Unique online toolkit helps forward-looking medical practice adopt a “Paperlight” approach to HR

March 19, 2010 - PRLog -- THE CLIENT : Hema, Alvaston, Derby - Health Services

An innovative medical centre has adopted the Youmanage online HR toolkit to help it implement a more efficient and environmentally-friendly approach to employee management.

Hema Medical Centre is a forward-looking GP practice based in Alvaston, Derby. The practice, headed up by Dr Joe Zammit-Maempel, employs 17 staff and looks after the healthcare needs of 3,000 patients in the Alvaston area.

Hema had already been awarded “Paperlight” accreditation, a nationally agreed standard for clinical data entry and electronic record keeping. The “Paperlight” initiative - part of the Directed Enhanced Services for Information Management & Technology (IM&T) - was announced by the government two years ago. Under the initiative all patient records stored electronically must meet a required standard and practices must have robust policies in place governing the way that data is managed and protected.

The Paperlight accreditation has become increasingly vital to the security, stability and safety of clinical care and having seen the benefits that the Paperlight philosophy could bring, Hema were keen to adopt a similar approach to the management of employee information.

As Practice Manager, Janine Miller, explains, “We’ve set ourselves the goal of becoming a paper-free organisation. We’ve seen the benefits that this can offer in terms of improving efficiency and delivering a better service to our patients. We now want to achieve similar benefits in relation to our employees – moving everything online enables us to be more efficient and also improve the way we manage and support our employees.”

Prior to implementing Youmanage, employee data was held in a variety of places and was often difficult to access. This meant that obtaining any sort of meaningful reports was a challenge. In addition some information, such as absence and holiday details, was not always accurately recorded.

The way that employees were managed was at times inconsistent across the practice. While some managers were proactive in carrying out appraisals, others were not. Some managers were good at giving positive feedback, others tended just to focus on the negative.

Janine explains, “We want to create the right environment for our staff and be recognised as a good employer. So we were keen to implement a system that would help us manage professionally, efficiently and in line with best practice. We were also conscious that the way we were operating was not environmentally-friendly, due to the large amount of paper being generated by the business.”

Janine and Joe soon identified the Youmanage online HR toolkit as the right solution to meet the practice’s requirements. The Youmanage system contains a suite of modules to support all aspects of people management – from recruitment, to managing a new starter, to carrying out an appraisal. The system comes with integrated management guidance and letter templates, making it easier for managers to operate in line with best practice and relevant employment legislation.

The system is purely web-based, which means that implementation is straightforward, and all employee data and documentation is stored electronically, supporting Hema’s aim of becoming a paper-free practice. The subscription-based charging model meant that there were no big, upfront costs.

“It’s a great system,” says Janine, “which is helping us in a variety of different ways. Simple things - like being able to manage holiday requests online - mean that we can operate more efficiently and have got more accurate records. The way the system tracks things like new starter checks and probationary periods also helps ensure that we’re doing the right things at the right time – there’s no risk of something getting missed because a piece of paper has gone astray.”

According to Joe, the main benefit for him is peace of mind. “I find it reassuring that my Practice Manager has a robust and influential tool to do her work,” he explains. “Knowing this I can focus on my real business of looking after and treating patients.”

Hema are also using the system to help implement a more consistent approach to appraisals and employee development. “We’re already finding that the ability for managers to go online at any time and record notes against an employee’s record is encouraging a more proactive approach to managing performance.

“We’re also in the process of uploading our job profiles to the system so these will be easily accessible when managers are recruiting or carrying out an appraisal. This will help us ensure that our employees have the levels of knowledge and competencies we need to take the Practice forward and keep delivering a first-class service to our patients.”

Janine is enthusiastic about the benefits that the Youmanage system can deliver for Hema. “We’ve already seen value from it. It’s great to have all our information online, secure and accessible by everyone who needs it, which is helping towards our goal of being paper-free. It also gives us a good framework to ensure we’re operating professionally across all aspects of employee management and development. We’re glad we decided to make the move online with Youmanage.”

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About Youmanage:
Youmanage is a unique online HR toolkit, that gives line managers and HR users all of the tools, information, processes, documentation and guidance they need to be effective - in one easy-to-use service. The Youmanage toolkit includes a comprehensive suite of modules to support all of the key aspects of people management - from preparing a job spec to managing an exit interview.

Youmanage helps organisations reduce HR admin and support costs, empower their line managers, increase employee engagement and ensure compliance with relevant legislation and standards.

We provide services both directly and through partners, including organisations such as XpertHR and Iris Software. Our clients range from 10 - 2,000 employees across a broad range of market sectors.

For more information go to http://www.youmanage.co.uk