Building a safe workplace for healthcare workers amid a crisis

When you’re really present in the work you’re doing, you can discover a whole lot more value than you ever thought existed. That was certainly the case at CommonSpirit Health when it came to our ServiceNow deployment.

CommonSpirit Health was formed in 2019 by the merger of two healthcare companies dedicated to building healthier communities through 137 hospitals and 1,000 care centers, serving 21 states in the US. We wanted to give our more than 150,000 employees ministry-wide workplace technology to better serve their communities.

[Build a safe workplace at your organization.]

Consolidating technology and information

Starting with our newly formed HR support services and technology team, we launched a digital portal on Feb. 26, 2020, built on ServiceNow HR Service Delivery. Known as EmployeeCentral, it provides a central place for staff to access knowledge articles, dashboards, HR news, performance analytics, surveys, and search capabilities.

Then COVID-19 happened. In April, I received a frantic phone call when one of our divisions saw a huge spike in cases. We rapidly needed a way to screen employees before they entered the building.

Three days later, we added those screening capabilities to the Now Platform, and they’ve been used more than 864,000 times since.

Building a safe workplace

Our initiative, called Workplace Safety, quickly revealed one size definitely did not fit all across our organization, especially not so soon after the merger. We needed a host of solutions available, starting with a temperature check at the door to the office.

We created a bespoke system where ServiceNow integrates with a third-party scanner to generate a QR code for every employee. After scanning the code, employees position their face in front of the screen, and the scanner takes their temperature. A green light confirms they’re safe to enter, and that information is logged in ServiceNow so we know who’s in the building.

Next, we needed a way to distribute vaccinations. We built a workflow in ServiceNow to prioritize our workforce and notify employees when they become eligible. They can opt in or out, sign documents digitally, and go get their shot.

Giving employees a voice

The responses from workers following implementation really surprised me. I thought I knew what people wanted—after all, I interact with them all the time. We launched a survey to capture feedback and received 10 times more responses than I expected, all filled with great insights.

For example, I discovered that people really want a mobile app. In my circles, people say users are tired of apps, but that’s clearly not the case at CommonSpirit Health. They want good apps that replace the old ones.

The team also appreciated being given a voice. We launched EmployeeCentral 2.0 in June 2021 to provide a better employee experience in line with their feedback.

Going forward, we’re considering building a community where employees can submit ideas for change and vote on which ones they want us to prioritize. Showing workers “we asked, you shared, we listened” is really important to optimize the solution and encourage user adoption.

I like to reflect on the phrase, “Sometimes when we’re in the now, we access the all.” With ServiceNow, we can live in the moment in a very real sense. We have all the data and insights to know what the moment looks like from a lot of different angles. And the best part? We have the technology to access the all.

Find out more about CommonSpirit Health’s transformation and top tips in our on-demand Knowledge 2021 session. Registration is free.

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