BidShift Releases AJAX-Enchanced Workforce Management Software

April 25, 2006; 02:12 AM
San Diego-based BidShift, a provider of web-based flexible workforce management technology for healthcare providers, will introduce and demonstrate its industry-leading capabilities for enabling effective staffing practices at the 2006 American Organization of Nurse Executives annual meeting and exposition, being held April 19-22 at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel in Orlando, Florida.

BidShift's innovative flexible workforce management program provides a framework for optimizing management of the existing workforce. One of the key staffing challenges is solved through an automated approach for filling open shifts. Staff use the technology to log on from work or home, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to identify available shifts and make online requests for shifts that match their skills, experience and lifestyle interests.

BidShift is currently used in more than 80 hospitals as a means to leverage the existing resource pool, give staff more choice and flexibility over the shifts they work, drive employee satisfaction and retention, and provide a competitive advantage for the recruitment of qualified staff.

"We are pleased to introduce our latest staffing effectiveness solutions at AONE and demonstrate how the innovative combination of technology, best practices, and strategic services is empowering our clients to attract and retain qualified staff and deliver cost-effective, high quality patient care," said Bruce Springer, President and CEO of BidShift, Inc.

BidShift 3.1 builds upon the major functionality and strategic features introduced in BidShift 3.0, including:

ShiftRewards(TM): A point-based incentive program used in conjunction with, or instead of, cash incentives. Staff receive points each time they use the BidShift system, which can be redeemed for rewards such as movie tickets, gift cards, or iPods. Staff can earn extra points if they work holidays or other hard to fill shifts. ShiftRewards automates tracking and can be incorporated into existing reward and recognition programs that support staff retention.

Core Schedule Upload with Safe Scheduling: A powerful tool to enhance informed decision making. This module facilitates the import and integration of the core schedule with shifts that are filled via BidShift, and aggregates all shifts scheduled to be worked. Staff can access BidShift to check their schedule, be it core or BidShift shifts. This feature supports the new safe scheduling feature, which provides alerts when requested shifts are in excess of client configurable cumulative work rule limits.

Per-Diem Management: A new feature that automates the tracking of schedule commitments and regulates viewing of shift incentives based on meeting minimum work requirements. This module enables users to create minimum commitments for various labor pools and ensures consistency by automating visibility in compliance with policies.

Agency Management: A new capability to offer open shift requesting to staffing agencies where agencies themselves will login to BidShift to communicate the names of staff members who are eligible to work shifts. Communication with agencies is streamlined, while decision making remains with the facility as they determine which agency staff member will work on each shift.

BidShift 3.1 introduces a significant number of core product enhancements based on customer feedback to include Percentage Bidding, a new incentive option which improves fairness of incentive practices. In addition, the release provides numerous updates to the BidShift interface engine to ease connections with existing scheduling and other vendor software, and provides vastly improved ease of use with AJAX, a very popular technology for web based applications.

Other BidShift related AONE events include an informal reception to be held on Friday, April 21, from 7:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. in the Oceanic Room 1 at the Dolphin Hotel to facilitate networking with some of the nation's thought leaders in effective staffing.

About AONE

Founded in 1967, the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE), a subsidiary of the American Hospital Association, is a national organization of over 5,000 nurses who design, facilitate, and manage care. Its mission is to represent nurse leaders who improve healthcare. AONE members are leaders in collaboration and catalysts for innovation. AONE's vision is "Shaping the future of healthcare through innovative nursing leadership." For more information, visit www.aone.org.

About BidShift

BidShift is a flexible workforce management company providing healthcare organizations with the technology, strategy, and insight needed to develop effective staffing practices for the next generation healthcare workforce environment. By aligning incentives and dynamically matching the organization's needs with workforce availability, BidShift positions organizations to retain and attract qualified staff, deliver high quality, cost-effective health care, and cultivate a world-class workforce/working environment. To learn more, visit www.BidShift.com.