Affordable Care Act & the Last Tech Improvement Holdouts

ThinkstockPhotos-492303047Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, consumers have been put in the digital transformation driver’s seat. Not only are health-systems implementing technology rich solutions internally, insurers are beginning to compete for dollars in the omni-channel digital world.

Think about it for a second. Have you noticed lately just how many people in public have a phone in their hand? And, did you know the number of transactions completed via smart phones has grown in geometric proportions? Insurers have taken note, and know that if they are to compete for consumer’s dollars, they must make a simple to use app that can easily be manipulated via smart phone.

This rush to digital applications brings to light one of the laggards in the digital age: Timekeeping for contract labor. It is amazing that in this day and age of electronic interfaces that many hospitals still use some form of paper to track the time for their contract labor works. Not only is this process laborious, it is a system that leaves room for error.

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First, a caregiver carries a paper timesheet to work, works a specific time period and then has a hospital employee/supervisor sign off on the timesheet. One copy of the paper is returned to the employment agency, one copy is provided to the nursing department, and the worker holds one copy. Next, the nursing department sends the stacks of paper timesheets to another supervisor to double-check the contract employees’ manual entries against hospital personnel manual entries, and the sheets are either approved or edits are made. After that, the information is passed to the finance or payables department for further reconciliation with invoices provided by the agencies or master vendors. Then, after some back and forth with the agencies in the event of any discrepancy, the bill is finally approved for payment.

There is an easier way. BlueSky’s Mobile App was developed to automate time and attendance.  The easy to use app helps to streamline this process, reduce errors and increase engagement with the caregiver.  The app makes use of easy imports, and other non-manual processes for timekeeping reducing man-hours and improves accuracy.

With these advances in technology and systems ready for agencies and health systems to implement, it is puzzling why these paper-wielding systems haven’t moved into the digital age.

MORE: Taming the big data beast

Tim Teague

Tim Teague
Tim Teague is president of Blue Sky Medical Staffing Software. He can be reached at tteague (at) blueskymss (dot) com.

Tim Teague

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