Overview
Kirby Medical Center, a vital healthcare provider in the heart of rural Illinois, is dedicated to serving the well-being of its community. In its pursuit of operational excellence, Kirby Medical recognized the need to modernize its employee health management practices. The center aimed to transition from an inefficient system to achieve more streamlined processes, ensure greater compliance, and provide an improved experience for its employees.
Challenge
Kirby Medical’s employee health team encountered obstacles due to the reliance on manual, paper-based workflows and a system that was not specifically designed for the complexities of employee health management. This presented difficulties in several key areas. Managing employee health clinics, such as flu vaccination drives, was cumbersome and logistically complex.
Furthermore, ensuring and tracking compliance was a labor-intensive process. Finally, the lack of an efficient employee self-service option for accessing health records, such as immunization records, placed an additional administrative burden on the employee health department.
Solution
To address these challenges, Kirby Medical implemented Immuware, a specialized employee health management platform, which facilitated a significant transformation in the center’s employee health operations. The platform enabled the digitization and streamlining of the onboarding process, reducing paperwork and accelerating the process for new hires. “The pre-employment physical process is much smoother now,” said Annie Muse, the rural health clinic’s Quality Assurance/Infection Control Manager. “New hires appreciate the convenience, and we appreciate the time saved.”
A key feature of Immuware was its integration with the state immunization information system (IIS), which allowed for seamless and rapid access to employee immunization records. This integration significantly improved the speed and accuracy of verifying employee vaccination history, aiding in both onboarding and ensuring compliance requirements were met efficiently.
Immuware also provided a centralized repository for all employee health records, greatly improving the organization and accessibility of critical data. As Annie explains, “The state registry integration was a game-changer. It significantly reduced the time we spent manually retrieving vaccination records.”
Furthermore, the management of employee health clinics was simplified through Immuware’s tools, which automated the tracking of employee participation and vaccination status. Compliance tracking and reporting were also automated, ensuring greater accuracy and efficiency across the board.
Importantly, Immuware empowered employees by providing them with self-service access to their health information.
Results
The adoption of Immuware at Kirby Medical Center yielded a range of positive outcomes. There was a notable increase in the efficiency of employee health management processes, freeing up staff time and resources. Employees experienced greater satisfaction due to the improved convenience and access to their health information. Workflows for the employee health team were streamlined, allowing staff to focus on more strategic and value-added activities. Employees were empowered to take a more active role in managing their health information, leading to increased engagement and reduced administrative inquiries.
Annie’s testimonial paints a vivid picture of Immuware’s success: “I recommend Immuware because they’re willing to work with you and get what you need in one place for the employee health portal.” She also emphasized the platform’s continuous improvement and exceptional customer support, noting, “I feel like Immuware has come a long way in just the last couple of years that I’ve been working with them. There’s been great customer service and product enhancements to support what our facility needs.”
Perhaps the most significant outcome, as Annie points out, is the empowerment of the employees themselves. “Our employees are compliant, and things run smoothly. All the records are in Immuware, so if an employee needs something, they get it themselves. No more calling us for flu vaccination or other immunization records. It’s just way more efficient.”
About Kirby Medical Center
Located in Monticello, Illinois, Kirby Medical Center is an independent, not-for-profit organization with a long-standing commitment to its community. Since 1941, the center has provided healthcare services to families in Piatt County, with a mission to deliver quality and compassionate care to all people in need. Kirby Medical Center offers a healing environment featuring spacious and private patient suites, advanced imaging technology, and a comprehensive range of medical services.
