DENISON, TX – Software applications often don’t achieve predicted results and sometimes frustrate users.
That wasn’t the case at Texoma Medical Center. Its three years of experience with a time and attendance system provided quantifiable savings and also made believers of the managers who had to use the system.
After using the system for three years, the Denison, Texas-based facility reported savings of $640,000. Savings were quantified by a third party consulting firm.
The system, from Kronos Inc., enabled managers to fulfill the wishes of senior management, which wanted the organization to reduce staffing expenses, said Ty Sweeney, vice president and chief information officer for the facility, owned by Universal Health Services Inc. of King of Prussia, Pa.
The facility had hoped to cut overtime by 10 percent, but through a variety of efforts achieved a 40 percent reduction, not all of which was attributed to the use of the Kronos application.
Managers were able to make better decisions because they could work with real-time information on patient loads, and they could make better-informed decisions. Staffing choices were improved because the information was electronic and not on paper, Sweeney said.
By allowing managers to approve payrolls electronically, more savings were seen.
“It was a huge savings in time for the managers approving payroll,” Sweeney said. “With the old system, they had to approve employee by employee. We cut down payroll processing time by over 90 percent. In some big departments, people were spending hours on payroll. Because of that time savings, it was well-received.”
Payroll accuracy was improved with the new system, and time was saved because there were fewer errors and payment inconsistencies to correct.
The Kronos software used the telephone-based system with which employees were familiar for clocking in for work. The new system was integrated with human resource capabilities, which proved a hit with employees.
“It allowed us to improve employee satisfaction due to reduced payroll errors and online access to Kronos employee self-service,” Sweeney said.