API Announces Employee Data Management Web Strategy; Web-based Products Streamline Employee Data Management, Saving Time and Money.

Business and Health Editors

HARTFORD, Wis.--(BW HealthWire)--April 10, 2000

Automating Peripherals Inc. (API) announced today the availability of several Web-based products that streamline employee data management and migrate healthcare organizations from manual systems to an online human resource management system.

These web products provide employees and managers with accessibility to key payroll and personnel data through standard Web browsers, allowing healthcare organizations to leverage their existing hardware investment. User-defined security options allow health systems to determine the level of accessibility and editing capabilities that are available through the Web products.

Web-enabled versions of these products provide expanded access capabilities:

-- TimePC enables employees to input and review their time and attendance and payroll/human resource information via a corporate Intranet or the Internet. This also gives employees an alternative to badging in and out during their shift, and is a quick and efficient method of entering non-productive time, such as vacation, sick or jury duty. Employees can view available benefit balances, allowing them to manage their time away from work more effectively. Their work schedule information for an entire month is available at a glance.

-- ReportXpress is a supervisory tool that allows managers to view time card reports, make edits, track notes and approve time online. With web-enabled capabilities, supervisors can view and manage their employees' time virtually anywhere at anytime - from the office to their home to business trips.

-- Navigator allows employees access to their demographic and benefits information online. They can quickly and efficiently update their information, such as an address change, decreasing the amount of time that human resource staff spends doing clerical tasks. When an employee makes a more significant change, such as a name change, that will automatically trigger questions regarding changes to benefit plans and W-4 updates. Employees can also view their benefits and enroll or change benefits online based on their eligibility. Effective dating features allow changes to be made in advance and then put into effect on a defined date.

-- Applicants Navigator is an online employment application that automatically populates API's Navigator Series human resource system. Applicants can do a search that matches their resume to open positions. When an application is filled out online, it is stored in a temporary database. The HR staff can review the application, then commit it to the live database. Since information is entered by the applicant, the HR department doesn't have to key or scan applications, saving hours of productive time.

-- ActiveStaffer allows facilities to utilize self-scheduling. Employees can request shifts or time off via the online system. When appropriate, employees can also swap shifts. Additionally, schedules are available for employee viewing online.

-- EdTrack allows employees to view course schedules online and enroll for necessary courses so they can plan accordingly to meet all their education and licensing needs.

"API's Web strategy has been developed to offer functionality and benefits to all levels of users, from the applicant to employee, up to the supervisor and executive level," said Luis Garcia, president and chief executive officer for API. "It is our goal to provide products that empower employees with more personnel information access, reduce manual processes, increase information available to managers for improved decision-making and decrease total cost of technology ownership. Additionally, because of our healthcare-specific expertise, our products are browser-based but also intuitive, so even users who had never surfed the Internet before can take advantage of API's easy-to-use Web capabilities."

A Case Study in Web-based Product Utilization Success

Affinity Health System is a collection of four acute-care hospitals, a nursing home, a six-county home health agency, 200-plus employed physicians and an HMO health plan providing regional healthcare services for the people of Wisconsin's Fox River Valley. Affinity implemented TimePC by converting 1,200 PCs that would service 2,800 users. Affinity used existing inventory, so there were no additional hardware costs associated with the TimePC implementation. Cost-wise, TimePC is a great improvement over single-use badge readers, or even time and attendance kiosks. Because of cost and space considerations, Affinity would have been able to implement only eight kiosks throughout the enterprise instead of being able to utilize the existing 1,200 PCs with TimePC.

As a result of this implementation, Affinity has installed a strong multiple-entity foundation where all employee information in housed in a single place. Keeping procedures, such as pay periods and pay scales, consistent across facilities helps to better manage the future organization. The Internet provides easy information access for employees. In addition, the Information Systems department only needs to support a single system. And this system can be sized large enough to handle anticipated organizational growth.

The web-enabled TimePC is proving to be a valuable employee tool, averaging 285 users every day, and 15,941 hits (requests for information) per day. To date, October 28, 1999, has been the highest traffic day since the implementation, with more than 33,275 hits.

About API

API is a leading provider of payroll, human resource, time and attendance, education tracking, scheduling/staffing, and access control software for healthcare organizations. Founded in 1982, API has more than 350 installations in the United States, with customers ranging in size from 500 employees to more than 15,000 employees. The company has a strategic alliance with Microsoft Corporation and is a Microsoft Certified Solution Provider. The company's website address is www.api-wi.com