Hosting applications in the cloud can help reduce costs associated with information technology and infrastructures, but many hospitals have been reluctant to make the transition because of data access and security concerns. This was not the case at Saint Mary’s Hospital, a Catholic, not-for-profit community teaching hospital in Waterbury, CT.
A cloud-based time and attendance solution has reduced IT support costs and improved staffing processes at Saint Mary’s Hospital.
![]()
Hosting applications in the cloud can help reduce costs associated with information technology and infrastructures, but many hospitals have been reluctant to make the transition because of data access and security concerns. This was not the case at Saint Mary’s Hospital, a Catholic, not-for-profit community teaching hospital in Waterbury, CT.
The e hospital embraces cloud-based solutions, shifting several of its applications to the cloud in the past few years with more to come. The e most recent was a hosted time and attendance solution from Kronos that, paired with new analytics capabilities, not only reduce IT expenses but improved workforce management for the hospital’s nearly 2,000 employees as well.
“We’ve had Kronos in place since 2006 and this transition went along with what we were already working on in terms of moving more solutions to the cloud,” says Michelle Godin, RN, Ed.D, CNA, manager of business operations, nursing, at Saint Mary’s. “We’ve gone that direction with our AllScripts solution as well as Kronos.”
Cloud Platform Keeps Hospital Updated
Saint Mary’s has always used Kronos software and time clocks for the bulk of its time and attendance and scheduling applications. There was a dedicated server on site for the Kronos system, which required monitoring and maintenance, but, by moving to the cloud platform, the IT staff could divest itself of most of the configuration, maintenance, upgrades, and support responsibilities. Using a cloud solution also ensures updates in a timely manner, something Godin says was problematic prior to the switch. “We were often behind on updates because of the time involved in deploying and monitoring them,” Godin notes.
While Saint Mary’s had made a strategic commitment to the cloud, there were some concerns. In the case of the Kronos solution, Godin says staff members were worried about changing their access to the database. “We were going to lose our ability to get to the database in a live environment,” Godin says. “We run reports off of the database, and if you don’t know if it’s up-to-date or not, that can be an issue in terms of making sure you have all the right codes and information to run those reports.”
In addition to the time-tracking solution, the hospital also deployed the Kronos OptiLink solution for real-time analytics and workload management, an on-premise solution that provides scheduling and time optimization data. Saint Mary’s also revamped its approach to time clocks as it upgraded to Kronos InTouch hardware. “We had siloed those clocks based on where the cabling was originally, but we wanted to make them more convenient,” Godin says. “Now we’ve put the clocks as close to the work area as possible and, to the best of our ability, reduced travel time required to clock in and out.”
The hospital also upgraded its applications to include new labor analytics, patient classification and workload management, and mobile applications, as well as new Kronos InTouch time clocks.
The cloud solution went live in December 2014, and Godin describes the transition as seamless. “It only took about two hours to transfer us over,” she says. “We just had to disconnect the old clocks from the current server and bring up the new clocks on the cloud. Nobody noticed from an end-user perspective. The IT staff just had to learn where to go for help if there was a problem.”
Saint Mary’s IT staff and Kronos have a call once per month to discuss any issues, and the only problem so far has been getting a prompt enough alert if there is a system outage. “We wouldn’t necessarily know when the system was down,” Godin says. “If it’s slow or we can’t connect, we had to check on our side before determining if there was a problem with Kronos. We’ve improved our communication, so now we know pretty quickly if there is an issue with the cloud solution.”
Better Visibility Into Patient Volume, Staff Workloads
Staff members badge in and out of their shifts using the Kronos clocks and managers use the solution to run reports and manage payroll. This has contributed, says Godin, to the hospital’s ability to use data from its payroll system and from Kronos to provide better visibility into patient volume and workloads.
Each day, the hospital imports a chargemaster file to the Kronos analytics tool based on the patient charges from the previous day. Once a week they also upload a payroll file to Kronos. “We can see exactly how many patients we saw yesterday; we can see our volume,” Godin says. “That gives us much better information than we ever had before about the work we’ve done.”
The on-premise OptiLink solution has also provided new granularity when it comes to workload management. During each shift, the nurses provide an acuity score for each patient in OptiLink. “The manager can see, based on that score, just how the assignments are balanced, how sick the patients are on a particular floor, and if we need fewer or more nurses,” Godin says.
Eventually, all physician orders will be integrated with OptiLink, which will provide even more patient acuity information. “We’ll be able to compare the physician orders and the nurse’s judgment,” Godin says. “That will prevent acuity creep, which is when the nurses might characterize the patient as being sicker than they really are.”
Lightening The IT Load
According to Godin, moving time and attendance to the cloud has delivered the expected IT savings in part because the IT staff no longer has to monitor and support the dedicated server. “It’s just one less thing they have to monitor,” Godin says. “Moving to the cloud has taken that out of the queue.”
![]()
Godin anticipates the OptiLink solution will eventually be offered in the cloud, and the hospital will transition to a hosted version once it is available. The hospital is also evaluating a new payroll system, which will likely be cloud-based as well.
But that’s not all. Saint Mary’s is currently testing two mobile apps from Kronos. The Workforce Mobile app will allow managers to complete timecards on a mobile device, and there is also a mobile analytics app allowing managers to view productivity data and analytics reports. Employee self-scheduling is on the horizon, and, Godin says, once the hospital has made that transition, there will probably be a mobile app for employees as well.
That will likely come when the hospital upgrades to the newest version of Kronos later this year. “It will be just one phone call to let Kronos know I’m ready to upgrade,” Godin says. “We don’t have to go to the data center and oversee or monitor the upgrade. My focus will be on preparing the staff to use the new features.”
Hosting applications in the cloud can help reduce costs associated with information technology and infrastructures, but many hospitals have been reluctant to make the transition because of data access and security concerns. This was not the case at Saint Mary’s Hospital, a Catholic, not-for-profit community teaching hospital in Waterbury, CT.
Godin anticipates the OptiLink solution will eventually be offered in the cloud, and the hospital will transition to a hosted version once it is available. The hospital is also evaluating a new payroll system, which will likely be cloud-based as well.
