Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center lays foundation for optimized workforce with Kronos

Business Wire, July 19, 2004

CHELMSFORD, Mass. -- Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center has selected the Workforce Central(R) suite from Kronos(R) Incorporated (Nasdaq: KRON). Penn State Hershey Medical Center's selection is part of its overarching information technology initiative comprised of strategic actions focused on making efficient use of technology. The Medical Center made the decision in the context of its guiding principles, which focus on the patients it serves and the value of its people.

"Penn State Hershey Medical Center focuses on the people we serve in everything we do," said Kevin Haley, chief financial officer at the Medical Center and the chief executive sponsor of the Kronos project. "Kronos' people-centric solutions align with our guiding principles and will help us meet the strictest of standards and highest of expectations across the board."

Jeff Tearpock, HRIS and payroll manager at the Medical Center, commented, "We cannot afford 100 percent payroll accuracy a date late; nor can we afford 80 percent payroll accuracy on time. We strive for 100 percent accuracy all the time. We selected Kronos for its proven, highly efficient, and accurate time and labor solution. Workforce Central lays the foundation for optimizing the workforce at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. Our goal is to build upon time and labor by adding Workforce Central's scheduling and deep analytics functionality to the mix."

Due to the intense nursing shortage permeating the healthcare field, the Medical Center is highly cognizant of the importance of delivering technology to nurses that is user-friendly and sensitive to their unique needs. "We involved nursing supervisors in our section process to ensure that the chosen solution could accommodate the complex pay patterns of our nursing staff," continued Tearpock. "We selected Kronos because we believe the solution will have the highest return on the hospital's bottom line while having the smallest impact on our employees' day-to-day responsibilities of providing high-quality patient care."

All areas of the organization will benefit from the Kronos solution including: two unions with strict compliance issues, as well as cafeteria workers, maintenance staff, support professionals, clinical staff, and nurses. The solution will help the organization meet compliance and union regulations and help ensure employees are paid fairly and accurately. With the Kronos system, the Medical Center expects to reduce costly and time-consuming payroll adjustments and pay employees for what they actually work and not just according to the schedule they were given. The Kronos system will complement Penn State Hershey Medical Center's Lawson application for HR and payroll.

Penn State Hershey Medical Center is a value-driven organization that prides itself on individual dignity, knowledge, service orientation, excellence, fiscal responsibility, and diversity. The proven ROI and enterprise-wide benefits that the Medical Center can achieve with the Kronos solution support the organization's high standard of patient care," said Dave Roth director of vertical marketing at Kronos. "We are proud that Penn State Hershey Medical Center has selected Kronos as a vendor to support the organization as it continues its tradition of excellence."

About Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center

Founded in 1963 through a gift from The Milton S. Hershey Foundation, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center is one of the leading teaching and research hospitals in the country. The 504-bed Medical Center is a provider of high-level, patient-focused medical care. Annually, the Medical Center admits over 22,000 patients, accepts nearly 700,000 outpatient visits, receives more than 42,000 emergency room visits, and performs over 16,000 surgical procedures. The Medical Center campus also includes Penn State College of Medicine -- Penn State University's medical school, and Penn State Children's Hospital -- the region's only children's hospital.

Solucient, an independent national healthcare industry analyst, has named Penn State Hershey Medical Center to their 100 Top Hospitals(R) list for both cardiac care and intensive care. From 2002 thru 2004 more than 100 Medical Center physicians from nearly 30 specialties were chosen for inclusion in Best Doctors in America(R), a nationally-recognized database that contains names and professional profiles of doctors chosen through an exhaustive peer-review survey in which thousands of physicians are asked to name the best clinical practitioners in their specialties.

About Kronos Incorporated

Kronos Incorporated is the most trusted name in workforce management. Kronos helps organizations staff, develop, deploy, track, and reward their workforce, resulting in reduced costs, increased productivity, better decision-making, improved employee satisfaction, and alignment with organizational objectives. More than 20 million people use a Kronos solution every day. Learn more about Kronos' high-impact enterprise solutions at www.kronos.com.