Electronic scheduling - Need some advice (Kronos/Cerner)

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Hey everyone,

I am a manager at a facility in sunny....well cloudy VA. We are FINALLY getting rid of the disaster that is cerner's scheduling system only to be forced to swallow Kronos. I don't know anything about Kronos other than that I hear that it's really cumbersome and hard to use. A friend at another facility says they are booting Kronos because it's hard to use and they simply don't support the product. I want to heard from everyone on how this is going to affect us.

I'll be honest, I hate Cerner, their EMR sucks and the scheduler if possible is worse. I have to admit that I saw all the pretty graphs originally and thought it was great but since that time I have seen the system to be useless and more importantly it LENGTHENS the time I spend on pretty much everything.

Problem: Our IT department is making the decision for us. Really?! Why would a department that has no direct patient care make the decision for us. They don't know how we schedule or what productivity information is important to me, my director, or our cno. Frustrating!

At my last facility we had Concerro and that wasn't that bad but it just took to long to do anything and their tech support was HORRIBLE. They ended up getting rid of that because of the API buyout and moved us to the disaster that was Shift Hound. We actually lost nurses because of the way they attempted to accomplish self-scheduling. What I need to know is, is Kronos any better? Why can't I get a system that works and is easy to use. It can't be that hard can it? Nursing schedules are pretty easy, not like the docs, they are all over the place!

Please, someone help!

Yea, training for most of these systems is loooong, the ones that should be long arnt and the ones that are long should spare you the problems. APIs training was spot on, it was my fault that I needed to go through it again. Shift Wizard's was really good too. Kronos' I actually tried to gnaw my leg off to get away, I can only Imagine how the management's training was!

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Hey rnjeff, I was a travel nurse for several years, and have had the opportunity to use all of the systems everyone else has mentioned here. I think the general consensus from everyone is spot-on. I'll list my experiences regarding each system I have personally used:

Shift Wizard: I've used Shift Wizard at two hospitals; WakeMed, in Raleigh NC, and Maria Parham, in Henderson, NC. This is an awesome system, and by far my favorite! As someone else mentioned, they are a nurse owned company, which is great. Very easy system to use. One thing my manager really liked (and the staff liked as week) was the fact that they have an interface to Kronos. As a charge nurse, I was able to see all of my productivity (as the day transpired) on my main screen. Apparently, data was pulled from Kronos, which allowed the productivity numbers (HPPD, overtime, etc) to be seen real time. Their training was very straight forward, as the system is incredibly easy to use AND it was apparently designed to to have a workflow that goes with nursing. They have a communication center that will automatically call, text and email your staff! The automated voicemail saved me countless hours trying to cover call outs. Shift Wizard is web based, so staff can access their schedule (and do self scheduling) form home, or their phone, or wherever. Again, by far THE BEST scheduling system I have ever used!

Kronos: Compete garbage! Their time and attendance system is pretty good, but their scheduling system is not meant to be used in a hospital. Kronos can not handle multiple kinds of shifts at all! If your schedule involves day/eve/night, then it may a somewhat ok system. Throw in a combination of 4 hour shifts, 6 hour shifts, 8 hour shifts and 12 hour shifts, and you'll have a complete mess on your hands...if you can even get the system to do it. Training was very long, and difficult to understand. The system is NOT easy to use, and pulling reports is like pulling teeth. That's one thing I really liked about Shift Wizard, was the ability to pull a report in seconds! From listening to my manager regarding Kronos, it was VERY expensive too.

Ansos: Forget it! It looks and operates like it was built in the 80's. You might as well use a chisel and hammer to make your schedule. No need to even elaborate any further...

API: I used API at Rex, in Raleigh, NC. Very difficult system to use. Not user friendly at all. The staff tried many times to give up on it, but management wanted us to try to make it work, so we were forced to use it. Most departments would actually keep a paper schedule too, because the paper schedule was easier to manage. Needles to say, it never really worked

Cerner: Cerner bought another scheduling company (I don't remember who), but their system is very difficult to use, and when we had a problem, their customer service was HORRIBLE! Good luck getting any help with even minor issues. Their EMR isn't bad, as they'll do a lot of custom configuration, but their scheduling system is pretty bad.

I hope this helps!!

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Thank you for the info avidreader.jdp, I have done other searches only to find pretty much the same message on "the big dogs".

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Hey rnjeff, I was a travel nurse for several years, and have had the opportunity to use all of the systems everyone else has mentioned here. I think the general consensus from everyone is spot-on. I'll list my experiences regarding each system I have personally used:

Shift Wizard: I've used Shift Wizard at two hospitals; WakeMed, in Raleigh NC, and Maria Parham, in Henderson, NC. This is an awesome system, and by far my favorite! As someone else mentioned, they are a nurse owned company, which is great. Very easy system to use. One thing my manager really liked (and the staff liked as week) was the fact that they have an interface to Kronos. As a charge nurse, I was able to see all of my productivity (as the day transpired) on my main screen. Apparently, data was pulled from Kronos, which allowed the productivity numbers (HPPD, overtime, etc) to be seen real time. Their training was very straight forward, as the system is incredibly easy to use AND it was apparently designed to to have a workflow that goes with nursing. They have a communication center that will automatically call, text and email your staff! The automated voicemail saved me countless hours trying to cover call outs. Shift Wizard is web based, so staff can access their schedule (and do self scheduling) form home, or their phone, or wherever. Again, by far THE BEST scheduling system I have ever used!

Kronos: Compete garbage! Their time and attendance system is pretty good, but their scheduling system is not meant to be used in a hospital. Kronos can not handle multiple kinds of shifts at all! If your schedule involves day/eve/night, then it may a somewhat ok system. Throw in a combination of 4 hour shifts, 6 hour shifts, 8 hour shifts and 12 hour shifts, and you'll have a complete mess on your hands...if you can even get the system to do it. Training was very long, and difficult to understand. The system is NOT easy to use, and pulling reports is like pulling teeth. That's one thing I really liked about Shift Wizard, was the ability to pull a report in seconds! From listening to my manager regarding Kronos, it was VERY expensive too.

Ansos: Forget it! It looks and operates like it was built in the 80's. You might as well use a chisel and hammer to make your schedule. No need to even elaborate any further...

API: I used API at Rex, in Raleigh, NC. Very difficult system to use. Not user friendly at all. The staff tried many times to give up on it, but management wanted us to try to make it work, so we were forced to use it. Most departments would actually keep a paper schedule too, because the paper schedule was easier to manage. Needles to say, it never really worked

Cerner: Cerner bought another scheduling company (I don't remember who), but their system is very difficult to use, and when we had a problem, their customer service was HORRIBLE! Good luck getting any help with even minor issues. Their EMR isn't bad, as they'll do a lot of custom configuration, but their scheduling system is pretty bad.

I hope this helps!!

First let me say that that is ONE CUTE DOG as your avatar! Greyhound? Such sweet animals. I agree on everything you said. I have gone to a few facilities and 2 out of the three and my friends are at other facilities where they have Kronos. Everyone either doesn't like it or doesn't use it. How much are these guys paying for it and how in the hell are they installing this in healthcare?!?!?!

Cerner? Look, they do have a pretty good EMR. Have you seen their Acuity system? It's interesting. We don't track Acuity actually, my CNO thinks it a liars system easily manipulated. Management wants to get something to increase productivity but I don't think that Acuity is the way. I know this isn't the place for this but it relates to scheduling. If Acuity is easily manipulated than staffing is off.

I have read articles on staffing and the healthcare in general and I don't think Acuity will ever take off. It's been trying for some time. I did use Quadrimed and it was ok. management liked it but it seemed like they didn't enforce it at a management level.

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Hey SuperStaffer! She's actually a Whippet (the medium sized Greyhound), and she's an awesome dog! Yeah, I'm not sure why hospitals spend so much money on some of these crappy solutions! I haven't seen Cerner's acuity system, but I've heard a little about it. Most of the comments mirror your CNO's opinion. Regarding acuity, I agree, in that it's one of those things that seems to have been around forever, and they keep trying to make it work, but no one's ever really come up with a system that isn't easily manipulated. What did you think of Quadramed? I've heard some pretty good things about them.

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Specializes in Pediatric/Adolescent, Med-Surg.

My hospital uses Clarvia, never worked someplace that used it before but I love it. Staff can access it online and request shift swaps electronically with coworkers. It also allows the managers to post a list of all overtime opportunities for staff to see and sign up for. Very user friendly

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My hospital uses Clarvia, never worked someplace that used it before but I love it. Staff can access it online and request shift swaps electronically with coworkers. It also allows the managers to post a list of all overtime opportunities for staff to see and sign up for. Very user friendly

Really?!? Wow, I am impressed. I don't like Cerner. Maybe I had an old version but I have never heard of anyone saying that Clarvia was "user friendly". Ok, I'll put them on the list.

I was given permission to compile a list of companies and their features etc.. I'll present it to management and maybe they will let me review them and wedge myself into the decision making process, if it's not too late. I have to say that everyone on here has helped me a lot, I am finding out stuff on the various systems that I never knew, not to mention learned of some that I never knew existed.

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

My hospital uses kronos. Not sure if its a different version than some of you are talking about though. From a user standpoints it is user friendly. I am able to make vacation requests and shift swaps easily. You can also pick up extra shifts easily. They post 4 hour, 8 hour, and 12 hour open shifts with various start times.

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Thanks Gabby, it would have to be a different version than what I used. Ours was not user friendly. It was odd that Kronos being the T&A system it was hard to get accurate information on an employee's productivity etc.. I have met several Kronos people and they are really cool, except the sales people, they were not, the company seems really great. I just thought that the scheduling system wasn't very good, that's why I am fighting so hard to block this from happening.

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