The Client

The Department of Public Health (DPH) of a U.S. East Coast state is charged with protecting public health and safety through issuing permits, conducting inspections, addressing constituent complaints, and ensuring compliance with both state and federal health and safety regulations.

The Challenge

Like many state agencies, DPH faced modernization delays due to limited public funding and aging technology. Its permit process remained largely manual and paper-based.

Key challenges included:

• Permit applications handled through mail, phone calls, and email threads
• Printed forms requiring physical submission and hand delivery
• Hundreds of staff hours spent weekly on printing, sorting, and mailing documents
• Siloed teams creating inconsistent processes across regions
• Critical data stored in unsupported databases and manual spreadsheets

The result: weeks-long processing times and operational inefficiency.