How did an architecture firm develop a software solution that is turning the heads of both health systems and technology-focused investment firms? For Array Architects, it started with doing what architects do best: identifying a critical problem, then developing a solution that helps clients meet their business needs.

Array is recognized as one of the nation’s leaders in healthcare facilities design, but the firm has grown to deliver much more than architectural plans. Where some firms have adapted to evolving market conditions by delivering services faster and cheaper, Array’s organization has advanced to become a comprehensive resource for healthcare organizations by first understanding their clients’ business drivers, and then delivering solutions to advance their business goals.

“Competing on the delivery of design solutions alone is a race to the bottom,” Array’s CEO Carl Davis said. “The commoditization of that service is occurring at an alarming rate.”

The breadth of the company’s capabilities has come into focus with three distinct service areas: Architects, Advisors, and Analytics. This integrated approach to healthcare challenges, which aligns thought leaders in architecture, strategy and technology to provide a complete continuum of project exploration and execution, organically uncovered the need for a dynamic planning platform for healthcare business decisions. Developing the product to fill that glaring gap in the market is what spurned the launch of Array's subsidiary, Array Analytics.

The premiere product of Array Analytics is Pivotal, a master planning and service optimization platform for healthcare business planning. Pivotal allows users to scenario test service line, staffing and capital investment decisions in a dynamic environment. Unlike other healthcare SaaS products, Pivotal extends the utility of service demand data by integrating with broader market and behavioral data, as well as both staffing and facility capacity insights, resulting in operational expense and capital expenditure projections for strategic plan development.

“No other platform on the market integrates demand, staffing and facility capacity to produce both P&L and capital expenditure projections in a multi-scenario environment in one, end-to-end workflow,” Array’s CEO Carl Davis said.

Pivotal’s mission is to bring healthcare master planning into the 21^st century, transforming spreadsheets of data into resources that can be continuously utilized and visualized in one enterprise solution. The capabilities of the platform have enhanced the architectural and advisory side of Array’s business, empowering them to better help health systems with site selection, capacity assessments, and service line alignment, and existing facility assessments – to name just a few areas.

The product’s potential for industry disruption has caught the attention of Optum Insights, a division of United Health Group. The two companies have finalized a deal to integrate Pivotal with Crimson Market Advantage (CMA), Optum’s healthcare business intelligence solution backed by a decade of development and research. Pairing Optum’s best-in-class service demand capabilities with Pivotal’s robust capacity, financial modeling, and collaboration features provides a breakthrough tool for healthcare planners to produce actionable plans in one software solution.

“Pivotal reflects and embodies the comprehensive perspective that Array brings to the table on every single engagement,” Fady Barmada, Array's Chief Strategy Officer, said. “We realize that when a decision is made to invest in increasing capabilities, a broad range of data and a deep understanding of the organization’s existing capabilities are necessary to assure that these strategies are as effective and value-driven as possible.”