Even before COVID, hospitals and healthcare systems large and small had plenty of obstacles to overcome, trying to balance staffing changes with increased patient demands, not to mention improving employee engagement in the midst of staffing shortages. (Shortages only made worse by the pandemic.)
Luckily, UKG has solutions designed specifically for the challenges impacting the healthcare industry. These tools can help organizations empower employees to deliver quality care while decreasing costs at the same time.
In this article, we’ll take a brief look at some of the benefits of UKG for healthcare, then focus on how one senior living provider was able to take advantage of the solutions to transform employee engagement and patient care. Let’s get started.
Why UKG for Healthcare?
Providing high-quality patient care starts with your employees. It’s proven that happy employees are more engaged and productive, and can even motivate other team members. And one key to keeping your staff’s morale up (especially in the healthcare industry) is scheduling. UKG solutions provide the tools you need to improve scheduling with automation based on intelligent volume forecasts and self-service options. And the benefits don’t stop there, of course:
Here are just a few of the other ways UKG can work wonders for healthcare:
- Increased employee engagement
- Higher-quality, value-based care
- Controlled labor costs
- Minimized compliance risk
Case Study: Eventide Senior Living Communities
Eventide Senior Living Communities implemented UKG workforce management in December 2020 with the goal of empowering employees, supporting its residents, and automating time-consuming HR processes in compliance with federal healthcare regulations. Eventide has more than 1,200 employees who serve more than 1,000+ residents at their facilities across Minnesota and North Dakota.
As Kayla Linn, vice president of people and culture at Eventide, said in a press release from UKG:
One of our biggest successes with UKG has been our Payroll Based Journal (PBJ) reporting. As a senior living facility, we are required to report the number of hours that each staff member works every day, on a quarterly basis. Before UKG, we would spend 16 hours manually compiling, correcting, and exporting this report. Now, we run the PBJ report in less than two minutes.
Additionally, the comprehensive reporting options within UKG give managers real-time visibility into staffing needs and employee overtime.
Better Recruiting
Eventide has experienced other wins too. Like many other healthcare organizations, the COVID-19 pandemic meant Eventide faced increased staffing turnover and shortages. But now, thanks to the recruiting functionality of UKG, Eventide can attract and onboard new employees quickly. Jobs get posted online as soon as they’re available, and HR teams can pre-screen candidates and move them along the process with visibility across the organization.
Upgraded Benefits Enrollment Process
Eventide was also able to ditch its paper enrollment forms for a mobile-first approach, saving the benefits team an incredible amount of time. (Say goodbye to having to manually enter information into the system.) Employees love accessing important HR information such as scheduling and timecards from their smartphones. Employees can also get broadcast alerts about important company information or open shifts, a critical feature for a workforce that’s on the go treating patients and doesn’t sit at a desk all day.
Focus on Employee Retention
Even before COVID, employee retention has been an ongoing issue in healthcare. To help address it, Eventide is launching an employee engagement survey with UKG Employee Voice. It’s an advanced workplace survey tool that uses natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) to collect, measure, and analyze the survey results. Eventide also uses UKG HR Service Delivery to convert paper files to an all-digital system.
In the words of Chris Todd, president and incoming chief executive officer at UKG:
Empowered employees are proven to be good for business, and nothing is more important than providing them with the tools they need to effectively do their jobs and help balance the demands of their lives and work. With UKG, Eventide is showing a deep commitment to its staff by creating a culture of empowerment and excellence where people and residents come first.
Getting Started With UKG for Healthcare
By nurturing employee satisfaction and focusing on retention, your healthcare system will be set to provide value-based care (while protecting your bottom line at the same time). And if you’re ready to set your organization up for success, Surety Systems is here to help!
Our senior-level UKG consulting team are not only experts in the technology, but they also have experience in the healthcare IT industry to help design solutions that can address your organization’s unique challenges. Contact us today to get started.
