automated templates with 102 standard clauses
Alameda County Behavioral Health wins Inspire Award for Transformation
The Transformation Award recognizes a customer that has fundamentally changed how they operate by rethinking processes, reducing friction and unlocking new business outcomes.
Each year, the Conga Inspire Awards recognize organizations and individuals that embrace innovation to lead impactful commerce optimization initiatives. Spanning a variety of categories, the Inspire Awards highlight achievement in Buyer Experience, Momentum, Transformation, Commerce Excellence, and more.
The Transformation Award is designed to honor a customer that has fundamentally changed how they operate by rethinking processes, reducing friction, and unlocking new business outcomes. Let’s meet this year’s winner.
Serving one of the most diverse populations in the United States, Alameda County Behavioral Health Department (ACBHD) oversees a large budget—more than 60% of which is allocated to community-based organizations delivering critical mental health and substance use disorder services.
With such a significant portion of public funding flowing through external provider contracts, operational efficiency is more than an administrative goal. It directly impacts the County’s ability to deliver timely care and generate state and federal revenue.
To fulfill its mission of expanding access, empowering families, and advancing best practices in behavioral health, ACBHD recognized it needed to modernize contract management. That realization brought longstanding process challenges into sharper focus.
54
50%
faster contract approval cycles
40%
faster vendor signature time
Improved operational efficiency
Expanded community impact
Challenge
Before expanding its use of Conga solutions, ACBHD relied on contracting processes that were ready for modernization. Existing workflows had supported the department’s operations for years, but they required a combination of manual coordination and separate systems for managing contract and billing data. Accessing complete information often meant navigating multiple repositories, while routing agreements for review and signature involved hands-on steps that extended cycle times.
Although these processes allowed the department to meet its obligations, leadership saw an opportunity to create greater efficiency, transparency, and cross-team alignment. By streamlining workflows and centralizing contract data, ACBHD aimed to strengthen governance, accelerate service activation, and better support its mission of delivering critical behavioral health services to the community.
Solution
ACBHD became one of the first California government agencies to invest in a modern contract lifecycle management (CLM) system. To digitize and transform its contracting processes, the department implemented:
- Document Automation (Conga Composer)
- Contracts (Conga CLM)
Deploying the technology was a key priority for the implementation team, but they also sought to reimagine how public sector procurement could function in a more automated and results-driven way. By shifting from manual coordination to automated workflows, ACBHD standardized processes while improving compliance and visibility.
Key capabilities included:
- Automated contract generation and workflows. Conga Composer enabled automated document generation using standardized templates and clauses, while Conga CLM automated routing for review, approval, redlining, and electronic signature.
- Centralized contract repository. All contracts and supporting documents were consolidated into a single, searchable system of record, eliminating time spent searching across emails and shared drives.
- Standardization and governance. ACBHD built a structured library including 54 agreement templates, 102 clauses, conditional sections, and supporting documentation—ensuring consistency and compliance across agreements.
- Expanded data intelligence. The department began utilizing Conga Grid to store rate and pricing models directly within Conga CLM, creating thousands of unique data records to automatically generate contracts with accurate financial terms.
Results
By modernizing its contract lifecycle with Conga, ACBHD significantly improved both the speed and oversight of its contracting operations. Since fully transitioning to Conga CLM, the department has reduced the average contract approval time by more than half compared to pre-implementation benchmarks.
Vendor signature turnaround has also accelerated. Electronic signature routing reduced contract completion time by 40% compared to the previous paper-based process. Faster contract signatures mean providers can begin delivering services sooner—and funding can be active more efficiently.
Automation and standardization have also reshaped daily operations. Centralized templates, structured rate data, and automated workflows have reduced manual coordination and improved visibility across agreements. Contract managers now spend less time packaging documents, tracking redlines, and searching for contract records—and more time supporting initiatives that directly benefit the community.
As a result of its transformation, ACBHD is now able to:
- Accelerate velocity through automation and reduced friction
- Elevate human performance by eliminating repetitive, manual tasks
- Operate with full integrity by maintaining governance with transparent data
- Become more future-ready through increased agility for pricing, configurations, and compliance
For a public agency responsible for critical community services, these improvements represent more than operational efficiency. They strengthen accountability, reduce risk, and help to expand the department’s impact in the communities that depend on them.