This article is sponsored by Viventium. In this Voices interview, Skilled Nursing News sits down with Zishe Glauber, Chief Product Officer, Viventium, to talk about the key challenges faced by the post-acute care sector, and the role technology, and human capital management software play in alleviating these challenges. He also discusses the steps Viventium has taken to evolve with the skilled nursing landscape and providers’ needs, including how Viventium is addressing cybersecurity concerns, especially when handling sensitive employee data within the post-acute sector.
Skilled Nursing News: What career experiences do you most draw from in your role today?
In my role as Chief Product Officer at Viventium, I bring together diverse experiences from client services, implementation, and product management, all focused on human capital management (HCM) for skilled nursing, senior living, and home care. Client services taught me to deeply understand and exceed our clients’ needs, which laid the foundation for my product development approach. My time in implementation gave me firsthand insights into workflow and system efficiencies, and in product management, I combined these learnings to strategically align our products with market needs and emerging technology. As CPO, I now lead a team focused on delivering innovative yet practical HCM solutions that meet the challenges faced in post-acute health care.
What is one of the main challenges faced by the post-acute care sector? And what role does technology, and human capital management software, play in alleviating this challenge?
Recruitment and retention is one of the most persistent challenges the post-acute care industry faces, and technology plays a pivotal role in addressing it. Let’s start with retention. Your HCM software should ensure pay transparency and accuracy for employees — something that directly impacts employee satisfaction and retention. It needs to automate complex tasks such as compliance calculations, union rules, time-off accruals, and blended rate overtime requirements. This not only ensures that employees receive accurate and timely pay, but it also builds trust and job satisfaction.
Next, it should have “on-demand pay,” or early access to wages, which is a particularly innovative feature. This gives employees greater financial flexibility and control, allowing them to access earned income before the regular payday. By providing this level of autonomy, organizations can further improve employee morale and retention.
Employees should have a user-friendly mobile app to review their pay, benefits and other HR information at their fingertips. Instant access to personal data is no longer a luxury but an expectation in today’s connected world.
Lastly, on the topic of recruitment, your HCM software should have automated recruitment systems. These systems significantly cut down the time required to sift through resumes, schedule interviews, and finalize hires to streamline the hiring process for each role. Technology, in essence, isn’t just a tool for efficiency, but also a catalyst for creating a more engaged, satisfied and stable workforce in the post-acute care sector.
How has Viventium’s software evolved to meet the specific needs of post-acute care?
As the landscape of the post-acute care market has evolved, so has Viventium’s software. Our ultimate mission is to enrich the lives of caregivers through technology so that they love going to work every day.
One of the key challenges for post-acute care is the intricacy of managing multiple facilities under a single organization. Recognizing this, we’ve implemented tailored workflow automation that allows responsibilities to be managed both at the facility level and the corporate level. Our software automates the notification and approval processes between them, offering clients the ability to create custom workflows for crucial activities like rate changes.
Another significant development has been in the area of cross-facility reporting and analytics. Given that a typical client will have multiple facilities, the ability to evaluate performance or compliance on a larger scale while maintaining individualized data is crucial. Our software offers unique cross-facility analytics capabilities with built-in security roles to ensure the right people have the right access to sensitive data.
We’ve also honed in on the user experience for employees. Acknowledging the need for flexibility in today’s work environment, we’ve designed our platform with mobile-first capabilities to empower staff to execute essential tasks seamlessly while on the move. Whether it’s an employee reviewing their payroll or a manager authorizing leave requests, our software enables these activities to be carried out promptly and efficiently, from any location.
Can you discuss any upcoming features or modules in Viventium’s suite that address pressing industry challenges?
We recognize that the industry is always evolving, and we’re committed to staying ahead of those changes. One significant focus for us is on enhancing the employee onboarding process. We’re integrating the E-Verify process directly into our software to make it seamless for employers to confirm eligibility. We’re also adopting a philosophy that “you should always be onboarding.” This means extending the traditional onboarding features throughout the employee lifecycle to ensure a smooth experience that aids in both retention and productivity.
Another area we are keenly developing is the management of employee transfers and floating employees. Given the unique structure of the post-acute sector, where employees may float between multiple facilities, we’re improving how our software handles these scenarios in a compliant manner.
How is Viventium addressing cybersecurity concerns, especially when handling sensitive employee data within the post-acute sector?
Cybersecurity is paramount at Viventium, especially considering the sensitive employee data we handle in the post-acute sector. Our multi-layered security strategy begins with role-based access controls, two-factor authentication and end-to-end encryption. Our system architecture is specifically designed to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of each account.
To validate our security measures, we conduct regular internal and third-party audits. Our team also undergoes ongoing cybersecurity training to stay ahead of the latest threats and best practices. Compliance with federal and state regulations adds another layer of assurance to our data security initiatives.
We continuously monitor behavior and data access patterns to enable our security team to take immediate action, further strengthening our commitment to safeguarding sensitive information.
Speak on the most impactful features in payroll Viventium has for the post-acute care market.
Industry-specific payroll software is crucial so facility owners and administrators can streamline their processes and reduce the risk of compliance issues, all while keeping sensitive information secure.
The ability to set up custom user roles in Viventium is a very important feature. There is a lot of sensitive information in your payroll system that needs to remain safe such as pay rates, social security numbers, and home addresses. With our role-based access control feature, providers can designate and limit the level of access to specific information with unlimited custom user roles, in an in-depth yet intuitive permission system.
Our software also provides audit trails. By having a clear record of all actions taken within Viventium’s payroll software, you can maintain a high level of data integrity and safeguard against unauthorized access or alterations.
Automated retroactive pay is another essential feature. Staff members may forget to log their working hours, resulting in missed hours on their paychecks. Manually computing these calculations is a recipe for disaster. Automated retroactive pay enables employers to pay employees for missed hours in previous pay periods accurately.
Overtime is common in facility-based care, as many employees work long hours to provide round-the-clock care for patients. While overtime may be simple for employees paid at the same rate all week, it gets complicated for employees who may receive different pay rates depending on the time of day, weekend differentials, or the type of care being provided. Multi-rate overtime pay can be challenging and time-consuming, which also leaves it vulnerable to compliance errors that can result to legal consequences. Enter Viventium.
The last feature I’d like to highlight is automated taxation, a tool that ensures you are withholding the right taxes based on the laws that apply to where your employees are working and living. Different states and localities have different tax laws, and it’s crucial to comply with all of them to avoid penalties. Non-compliance can take various forms, such as incorrect jurisdictions, under-withheld taxes, and over-withheld taxes.
In a couple of words, finish this sentence: “In 2023, the facility-based care industry is being defined by…?”
…a pivotal focus on employee recruiting and retention.
Editor’s Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Viventium provides a SaaS-based human capital management solution that is focused on the post-acute care industry. The company’s mission is to enrich the lives of caregivers through technology so they love going to work every day. By providing specialized software and expert guidance, Viventium helps its clients throughout the lifecycle of each caregiver. The company has clients in all 50 states and supports over 420,000 client employees each year. For more information about Viventium, visit https://www.viventium.com
The Voices Series is a sponsored content program featuring leading executives discussing trends, topics, and more shaping their industry in a question-and-answer format. For more information on Voices, please contact [email protected].
