Avantas recently announced that it’s consulting services and Smart Square proprietary labor management software has been selected by Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. Using the company’s technology offerings, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center will create an automated labor management system.  

In a statement, Sherry Kwater, Chief Nursing Officer, Penn State Hershe, said that, "When we chose Avantas as a partner, our objective was to create increased efficiencies and cost savings across our entire enterprise. Before using this automated labor management technology we didn't have an effective way to post and fill staffing needs. Smart Square allows us to have a paperless, precise, and timely staff needs posting, creating enterprise transparency and consistency, allowing us to provide cost-effective quality care to our patients."

Implementation of the Avantas Smart Square modules was first carried out in the inpatient facility by Penn State Hershey. This helped in providing the hospital with a transparent view of staffing, scheduling, and productivity at the enterprise level. Furthermore, Penn State is also implementing Avantas' HELM (Healthcare Enterprise Labor Management) methodology. HELM essentially is a proven set of strategies based on the science of workforce planning, demand forecasting and operational best practices and combined with a complete set of scheduling and staffing tools.

Sherri Luchs, Chief Administrative Officer, Penn State Hershey Medical Group said that, "Our industry is facing unprecedented change and health care organizations will be continually challenged to get the most benefit from every dollar spent. Through our partnership with Avantas, we intend to gain greater flexibility and increased efficiency to achieve maximum value to effectively meet the staffing needs of each of our practices."

To benefit from detailed and extensive analysis of the entire health system's labor workforce and operational practices, Penn State Hershey Medical Group will also be leveraging the business intelligence tools and Smart Square dashboards from Avantas. These solutions will be implemented across more than 70 practice sites of the organization.