Organization
Washington County Hospital is an award winning, 271-bed, acute care facility located in Hagerstown, Maryland, 70 miles from the nationís capital. The hospital offers comprehensive inpatient services including medical/surgical care, cardiac catheterization, comprehensive rehab care, radiologic services, inpatient mental health services, a regional Level III Trauma Center, an intensive care unit, a progressive care unit, a coronary care unit, a birthing center, and a pediatric unit.
The hospital is accredited by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and has been designated a Level III Trauma Center by the State of Maryland, serving Frederick and Washington counties.
Washington County has been named in multiple years a Most Wired Hospital by Hospital and Health Networks Magazine, a Top 100 Hospital by Solucient and recently was awarded one of the Top 100 Integrated Health Networks in the country by Verispan.
Business Challenge
ìThe old system caused us to spend a lot of time on paper. We lost too much time fixing errors. We also needed an HR system that would easily interface with our existing payroll and financial systems. It needed to be robust enough to handle a busy organization like ours and help us achieve the goal of paperless HR. We wanted to get away from filing cabinets and paper forms,î says Robin Haywood, Compensation and Benefits Manager.
ìIn the past, all of our employee related communications were managed on a paper form called the Personnel Action Form. You could call it the Swiss Army Knife of HR forms. No matter what you wanted to do, that form was used. It was a busy document with up to 25 data fields. We identified over 30 HR processes were related to that form. Unfortunately, each process would only use about 3 of the available fields.î
ìThe form would be completed by a manager in a given department and then forwarded to Human Resources with no verification that the information was accurate or being entered correctly into other systems. This alone caused us to spend a lot of time going back and forth fixing errors and updating information. I think we probably had at least 1 full time person just doing data validation for all the changes we were generating on paper. Sometimes information would get lost. One department would say they sent it, another would say they never got it.î
QHR Solution
ìWith Quadrant HR, all workflow verification is electronic. With automated checklists, we now have the ability to ensure HR processes are performed correctly. For example, when we perform a salary transaction, we know our managers are following the right steps to complete the process without errors. This is just one example of how weíve implemented the ability to collect and validate the right information during each process.î
ìThe advantage of HR Folders is that we can manage and maintain information specific to our needs. This ensures our processes are more focused and less prone to mistakes. We use Quadrant HR to manage over thirty processes that used to be completely on paper.î
Washington County has eliminated the need to keep departmental checklists and dramatically decreased paper based workflows. This has greatly simplified processes and improved communications across the organization. The availability of key HR metrics is greatly increased for managers.
Jody Bishop, Nursing Administrative Director, says ìI love the fact that I can access this information via the computer instead of having to look in employee files. The reports are very helpful at Performance Appraisal time.î
ìAnother great aspect of Quadrant HR is that we can develop our own reports. For example, if managers need to know specific metrics, we can design any report for them and make that report available to anyone in any department who needs it. We can do so many things now that before were difficult. For example, we can do simple things like a label run without having to merge spreadsheets or hand address envelopes!î, says Robin Haywood.
HR reporting was manual, causing delays and information blockages.
ìNow, managers have access to a variety of reports they can view on-line when they want. Information is available in real-time for our managers which helps them proactively manage the workforce.î
ìMore complex data is also readily available. Today we can run reports for pay rates, average rate increases, education, skill and competency levels or FTE information. And for tracking mandatory in-servicing, weíve been able to bring our JCAHO data into Quadrant HR and report on it, which means one less system to worry about. Quadrant HR helps us verify that each employee has completed their in-servicing and lets us know when itís due again.î
Quadrant HR improves confidentiality and provides flexible, powerful security controls.
ìBecause the employee file is now electronic, there is greater confidentiality of sensitive employee information. With Quadrant HR we are using it for performance management, corrective counseling, salary transactions and then electronically attaching any associated documentation with the employee file. We also do all internal recruiting, job changes, orientation and probation management. Tracking of hospital property like badges and parking cards is also readily handled by the system. Organizing and tracking any training program is also easy to set up and manage with Quadrant HR.î
ìI see no restrictions to collect, track and manage any process we want with Quadrant HR. If we think something is important at Washington County, we know we can count on Quadrant HR to help us with it. Unlike other systems, we donít have to depend on the IT department or pay for customizations. We can do it ourselves, when we want. Quadrant HR has given us the power to control and fully manage our HR business within the organization.î
Quadrant HR improves confidentiality and provides flexible, powerful security controls
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