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In Pennsylvania, a healthcare system is using a game to help administrators learn how to respond to and solve staffing and employee issues. In Montana, a medical center is using an online system to allow physicians and nurses to bid for and arrange their own work schedules.
Welcome to staffing and scheduling in the 21st Century.
Gone are the days when management would set the schedule in stone – or, more literally, on paper – and employees would have no choice but to adapt their lives accordingly. And that paper sign-up sheet for vacation time, days off and preferred shifts, which used to go home with each employee, is rapidly becoming a thing of the past.
At Community Medical Center in Missoula, Mont., clinical staff have been using Concerro’s ShiftSelect and ShiftRewards for close to two years. Jan Perry, the medical center’s chief nursing officer and vice president of patient care services, said the web-based service enables nurses and other personnel to “bid” on shifts (if more than one person bids on the same shift, an administrator decides who gets it).
Perry said the 151-bed hospital, which employs about 350 nurses and ancillary staff, saves time because the web-based system sorts out who’s qualified to work in which department, as well as managing overtime and other scheduling hassles.
“The information is laid right out in front of you,” she said. “Right now they can’t bid on a shift that they’re not qualified for.”
In addition, through Concero’s ShiftRewards program, qualified personnel earn points for accepting certain shifts, which can be redeemed for gifts or gift cards.
Perry and Kim McKearnan, the medical center‘s director of pediatric services and Concerro program director, say an online scheduling system for hospital employees frees up administrators’ time to devote to more urgent matters and gives nurses more control over their schedules. The system also steers administrators away from last-minute phone calls to fill open shifts, which can be costly and time-consuming.
“A lot of people are getting to go in and pre-plan their lives,” said McKearnan. “This benefits everyone.”
Catholic Health Partners, an Ohio-based, 34-hospital system serving residents of several Midwest states, developed Workforce Simulation software to help administrators handle staffing and scheduling. Michael R. Lust, corporate director of workforce analytics, said one hospital in Knoxville, Tenn., recorded $11,000 in overtime during one pay period simply because some employees checked in to work eight minutes early and checked out eight minutes late, triggering overtime pay rates.
CHP is now using the software in its Pennsylvania hospitals to help administrators better manage human resources needs. According to Lust, HR executives take part in a role-playing game, in which the software creates issues that the executives must resolve. The day-long game, Lust says, allows executives to step back from their daily activities and learn how to address different staffing issues from different points of view.
“The software itself isn’t going to improve anything,” said Lust, who calls automated workforce solutions ‘the structural piece of the iceberg.’ “It’s the way that you learn how to use it.”
To make things even easier for administrators and employees, Kronos, a Chelmsford, Mass.-based developer of workforce management solutions for healthcare and several other industries, recently introduced mobile applications for the company’s Workforce Central suite of solutions.
"Today's workforce enthusiastically embraces cellular phones, smart phones, and tablets for everyday activities,” said Peter George, the company’s chief technology officer. “Workforce Mobile adds workforce management applications to the essential toolkit of a well-equipped modern workforce."
At about the same time, ScheduleSource, a Louisville, Colo.-based developer of workforce management systems, announced the general availability of TeamWork Mobile, designed to enable employees view schedules, check for available shifts and trade shifts while on a mobile device.
“Managing schedules has always been a time-consuming and frustrating process,” said John Durmick, the company’s CEO. “This is especially true at universities regarding student labor as well as in the healthcare, retail, manufacturing and services industries where schedules can change constantly. The burden typically falls on the manager, who often has to wade through messy slips of paper and email to create and manage schedules. Should last minute changes arise, organizations for the most part still rely on notifying employees of shift availability through phone calls, emails or text messages. If a replacement can't be found, the organization may have to pay overtime or fall out of compliance with labor and union policies and regulations."