Convacare Management
Located in Searcy, Arkansas, ConvaCare Management provides management services for nursing and rehab centers throughout the state. ConvaCare employs about 1000 skilled nurses, physical, occupational and speech therapists, rehabilitation specialists, and managers at 17 care facilities.
Located in Searcy, Arkansas, ConvaCare Management provides management services for nursing and rehab centers throughout the state. ConvaCare employs about 1000 skilled nurses, physical, occupational and speech therapists, rehabilitation specialists, and managers at 17 care facilities.
ConvaCare uses cutting edge technologies to assure the highest level of patient care possible. So when it comes to managing its workforce, only the most reliable and robust solutions will do.
The company, which launched in 1999, automated its time and attendance processes right from the start, tapping a Qqest time and attendance product for the job. Over the years, ConvaCare stayed with Qqest, adopting each new upgrade. According to Jimmy Todd, director of purchasing and information technology for the company, when Qqest first introduced TimeForce in 2002, “the transition just made sense for us.”
An additional upgrade of TimeForce allowed ConvaCare to integrate their time and attendance system with their payroll system. “Installation [of the upgrade] was quick and simple. As with any upgrade, we faced a few challenges. However, Qqest resolved those issues quickly and got us up and running in no time. Compared to other vendors, I’d definitely give the service team an A+.”
“Every time we purchase a new facility, one of the first things we do is get the staff up and running on TimeForce. The solution helps us better manager our employees, stay compliant with state and federal regulations, and deliver the best possible service to our residents. Our relationship with Qqest is an important and strategic partnership that we hope to continue for many years to come.”
An ongoing challenge for employers in the health care industry is buddy punching—where one employee clocks in or out for a co-worker. In addition to the obvious financial repercussions of paying employees for time they do not work, buddy punching also presents some very serious legal and regulatory challenges for employers.
Federal and state government mandates require health care facility like ConvaCare to have specific worker-to-patient ratios. Providers must have systems in place to ensure these ratios are met and maintained, and can receive severe penalties if the standards are not upheld—event if it is due to employee misconduct.
To address this serious challenge, ConvaCare employees punch in and out using Qqest timeclocks with biometric readers. The easy-to-use scanner uses a scan of each employee’s finger to confirm their identity, virtually eliminating all opportunities for buddy punching.
“The biometric readers on our TimeForce system are critical to helping us control costs, and ensure regulatory compliance,” said Todd. “We have employees clocking in over five shifts at 17 locations, 24 hours a day. The reader gives us a level of security we just could not have otherwise.”
ConvaCare expects to upgrade to TimeForce II in the near future, which Todd anticipates will make back-up easier and give them more functionality, including: the ability to better track consultants who travel frequently, to use overlapping premiums, and to use Qqest’s Advanced Scheduling module. Todd is also working on a higher level of integration between TimeForce and the company’s financial software. “We are really looking forward to using every feature to its full potential to get as much efficiency out it as possible,” he said.
“Every time we purchase a new facility, one of the first things we do is get the staff up and running on TimeForce,” Todd continued. “The solution helps us better manager our employees, stay compliant with state and federal regulations, and deliver the best possible service to our residents. Our relationship with Qqest is an important and strategic partnership that we hope to continue for many years to come.”
