How Consumer-Based Technology
is Reshaping Healthcare
Consider the many ways that
technology shapes our daily lives,
at home and in our place of work.
Many of today’s consumer-based technology products deliver an unprecedented level of functionality through a simple, intuitive, and easy-to-understand user experi-ence. Mobile devices and social media applications have virtually eliminated the need for manuals and documen-tation. Consumer-focused technologies like the iPad™,
TiVo®, Wii™, and Xbox™ have gained mass appeal, in part
because they deliver an intuitive, exciting experience that people are drawn to use.
Business applications, on the other hand, have delivered a rich set of features and capabilities. But as computing transformed over the decades – from mainframes and monochrome terminals to clients and servers, even to laptops and the Web – innovation has focused almost exclusively on delivering deeper and deeper function-ality to many different types of users in an organization. Functionality has always trumped ease. As a result, the user experience has remained complex and difficult. Not to mention, a little boring. Yet users at all levels of the organization – C-level executives, frontline managers, and staff – have accepted this complexity with little push-back on their vendors, feeling that the trade-off was a necessary part of gaining functionality.
Recognizing the basic value proposition of consumer-oriented technologies — that users don’t have to sacrifice functionality for ease — the leader in workforce management, Kronos, is fundamentally rethinking the way business application software is designed and used, defining an entirely new generation of workforce management tools for today’s tech-savvy “healthcare provider.” With so many new technologies exploding around us, Kronos asked, “Why can’t we harness these technologies to better manage our workforces? Why can’t we apply the principles of advanced communications, navigation, and analysis to ensure that we’re getting the most from today’s workforce — to better control labor costs, to improve productivity, and to minimize compliance risk?”
The Kronos answer: “We can.”
Picture a world in which your workforce management system gives you an automatic “heads up” to potential pitfalls, like unbudgeted overtime, then delivers step-by-step guidance to assist managers in choosing the right options to course-correct.
Picture a world in which you can easily configure the system to display information the way you want to see it. Including the ability to add key information that you know could affect your operations, like weather conditions.
Better yet, picture a system with the intelligence to not only identify – but also recommend – solutions to common workforce challenges, like schedule coverage gaps, by providing you with a list of qualified staff who want to work extra hours and then sorting that list based on your unique selection criteria, such as, seniority, skill set, and actual hours worked.
What if you could then automatically text those staff members to see if they’re interested in covering those available shifts? And give them the power of real-time preference to better manage their own schedules? Designed around three breakthrough capabilities: Instant Engagement, Guided Decisions, and Mobile Management — the new generation of Kronos workforce management software fundamentally changes the way healthcare organizations manage their workforces.
Instant Engagement
MyYahoo®, iGoogle™, and myESPN™ allow users to
customize information that they specifically want to see. Users are instantly engaged and can quickly and easily get the information that is of interest and importance to them, whether it’s the stock market, weather, news, sports scores, or traffic.
That’s just one example of how users want to interact with their software today.
They don’t want – nor do they have the time for – lengthy tutorials and tedious training to get started. They want to turn it on, try it out, and start working. They want easy-to-navigate and easy-on-the eyes interfaces that are intuitive and efficient. And they want information served up based on their individual needs and interests. Not only has business software been difficult to learn and awkward to use, but workforce management users
are often confronted with applications that force them to jump from screen to screen to get related informa-tion and perform critical tasks. Even the simplest of things — like completing new-hire forms, entering hours worked, requesting time off, swapping shifts, and fixing missed punches — often take much too long. Sooner or later, frustration sets in and employees and managers alike begin to disengage, creating their own shortcuts and work-arounds.
But now, gone are the days of text-heavy, visually limited interfaces that require users to jump between multiple screens. Intuitive “navigation panes” now display information in easy-to-understand graphical formats. Panes can be organized according to personal prefer-ence, providing immediate access to data and tasks for specific jobs, allowing users to quickly execute tasks and move on. Issues requiring attention are easily identified, and with one click, users can drill down for additional information or even launch a work flow to help them resolve the issue.
Alerts tell managers to take action with a simple click
Important tools and applications critical to workday productivity can be selected for display “Drag and drop” ability allows managers to move priority
applications into center of work space screen Applications can be reduced or expanded for convenient display and quick action 1 2 3 4 3 1 2 2 4
So imagine having that iGoogle environment with a workforce management system. The user experience is much more satisfying and engaging as the application becomes a more productive, tailored tool that makes the users’ job simpler and easier.
Guided Decisions
Amazon.com revolutionized the user experience of online shopping. Based on the interests expressed in previous visits, Amazon guides its visitors toward the products that will most likely be relevant to them, while suppressing thousands of other possibilities so the shopper doesn’t have to sift through so many highly unlikely choices. Similarly, today’s GPS devices guide consumers step by step to where they want to be, allowing them to map the shortest or fastest route possible. Users control the course, specify their preferences and the technology personalizes the directions turn by turn — making their way the right way, even recalculating and adapting to split-second decisions as users venture off the recom-mended course.
That consumer-inspired intelligence is a hallmark of the new generation of workforce management software. Guided Decisions creates an early warning and guid-ance system that identifies potential problems; presents those problems in a simple, intuitive way; and guides the user to an appropriate resolution through predictive analytics. Of course, this is possible only because the underlying system is able to use real-time labor data by properly applying an organization’s labor rules and pay practices. That then enables the system to factor trends, constraints, and best practices to narrow hundreds of potential choices to the most relevant options.
Predictive analytics technology uses high-quality, real-time labor data to factor trends, constraints, and labor rules to present managers with appropriate options for action
Managers are able to identify potential con-flicts and make guided decisions that save time, increase productivity, and improve both both patient and staff safety 1
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Guided Decisions also eliminates the common challenges resulting from the extensive functionality built into enter-prise applications: information overload for an end user. The data required is in the system, but the ability to leverage it is often a challenge. Simple tasks can often require multiple steps and tedious processes for a user. The next generation of workforce management systems simplifies business processes by offering a streamlined work flow.
Manager broadcasts a text message to qualified employees available to fill open shift Employee replies to claim shift and schedules are automatically updated
Employees on text distribution list are notified when shift is filled
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Mobile Management
Communications have undergone an equally impres-sive evolution. From landlines to cordless to mobile phones, instant messaging, texting, and, now, tweeting, people from around the world are instantly connected and constantly communicating — creating vast social networks that integrate individuals with similar interests. Today, more than 90 percent of the U.S. population use a mobile phone, and a growing number have smart phones, such as DROID, iPhone®, or BlackBerry®. The
next generation of workforce management applications takes advantage of this new technology by embracing mobile devices and using them to expand connectivity to the workforce.
Healthcare organizations can now have real-time access to their workforce resources, and staff can choose direct connectivity to timekeeping and scheduling applications for managing their personal preferences.
For example, managers can now easily broadcast a text message to qualified staff who are interested in filling open shifts. Once an employee responds, the shift can be automatically assigned and a second message notifies the eligible workforce that the shift has been filled, while the work schedule is automatically updated. Not only can mobile connectivity give employees and managers an increased sense of control, but it can also increase patient safety by getting the right person in the right place at the right time.
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But mobile management isn’t limited to communications. The next generation of workforce management applica-tions extend common workforce management tasks — such as requesting schedule changes, reviewing payroll information, and updating benefit options — to the entire workforce.
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Kronos Incorporated — Defining the Next
Generation of Workforce Management
With most of the workforce having embraced technology in their personal lives, the opportunity to leverage technology in the workplace has never been greater. And because the economic climate is forcing many companies to cut R&D budgets, scale back product expansion, and stretch finite resources, the time is now to consider the full spectrum of capabilities that are readily available.
Although one vendor may only have the means to offer just a new user interface or some other singular mobile application, only one workforce management company is investing aggressively in all aspects and integrating these solutions into a seamless work flow to address the emerging needs of today’s healthcare organizations. .
© 2010, Kronos Incorporated. Kronos and the Kronos logo are registered trademarks of Kronos Incorporated or a related company. All specifications are subject to change. All other trademarks used are properties of their respective owners. DROID is a trademark of Lucasfilm Ltd. and its related companies. All rights reserved. 243675-HC0004US
Kronos Incorporated 297 Billerica Road Chelmsford, MA 01824 +1 800 225 1561 +1 978 250 9800 www.kronos.com
More information about Kronos customer success stories may be found at www.kronos.com/resources.
Instant Engagement delivers what today’s genera-tion of users demand most in their workplace tools: intuitive, portable, and customizable applications that are easy to learn and easy to use.
Guided Decisions improves efficiency by leading users through a series of high-probability options that they might not otherwise have had the time or the ability to find on their own, increasing the speed and quality of decisions that impact an organization’s success.
Mobile Management empowers managers and employees alike by enabling real-time, bidi-rectional communication with their workforce management system, while providing more flexi-bility in managing personal preferences in balance with organizational needs.
