Last fall, at the company’s annual user conference in Las Vegas, Kronos Chief Executive Officer Aron Ain spoke of the company’s plans to develop more mobile and web-based tools for the healthcare market. He said the company’s suite of workforce management solutions would be “cool and fun and exciting and intuitive” as they’re adopted by a market eager to save time and money though automation.
This week, Ain followed through on that promise.
Kronos, the Chelmsford, Mass.-based developer of software that handles time and attendance, scheduling, absence management, HR and payroll, hiring and labor analytics, has announced plans to acquire API Healthcare, a Hartford, Wis.-based provider of workforce management technology that helps healthcare organizations automate staffing and scheduling, patient classification, human resources, recruiting, payroll and staffing agencies.
Officials for both companies say the move will bolster Kronos’ healthcare business by adding a company that is devoted specifically to the healthcare market.
“The acquisition is great news for Kronos and API Healthcare customers, as well as the entire healthcare industry,” Ain said in a Feb. 7 press release announcing the deal. “Together we will leverage our complementary strengths to help organizations deliver high-quality patient care while maintaining tight control over their labor costs.”
“This is a great opportunity to join the Kronos team and work together to drive additional value for our customers’ rapidly evolving needs,” added J.P. Fingado, API president and chief executive officer. “Kronos is dedicated to our commitment to innovation and customer support, and we look forward to this exciting new chapter for API Healthcare.”
In acquiring API Healthcare, Kronos – a workforce management giant with tens of thousands of customers in several industries spread across the globe – is adding one of the more active innovators in the healthcare vertical. One week ago, the company announced the launch of API Healthcare Synergy, a workforce management platform that relies heavily on business intelligence tools.
“Fully integrated workforce management systems play a key role in balancing increased patient demand with delivery of cost-effective care,” said Jim Holincheck, managing vice president of business analyst firm Gartner, Inc., in a Feb. 1 press release supplied by API. “Solutions with integrated single-platform technology can provide improved efficiency, ensuring faster completion of tasks and less room for errors. In addition it allows managers to make better scheduling decisions that can lead to improved patient outcomes.”
“By using intuitive workforce management technology to ensure the right patient-caregiver connection, organizations will not only see more positive outcomes; they will also position themselves to realize more positive financial results,” added Fingado. “The overall outcome is better patient care and a more balanced workload among nurses. Better equity leads to happier, more productive employees, which benefits the patients and is good for the organization as a whole.”
“The tools in API Healthcare Staffing and Scheduling Solution have made a significant impact on our business,” said Michele Pfliger, technical staffing analyst at St. Alexius Medical Center in Bismarck, N.D. “Because our staffing office coordinators are able to complete the process of daily staffing much quicker they are able to take on some of the additional workload of our nursing managers, allowing them more time to focus on patient care.”
Speaking to customers and in press interviews at last year’s user conference, Ain said healthcare is one of the more active verticals for Kronos, and one that could benefit the most from automation as the healthcare industry looks to adopt sweeping reforms.
In January, Kronos announced that Saint Luke’s Health System, an 11-hospital healthcare network in the Kansas City, Mo., area, expects to save $500,000 in annual operating costs by implementing workforce management solutions for its 8,300 employees.
"By standardizing its critical staffing and workforce business processes with Kronos solutions, Saint Luke's will be better poised to manage and control labor costs and improve productivity throughout its health delivery system.,” said Brian Graves, the company’s global practice leader of healthcare. “Kronos is excited to continue our partnership with Saint Luke's and to help it achieve enhanced competitiveness through the use of a centralized workforce management suite."
