Air Methods

Air Methods, the leading air medical service provider, delivers critical care transport services across nearly all 50 U.S. states. Operating several divisions, including United Rotorcraft, Blue Hawaiian, and its core air ambulance business, the company relies on a centralized accounts payable (AP) function to process thousands of supplier invoices each month. Faced with a growing invoice load and system limitations, the AP team chose Basware’s Invoice Matching for Coupa to improve speed, consistency, and visibility for invoice intake.

According to Teri Johnson, AP Manager at Air Methods, “It’s taken time to adjust, but the reduction in manual work is significant. We used to have 500–700 pending invoices, now it’s around 200.”

Replacing manual complexity with automation

Before implementing Invoice Matching, Air Methods relied on Coupa’s native intake feature for invoice processing, but the system struggled with a wide range of file types. The AP team regularly received invoices in diverse formats, scanned documents, image files, and flattened PDFs, that couldn’t be automatically ingested. These inconsistencies created a growing backlog and consumed hundreds of hours in manual entry.

As Teri explained, “If the invoice wasn’t a text-based PDF, it just sat there. We had to process them manually, hundreds at a time.”

Basware’s Invoice Matching solution replaced Coupa’s inbox feature entirely. Invoices sent via email are now automatically routed through Basware, reviewed, processed, and pushed into Coupa. The AP team no longer toggles between systems, and pending invoice volume has dropped by more than 60%.

A key enabler of success was Basware’s no-risk Proof of Value (PoV). Air Methods submitted real invoices through the test environment to observe how they returned into Coupa, validating the system’s effectiveness in their real-world scenarios. “The PoV built confidence,” said Teri. “We saw the system in action and could verify it would reduce our team’s workload. This de-risked the investment for us.”

A seamless vendor experience

Basware integrated directly into Air Methods’ existing Coupa setup with no need for vendor-side changes. The invoice email address remained the same, meaning suppliers continued submitting documents as usual. Internally, however, the first half of the invoice lifecycle became automated and structured. “From a vendor perspective, it was seamless,” Teri said. “Everything happened behind the scenes. The impact was on us as our process got a lot more structured.”

Fast-track deployment

Despite launching during the holiday period and financial year-end, implementation was completed within six weeks. Signed in early January, the solution went live in mid-February thanks to close collaboration between the Air Methods and Basware teams. Teri noted, “We worked very well with the Basware team. Even with Christmas, New Year, and year-end close, the implementation stayed on track. They adjusted the system to fit our needs as we tested it.”

This accelerated deployment ensured value was realized early in the new financial year without disrupting internal or external stakeholders.

Results and early impact

Since Go-Live, Air Methods has seen substantial improvements. Pending invoices have been cut by more than half, freeing up capacity within the 16-person AP team. While non-PO invoices still require manual handling, PO-based invoices from selected vendors are now processed automatically. As Teri shared, “Only a few vendors are on auto-submit now. We’re expanding this gradually as we build confidence.”

She also emphasized the flexibility the solution provides: “We worked closely with the Basware team. There were plenty of calls to adjust the system to our needs. It was collaborative.”

A future-ready AP operation

In just a few months, Air Methods has transformed its invoice intake process, reducing delays, improving control, and freeing up time for its AP team. By replacing a patchwork of manual tasks with Basware’s structured, no-touch intake model, the organization has taken a meaningful step toward scalable automation.