Kronos: Leveraging the Billian's HealthDATA Portal for Successful Sales in Long-Term Care

Jennifer Dennard, Social Marketing Director
April 4, 2011


Healthcare IT has become a ubiquitous buzz phrase in the world of medicine, due in large part to healthcare reform legislation. Not a day goes by that a news release isn't issued mentioning a hospital or physician's adoption of the latest EMR, HIE, or attempt at an ACO.   

Acronyms aside, the importance of healthcare IT reaches far beyond the consultation room, surgical suite and supply closet to perhaps the most important part of a patient's care - the team of caregivers and staff members that make that care possible. Kronos, a leading provider of automated workforce management solutions across a number of industries, has especially recognized the need for its healthcare IT products in the long-term care market.

"Long-term care tends to adopt technology at a slower rate than acute care," says Brian Graves, Global Practice Leader of Healthcare at Kronos, which currently maintains 3,000 hospitals as users of at least one of its systems. "As healthcare transforms in the next 10 to 20 years, adoption of technology in long-term care will have to occur at a much faster rate."

Coupled with the fact that the much-anticipated entry of the nation's 78 million Baby Boomers into the Medicare system begins this year, and the recent report from the Office of the Inspector General stating that 92% of the nation's nursing facilities have employed at least one person with a history of criminal activity, and the need for quality hiring solutions becomes even more compelling.


Marketing to an Industry in Need
Kronos recognized this need and began preparing for it even before healthcare reform was enacted. "Kronos has put a focused long-term care team in place in order to address the unique needs of long-term care customers," Graves explains. "Kronos now supports more industry-related events and has increased its direct marketing efforts."

The company's increase in marketing has been significantly aided by the Billian's HealthDATA Portal - an online healthcare marketing database that offers 1,300 data points on more than 6,800 hospitals in the U.S., as well as in-depth information on nursing homes, assisted living facilities and their corporate parents.

Graves first became familiar with Billian's HealthDATA through his use of its Hospital Blue Book in past sales and sales management roles. Before adopting the Portal for its healthcare sales and marketing needs two-and-a-half years ago, Kronos had been using the HIMSS Analytics database.

"Kronos had used HIMSS Analytics for one year prior to using Billian's," says Graves. "Our use of HIMSS Analytics was positive, but more sales-oriented because of its IT information. The decision to begin using the Billian's database was principally because the Billian's product was better suited to marketing efforts. Since I am in industry marketing, I needed the most accurate and up-to-date contacts.

"The Portal enables Marketing to complete ad-hoc searches for sales when needed," he adds. "Principally, the Portal is used to provide Marketing with target lists for direct-marketing efforts."

Proper Workforce Management Leads to Better Care
The Portal's ability to provide Kronos representatives with accurate and timely contact information on more than 29,000 long-term care organizations in the US has in turn helped the company communicate the importance of its workforce management solutions, including:  

• time-keeping software;   
• HR-management software;   
• payroll software;   
• workforce analytics software;   
• employee scheduling software;   
• absence management software; and    
• employee and hiring software.

These tools help long-term care facilities minimize understaffing and reduce labor costs; minimize compliance risks; boost employee productivity; reduce turnover; and increase patient satisfaction. These factors - especially staffing - play a key role in the Five-Star rating system the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services uses to compare nursing homes. The rating, in turn, is heavily relied upon by long-term care facilities in their marketing efforts to new residents.

As pointed out in a recent Billian's HealthDATA InFocus Market Report, staff ratios have a direct impact on the quality of care residents receive. The report illustrates the average quality care deficiencies of 13,425 nursing homes nationwide by their staff rating - the lower the staff rating, the higher the care deficiencies climb.

Continued Preparation Key to Keeping up with Growth
Graves predicts that growth will continue across many segments in long-term care, including skilled nursing facilities and home health. Aided by tools like the Portal, Kronos shows no signs of slowing either. Its recent acquisition of API Healthcare - a provider of human capital workforce management solutions for the healthcare industry - earlier this year indicates a strong, continued commitment to the industry.



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