Providence Medical Center and Saint John’s Hospital

Case Studies

Profile

Providence and Saint John are committed to the pursuit of total and complete wellness. They provide the full continuum of care that meets the healthcare needs of the communities they serve. Providence and Saint John are both fully accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, certified Medicare/Medicaid providers, and approved providers for many major health insurance plans.

Providence Medical Center is a 400-bed acute care, not-for-profit, community hospital, and is an affiliate of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System. Providence has a medical staff of 325 doctors, representing a variety of specialties. More than 1,300 skilled and qualified individuals provide nursing, medical and support services, and 200 adult volunteers, along with a devoted Providence Health Service League, are dedicated to the Medical Center and to helping serve the health needs of Wyandotte, Leavenworth and northern Johnson counties and surrounding areas.

Saint John Hospital is a 76-bed acute care, not-for-profit hospital, an Affiliate of Providence Medical Center and the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System. Saint John has a medical staff of 215 doctors, representing a variety of specialties. Over 200 skilled and qualified individuals provide nursing, medical and support services, and 100 adults and youth volunteers, along with a devoted Guild, are dedicated to the Hospital and to helping serve the health needs of the Leavenworth and surrounding community.

Client Requirements

Providence Medical Center and Saint John Hospital chose AllofE to develop a custom online training system that ensures employees meet the requirements set by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Providence and Saint John currently publish The Educator magazine to update employees on policies, standards, safety issues and information, and other featured articles. Using a custom web content management application, AllofE has transformed The Educator into an intuitive, interactive Web site where employees can quickly locate key information, browse the site through a guided page-by-page walkthrough, and prepare to take the HIPAA competency test.

In addition to the HIPAA system, AllofE also developed a custom application to track preventative, scheduled maintenance and maintenance requests for equipment at Providence Medical Center in order to readily locate the hospital’s assets.

Challenge

  • Develop a system to track compliance testing of employees.
  • Provide a web based application that allows for anytime-anywhere access.
  • Ensure the site is easy to use so that tests can be taken with absolutely no computer knowledge.
  • Develop tests in the format most conducive for easy comprehension and usability.
  • Allow for the tests to be directly connected to their internal network.
  • Create a reporting module to generate result summaries, student reports, and exportable documents based on each test.
  • Allow for the results to be exported directly to spreadsheet format.
  • Build a security structure with user id and password authentication.
  • Track exactly which tests the employee has taken and which questions were answered correctly.
  • Require 100% correctness for the employee to pass the test.
  • Allow employees to continue training until they had mastered each section.
  • Allow the employee to take each page in a test separately allowing them to take the training in parts and always start where theypreviously stopped.
  • Automatically grade each training test section.
  • Display test results after each test page with links to corresponding Privacy documentation on each question.
  • Only require the employee to retake questions that were previously missed.

Response

AllofE designed and developed a system to specifically manage the HIPAA training process for organizations in the healthcare industry. Analysts gathered system requirements and designed a scalable, customizable, and flexible solution that would cover infinite and growing needs. Data managers then imported Providence and Saint John’s training questions into the system and setup user groups so that the hospital could assign training material to employees based on their functional area. Developers created a backend integration process with their existing intranet system to use a common username and password authentication structure. Implementation managers then implemented the system on their server and connected it directly to the hospital’s intranet. The system went live and was used to manage all HIPAA training for existing and new employees in the Providence Medical Center and Saint John’s Hospital system.

Effects

The system provided test takers with required links and information all in one centralized location. Users login, take the test, get immediate results, and print a certificate of completion. The system provided Providence and Saint John with a tool to track the testing process and employee progress. It saved time through automation of training and testing and decreased the costs associated with printing The Educator magazine. With the online site, Providence and Saint John was able to maintain up to date and relevant information and quickly make changes to training and testing content. The improvements made to the Providence suite of applications and to their site allowed the group to grow in scope, ability, and efficiency. They were now able to offer physician groups a complete membership package with a full fledged web site customized for the organization.

Asset Tracking

Companies that can completely automate their asset, lease, and warranty management processes will greatly benefit from the ability to better track, plan, and budget as well as decrease the probability of misappropriation of such assets. AllofE’s expertise in this area not only stems from a recognized need from their client base but also their own personal business experience in creating a completely automated, paperless work environment with better management of all office resources.

Reponse

Electronic access to various assets has become an important and commonly accepted tool for museum, university and archive communities. AllofE has researched the requirements of a digital asset system and developed an application that meets the needs of the Providence and St. John Hospital systems. The web-based application offered complete, end-to-end management to store, track and share digital assets.

Effects

The system allowed administrators to manage asset types, asset information, and preventative maintenance schedules for assets based on location. End users were able to login, create maintenance requests, and then track the requests using a maintenance tracking number. Technicians picked up and assigned asset maintenance based on the skills required and location of the asset. The new system completely automated the asset tracking process and ensured that preventative and scheduled maintenance was performed on time.