Kronos partner Smart WFM launches healthcare division

Workforce management consultancy and Kronos reseller Smart WFM has launched a new dedicated healthcare division following recent wins in the vertical.

The company aimed to help healthcare organisations modernise their workforce practices as they continue handling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some services the division would provide include workforce practice governance, process standardisation, and tech enablement, with the aim of increasing the number of nursing hours per patient or resident per day. The services also help digitise a customer’s operational model in a human-centred way.

Smart WFM chief executive Jarrod McGrath said, “Despite Australia’s healthcare system being the envy of most other countries during this crisis, we have a long way to go in terms of operations and healthcare workforce management.”

“Paper is still the default ‘technology’ for payment calculations, rostering, new employee forms and more. The digital systems that are in place are complex and don’t speak to each other, usually supported by doubled-or tripled-up manually compiled reports that take important time away from clinical staff.”

Smart WFM established the new division after landing aged care provider Montefiore and Melbourne-based Austin Health Hospital as customers.

CEO Jarrod McGrath leads the division, along with specialists James Sutton and Geoff Davey. The division now also hired healthcare-specific consultants with plans to build out the team further over the next 12 months.

“The last few months have shown us just how important and robust our healthcare industry is. But as the industry becomes more dependent on technology to optimise patient care, we risk falling behind by not optimising and integrating our healthcare processes, people and technology,” McGrath said.

“Moreover, the pandemic-driven move to telehealth and digital health technology will require healthcare organisations to have better visibility over where their staff are and how they’re working. That is a workforce management issue, one that is becoming increasingly critical to address as the industry evolves.”