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Datamatics Has Cure For Hospital Overtime Abuses January 22, 2008
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Article taken from FastPitchNetworking.com
Overtime fraud is one reason hospitals have excessive payrolls and have to close their doors. Is there a cure?
FORDS, NJ, January 22, 2008- Datamatics Management Services, Inc., a leading provider of labor management services, recognizes that overtime fraud is a primary concern to managers and executives in the hospital/healthcare industries. In an article in the Asbury Park Press entitled, "Hospital's Overtime Costs Soar," Alan Guenther examined the overtime costs of all five of New Jersey's state psychiatric hospitals. What he found was startling.
"Payroll records show that cooks, groundskeepers, nurses, and patient care specialists are reaping financial windfalls, with some employees making nearly as much in overtime pay as in salaries." For example, in Ancora Psychiatric Hospital (Ancora, NJ) in 2006, almost $9.1 million of Ancora's $85 million budget, or 10.7 percent was spent on overtime. An even more impressive statistic is the fact that 300 employees each received at least $10,000 in overtime pay in 2006. Notable among these was a Nursing Supervisor who more than doubled her $63,908 salary in 2006 with $70,171 in overtime pay and a Head Cook who made $81,017, including $35,610 in overtime.
While staffing shortages may certainly be a factor, some degree of overtime abuse is contributing to this disturbing trend. In looking specifically at Ancora's case, none of their employees are currently required to punch a clock. According to Datamatics President & CEO Norman Heinle, "This is problematic not only at New Jersey's hospitals, but at hospitals and healthcare facilities across the country." Indeed, the lack of a time and attendance solution at hospitals and healthcare facilities provides an opportunity for employee abuse. As Heinle points out, "Hospital overtime fraud provides a burden not only to the hospital and its patients, but to taxpayers, as well." A common form of employee abuse in the healthcare industry is sleeping while on duty. As Michael Vance, a Human Resources Manager for the Department of Health and Social Services, stated, ""Hospital employees often spell each other at night. One will sleep while another keeps watch, like international pilots on a long flight. Some employees will "sign each other out". The overtime itself, he said, is often doled out as a perk to those friendly with the hospital's leadership.
During its 42 years of existence, Datamatics has had significant success providing time and attendance solutions for organizations with overtime abuse issues in the hospital/healthcare industry. Through its TC-1 (Enterprise) and TimesheetPlus (Web-Based) software, Datamatics enables organizations to accurately track employee time and attendance. These applications also warn you when an employee is approaching an overtime position, which helps you to control overtime and other staff-related costs.
Datamatics' biometric data collection devices also enable you to eliminate the "buddy punching" problem that is pervasive at hospitals nationwide. In addition, Datamatics' labor management solutions provide real- time, up-to-the-minute reports and scheduling tools that enable firms to monitor employee utilization and ensure cost-effective coverage to meet staffing demands, effectively ending the preferential treatment in granting overtime.
To help solve your overtime issues, give us a call today at (800) 673-0366 or visit our website at www.datamaticsinc.com.
About Datamatics Management Services, Inc.
Datamatics Management Services, Inc. is a New Jersey-based software development company that creates applications relative to the management of labor assets -- specifically for employee scheduling, attendance record keeping, benefit tracking, labor allocation and access control. The company's open architecture approach to developing software provides enterprise-wide, integrated solutions that address the many challenges of managing people and business. Datamatics' premier labor management solution, TC-1, is a scalable and flexible application that bridges culture with technology. Datamatics also offers TimesheetPlus, a web-based time and attendance system and V-Core HR, a human resource program designed to provide policies, forms and employee
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Our clients say..
"Absenteeism was running at 4% and after getting TC-1 up and running it has dropped dramatically to 1.5% or less. We were able to lower our payroll processing hours from several days down to 15 minutes." -Steve Melton
Alcoa Fujikura Ltd.
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