New solution provides increased efficiency and productivity through automation and collaboration
Healthcare workers spend a huge amount of time on paperwork, from patient records and medical histories, to test results and treatment plans. This can be overwhelming, especially in fast-paced environments where the shifts are long, and workers are often stretched thin.
Mounds of paperwork were also piling up at Baptist Health Care, a network of three hospitals, four medical parks, Andrews Institute for Orthopedic & Sports Medicine and a large network of primary care and specialty physicians. But in addition to clinical paperwork, employees had to spend their short break in front of a computer filling out manual HR documents instead of having that critical cup of coffee.
Business challenge
Baptist’s use of an aging on premises Lawson ERP solution was burdensome, to say the least. Additional plans to build a new inpatient facility challenged the team to reduce its data center footprint using modern cloud-based technologies. “We were using a system [Lawson] for 17 years which was finance-based, and with workarounds we attempted to construct it to be a Human Capital Management system,” says Tyler Buczynski, project manager, HR office. "There was nothing built in for the end users for them to autonomously work through the system." It was clunky, and difficult for users to complete simple tasks like setting up a direct deposit or changing their address. “Our end users are busy taking care of other people in the hospital, and they don’t have the time to pick up the phone to walk through something. The hospital is a 24-hour operation, and we wanted a system that would give the night shift workers the same access to support as the day shift – that was super important to us,” continues Buczynski.
Solution
Oracle partner Alithya recommended that Baptist implement an Oracle Fusion and Oracle Guided Learning ERP solution. Oracle Fusion applications would offer Baptist next-generation enterprise technologies, applications, and services.
Goals for the project included:
- Implementing a single, enterprise, integrated system for all core business functions to provide increased efficiency and productivity through automation and collaboration.
- Replace outdated or unsupported legacy systems with cloud technology to advance the digital maturity of the organization along with improving security and business resiliency.
- Redesign Baptist financial chart of accounts to align with organizational strategic goals.
- Facilitate cultural change through adoption of industry best practices and business processes supported by Oracle.
- Embed contextual analytics to provide visibility and actionable insights, driving performance.
- Deliver, achieve, and measure efficiencies from a modern system.
A phased implementation
Baptist opted for a phased implementation approach, implementing Oracle Core HR and Oracle Recruiting Cloud first, followed by Oracle Fusion Financial and Supply Chain Management, and finally Oracle Fusion Human Capital Management with Payroll, Comp, Benefits and Learning Management.
Legacy data was migrated from Lawson into the Oracle Fusion Cloud foundational system. Existing ERP integrations with external systems were replaced with Oracle integrations to align with module releases. On Baptist’s end, a cross-functional project team was staffed from HR, payroll, benefits, finance, supply chain, and IT for the duration of the rollout. In addition, a steering committee representing executive stakeholders served as advisory. To keep the project on track, Alithya sent out a consolidated weekly status report every Monday and held weekly project team checkpoint meetings every Tuesday. The ERP steering committee and Baptist Hospital steering committees met monthly.
End user training
After a successful go live, Baptist completed leader training and town hall sessions which were recorded and stored in the SharePoint Cloud so that users could watch and learn when they had a moment or two. “We talked a lot about what it would look like if we did things in person and quite frankly, I’m not sure how we would have been successful in person because you have to be in front of a computer to watch what you’re doing which is difficult to do in a conference center type setting,” explains Buczynski. “So, the recorded video option with the ask and answer format was probably the best route for us, especially with the opening of our new hospital where people were being pulled in a million different directions,” continues Buczynski.
The Baptist team utilized Oracle Guided Learning to train end users, improve productivity and reduce support costs. Employees are provided real-time, step-by-step guidance as they enter data into the system with smart tips along the way. Users enjoy being guided through the process because they don’t have time to comb through a training manual.
Exactly what they need
Baptist is experiencing many benefits from its streamlined, modern Oracle solution. “With workarounds, we created Lawson to be what we needed it to be, where Oracle is exactly what we need,” says Buczynski. “We’ve had lots of positive feedback, and access to reporting has been especially helpful to us. For example, an ‘all positions paid’ report where recruiters can look at demographic information for all positions to ensure our internal equity aligns with compensation and years of experience for new hires,” continues Buczynski. “Prior to Oracle, we were basically just taking data out of Lawson and putting it into a report where Oracle itself, with all the dashboards and the OTBI (Oracle Transactional Business Intelligence), is essentially creating it for us. The pieces of the puzzle of our book of business makesmake more sense today than in the past because everything is at our fingertips. We are not having to go to three or four different systems to plug the pieces together,” continues Buczynski.
A model client
Alithya consultants report that Baptist was a model client and a delight to work with. Likewise for Baptist: “Alithya has been a great partner for us,” says Buczynski. “We can now support people who take care of people and have no time to sit down at a computer. Now, they can complete things within 15 minutes and that’s more meaningful than we can verbalize,” continues Buczynski. Buczynski reports that day-to-day operations are smoother, and a recent open enrollment period went better than in the past.
Licensing and certification are areas where Baptist has experienced time savings of 10% or more. In the past, clinicians had to scan a copy of their healthcare license, email it to HR who then manually input it into the system. Now, clinicians can input their information which runs through a workflow that HR can then approve. Baptist is also utilizing the onboarding checklist to accelerate the process and ensure that new hires can quickly walk through a list of tasks.
Workarounds and inefficient processes are for the birds. Don’t let legacy on-premises solutions impede growth or the happiness of your team – learn more about Oracle Cloud solutions and how they can benefit your organization. Ready to get started on your digital transformation? Contact us today.