Mary Greeley Medical Center
Mary Greeley Medical Center Sees Productivity Gains and Reduced Labor Costs with Kronos for Healthcare
As a 220-bed regional referral center in central Iowa, Mary Greeley Medical Center delivers the type of care typically found in large metropolitan areas. In addition to its main facility, the organization provides medical care at a radiation oncology facility, hospice house, off-site dialysis centers, and through home health care services. A staff of 1,400 supports more than 170 physicians in delivering care in more than 36 specialties and subspecialties.
Effectively managing staff time and controlling labor costs was challenging with a scheduling system that interfaced with the timekeeping solution just once daily and did not provide up-to-date workforce information. “We felt that getting all people processes into one system would benefit us,” says Janelle Anderson, director of IT.
Integration of workforce information was critical in selecting a new solution. As a longtime user of Kronos® Workforce Timekeeper, the organization conducted an extensive review of the complete Kronos for Healthcare solution and competitive systems, where “Kronos met with high satisfaction in the evaluation process,” she says. “It made sense to put all employee information in one system where all modules talk to each other and look and act alike.” Implementing its integrated Kronos solution has allowed Mary Greeley Medical Center to improve workforce productivity, have better control of labor costs, and minimize compliance risk, while continuing to deliver a high level of care.
Automated solution increases workforce productivity
To appropriately schedule staff to patient volume and acuity — and avoid unnecessary labor costs — Mary Greeley uses the schedule generator and workload generator tools in Workforce Scheduler. Unit managers in nursing, and in other departments enterprise-wide, generate their own schedules and contact the central staffing office for float team staff as needed. Based on patient volumes in the prior four-hour zones, nursing managers project census for the next shift, generate a workload, and make necessary staffing adjustments. Anderson says the integration of data provides “accurate, up-to-date counts of what they have and need on their units,” so staff is well utilized.
Use of self-service tools is also expanding productivity. Employees clock in on Kronos 4500™ badge terminals and access Kronos for Healthcare online to review their time, view check earning statements, check their schedules, and request time off Managers can quickly grant requests online, and the system automatically incorporates changes into the schedule.
Both managers and staff are enjoying the self-service options of Workforce HR. Employees check earning statements and make changes to personal information online, eliminating the cost of producing and distributing paper statements and saving HR time. Significant productivity and cost savings are also anticipated from self-service during the upcoming open enrollment of benefits, says Betsy Schoeller, director of HR and education. Previously, three staff members spent two days assembling the correct benefit package for each employee. Benefit packages were distributed at a benefits fair, typically attended by only half of the employees. The remaining packages were mailed. Preparing and sending information to the organization’s five insurance providers was also time consuming but now will be done automatically with Workforce HR.