API and Kronos Interface

Nurses General Nursing

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Hello All,

New to the site! Some of my nurses were discussing how informative this site is, so I figured I would give it a shot!

Our hospital purchased the API/Concerro scheduling program a few months back. When we were doing demos of the different scheduling programs, one of our main concerns was getting something that would interface to Kronos bidirectionally. API assured us that they had an interface, so we decided to purchase them. Now, 4-5 months after the purchase, they seem to be back peddling on the Kronos interface, and we're starting to hear conflicting stories from other hospitals as to whether they actually have one. Does anyone else have any experience with an API scheduling implementation that included an interface to Kronos?

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Is it Concerro or API? The older API system was ok. I know many of my sisters say it sucks but I thought it was ok once you spend the time to learn it. Concerro, well all I know is they failed everywhere I went sooooooo, I'm gonna list the bests steps for you:

Step 1 - Switch away from API, if concerro see step 4

Step 2 - Kick your whole IT department in the teeth for switching to a non effective system!

Step 3 - Beg to open a review where the nursing team is center stage in the decision.

Step 4 - If Concerro was your choice then run screaming from the hospital to a facility that you can actually work at! Just kidding, they aren't that bad, you just will find yourself using it less and less, and less until your department isn't using it and then you get in trouble for not being up on your productivity. Insert blame on IT department and see step 2 then see step 3.

I had a great day so I'm in a really good mood, sorry for being silly. I have used API and Concerro. API does not have a interface to any other T&A system. Concerro said they did but when it came time to install it they failed and ended up lengthening out the T&A project till it seemed to have been forgotten. My ex-co workers still at my last facility say they never got it up and running.

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Thanks of the info, which was very comical! I needed that, lol. API actually bought Concerro not too long ago, so they were pitching it as API/Concerro. I appears to be Concerro's scheduler. We had a couple of folks on the committee that had used Concerro in the past, and they said the program being presented was the same one.

Anyway, we've heard hints of what you said in your last paragraph, so I guess the rumors are true, ughhhhh. Makes me want to pull my hair out! I like "Step 2" the best, as IT has made some crazy decisions in the past...decisions which should've been left up to nursing. Unfortunately this decision weighed heavily on nursing, and the decision was almost solely on the fact that they told us they had the Kronos interface. I just wish these vendors wouldn't lie to us.

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No problem. I do a lot of staffing and so scheduling and how it relates to our T&A system is something that I often handle.

Don't thiunk about it in terms of lying, it will keep you up at night. Their job is to make things easier for us, no matter the vendor. I have no idea about computers and programing but I know that I am sure it's hard to do. My husband complains about his company where they start developing something and then leadership changes and priority change. The vendor may not have lied to you, they may have started down that road and then changed direction. I am sure your facility has instituted stupid P&Ps only to reorganize them at a later point. Think of it that way.

That being said I don't like either Concerro or Kronos so don't think I am defending them. I just don't want you getting frustrated. The best course of action I have found is verify EVERYTHING! Ask questions, talk to references and try it out if you can. You can't in this case since you purchased it already but if they LIED to you then your executive team may have the ability to get out of it. Don't hurt your career though, I was in a way blacklisted when I spoke out too many time on another project. I was the pain in the butt that wouldn't shut up......lol, just like my personal life. The politics eventually made me jump ship, it was too bad because I truly think that I was in the right and would have helped that facility if they had listened to me....(sob)...but I'm just a lowly RN. Lol, naaawww, I'm at a waaaaaaay better place now with a limited amount of politics. I love my job!!!!!

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Is it Concerro or API? The older API system was ok. I know many of my sisters say it sucks but I thought it was ok once you spend the time to learn it. Concerro, well all I know is they failed everywhere I went sooooooo, I'm gonna list the bests steps for you:

Step 1 - Switch away from API, if concerro see step 4

Step 2 - Kick your whole IT department in the teeth for switching to a non effective system!

Step 3 - Beg to open a review where the nursing team is center stage in the decision.

Step 4 - If Concerro was your choice then run screaming from the hospital to a facility that you can actually work at! Just kidding, they aren't that bad, you just will find yourself using it less and less, and less until your department isn't using it and then you get in trouble for not being up on your productivity. Insert blame on IT department and see step 2 then see step 3.

That's HILARIOUS!!!!! I have been told that API/Concerro doesn't have a interface to Kronos or any other T&A system. A friend of mine that works for Kronos says they have never built any interfaces to their system and that API bought concerro for their customer list. Apparently their hope was to push their T&A onto other facilities that concerro had as customer rather than interface to those that had another T&A like Kronos. Of course you can consider the source, a employee of Kronos talking bad about API? Hmmmm, but he is a good guy and I don't think it would lie. I hope this helps.

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Thanks guys for all of the info. I doubt we'll be able to make a change at this point, as we're several months into the purchase. Myself and a couple of the other managers were curious to see if anyone else was going through what we're going through...not to mention it allowed me to air out some frustration :yes:.

I do appreciate the responses though!!!!

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Why would your facility choose a separate vendor for that part of the system when Kronos offers modules for pretty much everything. It would have been more efficient to just purchase an additional Kronos module that worked with your needs and avoid all the headache of interfacing and transferring info.

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Hello everyone!

I was doing a web search on Kronos and saw this board with this post. I am actually a former nurse but am employeed with McKesson and work on the ANSOS product. I can say with absolutle certainty that API does not have any intention to deveop a interface to Kronos, their biggest competitor. With their recent purchase by GE there has been talk about it but their focus is going to be conversion on existing market share to the API T&A system which will be going through an overhaul.

That being said, ANSOS DOES have the ability to interface with Kronos. :-) Message me if you need any information.

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Why would your facility choose a separate vendor for that part of the system when Kronos offers modules for pretty much everything. It would have been more efficient to just purchase an additional Kronos module that worked with your needs and avoid all the headache of interfacing and transferring info.

Because Kronos is a horrible product. Hate to say it but they should stay out of the clinical world.

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Hello everyone!

I was doing a web search on Kronos and saw this board with this post. I am actually a former nurse but am employeed with McKesson and work on the ANSOS product. I can say with absolutle certainty that API does not have any intention to deveop a interface to Kronos, their biggest competitor. With their recent purchase by GE there has been talk about it but their focus is going to be conversion on existing market share to the API T&A system which will be going through an overhaul.

That being said, ANSOS DOES have the ability to interface with Kronos. :-) Message me if you need any information.

Hi TCheers,

Number 1 - ANSOS is horrible, you may want to talk to your programmers and have them update it to something within this century.

Number 2 - I don't think that you are supposed to plug your system on here.

I apologize for criticizing your product but I have not met a nurse that actually likes it. It's true that you interface but the support for the product failed me one too many times. When they finally went to review for replacement the ANSOS attitude was one of blaming us instead of apologizing for the problems. That's one way to alienate your customer base.

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We looked at Kronos' scheduling module, and it was pretty bad. That's why we were trying to find a solution that interfaced to them. Most of the "all-in-one" solutions don't do "all" well. They're usually strong with their core product, but their "add-on" modules are typically an afterthought. I just came across the post "RNJeff73" posted a while back regarding scheduling (https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/electronic-scheduling-need-913372.html). Has anyone used Shift Wizard? Jeff's post had some pretty good reviews regarding them.

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