Mercy Medical Center is First in Oregon to Launch BidShift's Flexible Workforce Management Technology.

SAN DIEGO -- San Diego-based BidShift(R), the leading provider of web-based flexible workforce management technology for healthcare providers, has implemented its program at Mercy Medical Center, Roseburg, Oregon to provide an automated approach for filling open shifts, empowering employees, and supporting effective staffing practices. Mercy Medical Center, a member of Catholic Health Initiatives, is the first hospital in the state of Oregon and the first hospital within Catholic Health Initiatives to utilize the technology.

Nurses, nursing assistants, technicians, mental health assistants, and unit secretaries use the technology to log on from work or home, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to identify available shifts and make online requests for shifts that match their skills, experience and lifestyle interests. BidShift enables effective staffing practices by leveraging the existing resource pool, providing staff more choice and flexibility over the shifts they work to drive employee satisfaction and retention, and providing a competitive advantage for the recruitment of qualified staff.

"BidShift provides Mercy an incredible opportunity," stated Yvonne Kirk, vice president of nursing services at Mercy Medical Center. "Not only does the program offer nursing staff the ability to pick up extra shifts online, but it also helps Mercy provide the staffing coverage needed to provide great patient care to our community."

Mercy Medical Center is using a new incentive called ShiftRewards(TM) as their primary mechanism for hard to fill shifts along with select pay incentives. Staff receives points when they bid on a shift and when they are awarded a shift, which can be redeemed for rewards such as gift cards, vacation, or cash. Staff can earn premium points if they work holidays or other hard to fill shifts and can also receive additional points when recognized by patients and families for providing quality caring service, and for volunteering at community events such as in a First Aide booth. ShiftRewards is also being used to reward job positions that traditionally haven't been eligible for incentive programs in the past.

In the first four weeks of use, over 200,000 ShiftReward points have been earned by Mercy's nursing services staff, filling 5,500 hours of patient care needs. Nearly half of the BidShift enrolled employees have been awarded shifts.

"ShiftRewards has generated a lot of excitement within the nursing staff, and BidShift's technology provides us the ability to centralize and monitor the Medical Center's incentive program," stated John Kasberger, CFO of Mercy Medical Center. "I am very pleased that BidShift provides an easy structure which will help us better manage compensation tracking and reporting requirements for our employee recognition initiatives."

Healthcare organizations currently using BidShift across the United States are experiencing substantial payback and annualized cost savings ranging between $400,000 and $3.2 million per hospital. "Winning this contract demonstrates the confidence that nursing leadership has in our professional services expertise to promote consistent staffing practices while applying innovative technology offerings within a newly unionized environment," stated Bruce Springer, President and CEO of BidShift. "We are pleased to continue our expansion in the Northwest, and look forward to working with Mercy Medical Center and the CHI network."

BidShift is currently used in more than 85 hospitals across 18 states and the District of Columbia.

About Mercy Medical Center

Located in Roseburg, Ore. (pop. 21,000), Mercy Medical Center is a Trauma III 153-bed facility serving most of Douglas County (pop. 100,000). Mercy is in the top 5 percent of hospitals nationally for clinical excellence, and has been recognized both in 2005 and 2006 with Distinguished Hospital Awards for Clinical Excellence by HealthGrades, an independent health care ratings company (www.healthgrades.com). Mercy is one of only 277 hospitals out of 5000 in the U.S., and the only hospital in Oregon, to receive this recognition two years in a row. To learn more, visit www.mercyrose.org.

About BidShift

BidShift is a flexible workforce management company providing healthcare organizations with the technology, strategy, and insight needed to develop effective staffing practices for the next generation healthcare workforce environment. By aligning incentives and dynamically matching the organization's needs with workforce availability, BidShift positions organizations to retain and attract qualified staff, deliver high quality, cost-effective health care, and cultivate a world-class workforce/working environment. To learn more, visit www.BidShift.com.