University Health Care
Kronos for Healthcare empowers regional healthcare provider
University Health Care is an integrated healthcare provider, anchored by its 551-bed
University Hospital campus in Augusta, GA. Founded in 1818, the hospital started
out supporting its local community through times of war and depression and now is
one of the largest healthcare providers in Georgia. The organization employs 3,400
people, serves a 25-county region in Georgia and South Carolina, and is known for
its cardiovascular, oncology, and women’s services, particularly its breast health center.
Until recently University Health Care was using multiple systems to track employee time
and attendance, administer employee benefits, and process payroll. Using its previous
collection of older systems, the organization wrestled with several ongoing issues,
including: staffers who approved worked hours could not easily run necessary reports;
timecard editing was a difficult and inefficient process; and human resources needed
easier access to employee information, which was stored in several systems. In addition,
the hospital wanted to bring payroll processing for its executive staff in house.
After dealing with these issues for some time, University Health Care decided it
needed an integrated workforce management system from a single-solution provider.
After investigating available solutions the hospital turned to Kronos’ comprehensive
Kronos for Healthcare suite. As a result, time-consuming, outdated processes were
eliminated, which increased productivity. “We always look for process improvements,”
says Ed Boniewicz, the hospital’s manager of financial and business systems. “Now our
organization is accomplishing much more with the same number of people.”
Administrative processes streamlined
Before switching to its Kronos for Healthcare solution, administrative staffers managing
employee timecards were frustrated by the various applications and processes that
made it difficult to approve and edit timecards, as well as create historical reports.
The Workforce Timekeeper™ application streamlined these once-cumbersome tasks.
Now staffers easily make time edits and reports by displaying employee information
on a single screen. This efficiency enabled the department to reduce processing payroll
staffing costs, says Rhea Morgan, manager general business services.
Payroll processing was also streamlined using the Workforce Payroll™ program. Instead
of outsourcing payroll for its executive staff, University Health Care wanted to pull the
process in-house for better control and costs. “The whole process is much faster and
easier since we have all the information we need at our fingertips,” explains Morgan.
“It’s very simple to print wage verifications and W2s directly from the system. We’re
also able to easily complete our quarterly tax forms, which we couldn’t do before.”
University Health Care’s human resources department had similar inefficiencies. “All
of our employees’ historical data was kept in paper files,” says HR operations manager
Helen Arthur-Webb. “And current information was in several different systems that
were not in sync.” Using the Workforce HR™ application, University Health Care’s
human resources department now has easy access to employee information, which is
displayed using intuitive, web-based applications that pull information from a central
database. “Having current and historical benefits information in one integrated system
is a big plus,” she says.
Before implementing Kronos for Healthcare, data had to be
entered into separate applications for each task, which increased
the likelihood of errors. “Now when changes are made to
employees’ healthcare coverage, deductions are automatically
applied to their paychecks,” explains Arthur-Webb. “Previously
someone in HR would have to remember to make the change
in two different databases.”
Engaging employees, empowering managers
The hospital also streamlined its administrative processes
when the self-service capabilities were activated in its Kronos
solution. For payroll, the self-service features in the Workforce
Employee™ program eliminated the need for payroll to provide
past-earnings statements to employees who often request wage
verifications for loan applications. Before, a payroll employee
had to walk to a separate area in the hospital to access microfilmbased
records to produce documents on a special microfilm
printer. And if employees needed W2s from previous years,
these were created on a typewriter.
“We were depending on very low-tech methods to produce
this important information,” Morgan remarks. “Now we just
tell employees to go to the self-service section of the website
to access their pay stubs. In terms of productivity this has been
a big plus for us in payroll.”
The efficiency of employee self-service paid off during
the hospital’s recent benefits open enrollment. Over 1,400
employees used the web-enabled Kronos solution to participate.
Part of this process enabled employees to sign up for benefits
online, while others accessed electronic forms that were printed,
filled out, and submitted to outside benefits providers.
“It was our best open enrollment ever,” says Arthur-Webb. “It
was much faster — it took us much less time in terms of data
entry — and it was much easier to keep track and get approvals
on everything because we knew we had current information. In
the past when we used printed forms we’d often get duplicates,
and then we didn’t know which form was the latest version.”
The hospital plans to implement a completely electronic
process for future open enrollments, Boniewicz adds.
Providing enhanced visibility and control
Streamlined benefits administration is a boon, but Boniewicz
says the major benefit of Kronos for Healthcare has been
easier access to information, a capability not available under
the hospital’s previous mix of administrative systems. “Folks
used go to HR or payroll to get the data; now information is
readily available to managers and employees,” he says.
For managers, the self-service capabilities in the Workforce
Manager™ application simplified administrative tasks for
department heads. “Manager self-service is nice because it
provides useful information, like when employee evaluation
forms are due,” Boniewicz adds, “as well as information about
our organizational structure. Self-service has been well received
by both managers and employees.”
In addition, easy access to labor-related information helps the
organization’s decision-making abilities. For example, payroll
data is used to create monthly reports, which department heads
and vice presidents use to analyze and manage various metrics,
such as the number of worked hours and budget variances. “It’s
very helpful because we can statistically identify if departments
are on track,” Boniewicz says.
Human resources is also happy with the improved reporting.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reports are easier
to generate, and the department uses Workforce HR to easily
track employees’ licenses and certifications for compliance
with The Joint Commission standards.
Another new Kronos initiative at the hospital is the
implementation of a phone-based timekeeping system that
tracks patient visits and mileage logged by private-duty nurses
working for the hospital’s home healthcare agency. Besides
eliminating tedious recordkeeping performed by the agency
and its in-home caregivers, the system will soon be used to track
specific healthcare activities performed by agency nurses.
Looking ahead to future capabilities
The hospital is looking forward to future versions of Kronos
for Healthcare. The organization is also planning to enhance
the scheduling process for its nursing department and is
currently reviewing the Workforce Scheduler™ program, which
allows nurse managers to create workload-based schedules.
The application allows managers to view shift-coverage needs
and available staff resources in order to cost-effectively update
schedules and proactively address shortages before they occur.
Today, Kronos for Healthcare’s capabilities currently enable
University Health Care to work smarter, not harder. It also
enables administrators and managers at all levels to focus on
strategic activities related to recruiting, retaining, and rewarding
employees, which will expand the organization’s ability to provide
a high level of quality patient care while controlling labor costs.
“We have the same number of people, but we’re busier
than ever,” says Arthur-Webb. “Now we’re tracking so
much data and we have the analysis and reporting tools to
continuously improve.”
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