budgeting, forecasting, reporting, and scenario planning—purpose-built to handle your most complex cost center: people.

Book your personalzed demo today!