An adverse event report (AER) is a self-initiated medical report detailing an undesirable clinical outcome associated with a medication or medical device. The reports fall under the umbrella of medical information requests (MIRs), as both are initiated by providers or consumers and are then directed at pharmaceutical companies or medical device manufacturers.

AERs are typically generated by physicians, though manufacturers or consumers may also submit them. Regardless, adverse event reporting is critical to patient safety and the refinement of medications. Without the information provided by AERs, manufacturers would be unable to track the frequency of unfavorable events or monitor the severity of unintended clinical outcomes.

By leveraging adverse event reports, manufacturers can continuously improve their products, protect consumers, and remove potentially dangerous medications from circulation. However, although virtually every entity in the life science and healthcare industry understands the importance of adverse event reporting, many struggle to efficiently manage their AERs.

As part of our efforts to expedite adverse event reporting, we have identified some common forms of adverse events, outlined the challenges associated with their AER submission, and provided some strategies to circumvent these roadblocks. Care providers and other entities in the life science and healthcare sectors can use the insights below to promote compliance and expedite reporting.

Types of adverse events

Any unintended and undesirable clinical outcome caused by an administered medication can be categorized as an adverse event. Some of the adverse events that warrant an AER include the following:

• Unexpected or harmful side effects brought on by drugs or medical devices

• Overdoses or accidental exposure to unnecessary medications

• Issues related to product quality, purity, or potency

• Cases of medical errors or problems related to product labeling or packaging

• Environmental or occupational exposure to chemicals or other substances

• Incidents that fall into the above categories should be classified and documented via an adverse event report in most instances.

Failing to file an AER promptly and efficiently can expose a provider and their organization to significant liability while endangering patients and hindering manufacturers’ ability to improve their offered medications or devices.

Reporting unexpected or harmful side effects is particularly important and time-sensitive. Such occurrences must be reported as soon as possible to relay the information to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the product manufacturer.

When filing reports, providers must differentiate between side effects that were explicitly harmful to the patient and those that were simply unexpected. For instance, suppose a provider prescribes a new headache medication to some patients. One patient reports nausea and vomiting, whereas another finds the drug improved their sleep quality.

While the pharmaceutical company needs to know about each incident, reports are documented using distinct processes. Therefore, both outcomes should be properly reported; the negative effect through an AER and the positive result via a medical information request form.

The challenges of adverse event reporting

Adverse event reporting is a relatively straightforward process: Providers should promptly report any undesirable clinical outcome caused by a medication or device. Despite its relative simplicity, however, the reporting process is muddled due to a wide range of confounding factors, including the following:

Regulatory compliance

Adverse event reporting is a tightly regulated process, and companies that fail to adhere to these strict ordinances can incur hefty penalties and lawsuits. Additionally, non-compliant organizations will likely suffer long-lasting reputational damage, which could negatively impact consumer trust for years.

Unfortunately, a single governing body does not set adverse event reporting regulations. While the FDA does establish many AER protocols, companies must also contend with their state-specific regulations. Navigating a single set of regulatory guidelines can be challenging enough, so keeping up with multiple sets of continuously evolving requirements is undoubtedly even more difficult.

Data silos

Far too often, adverse event data is stored in multiple systems across different departments. When data is scattered and stored on disparate software solutions that don’t properly communicate, the details surrounding adverse events will get lost in the shuffle.

Data silos hinder the proper documentation of AERs and make it challenging to submit or manage any medical information requests. Organizations in such scenarios often struggle to track and analyze adverse event information, much less report it within established time constraints.

Therefore, businesses must proactively work to eliminate data silos while maintaining their AER and MIR compliance. Doing so will also promote better organizational efficiency and improved collaboration among team members.

Adopting a modern, fully-integrated reporting solution is the most practical way to tear data silos down. A platform like BP Logix’s MIR solution facilitates the seamless tracking and analysis of all outstanding medical information requests, including adverse event reports. Organizations can ensure they meet regulatory requirements and preserve their reputations.

Managing large volumes of data

Adverse events include a broad array of harmful and unintended clinical outcomes. As a result, organizations are bound to rack up a large volume of AERs, and keeping up with that data can prove quite challenging.

Entities not adopting streamlined data management workflows will struggle to respond to AERs within established time constraints, leaving the door open to compliance violations and penalties.

As part of their data management protocols, organizations must also be able to categorize and prioritize their AERs. More significant adverse events, such as hospitalization, need to be addressed before less pressing ones.

Responses must be timely

Delays in adverse event reporting can be highly detrimental to an institution’s reputation. More importantly, they can pose a serious risk to patients. The longer potentially dangerous or compromised batches of medication remain in circulation, the higher the chances are for a severe event, such as permanent injury or death. Even a single negligence-related death or injury can expose an organization to significant legal repercussions.

For instance, let’s say that a physician’s patient is hospitalized due to a severe reaction to a medication. The physician does their due diligence, immediately submitting an AER to the manufacturer, but that manufacturer does not have a means of prioritizing its AERs. Instead, it processes them in the order they were received, which means the original AER is not responded to for upwards of 30 days. During that time, two dozen other patients are hospitalized.

The above example might seem somewhat hyperbolic, but it illustrates the dangers of adverse event reporting delays in that they magnify an organization’s risk. Therefore, life science entities must make every effort to expedite their reporting and response processes.

Complex processes

Generating and responding to AERs can be an incredibly involved, complex process. Even a single AER may require input from multiple stakeholders, such as regulatory bodies, internal teams, and healthcare providers. The process becomes even more complicated when patients are directly involved in adverse event reporting.

While there is no way to remove stakeholders from the equation, organizations can facilitate better collaboration and information sharing by breaking down communication barriers between these entities. When stakeholders can efficiently provide and relay their insights, the reporting process becomes streamlined.

How to overcome these challenges

Adverse event reporting is an intricate procedure that involves dealing with several different hurdles. Still, although there is no singular solution for overcoming these challenges, organizations can simplify and expedite their AER processes by proactively eliminating points of friction.

Specifically, companies striving to facilitate more efficient adverse event reporting should do the following:

Establish clear internal procedures and guidelines.

Though they may seem obvious, some organizations do not have clear, repeatable processes for adverse event reporting. When reporting guidelines are unclear and easy to follow, errors are bound to occur.

Any organization interested in revamping its AER management strategies should reevaluate its internal procedures and guidelines, gathering feedback from employees that submit or receive AERs. Doing so will help stakeholders make meaningful improvements to existing protocols.

Use a centralized adverse event reporting system to eliminate silos/improve visibility

Adverse event reporting will always be an organizational pain point if data silos exist. In light of such, organizations must replace their antiquated, disparate reporting systems with a centralized alternative. Aggregating all adverse event reports into a single platform allows businesses responsible for processing or responding to AERs to promote better visibility and improve compliance.

Adopting a unified database will improve AER visibility, eliminate data silos, and promote enhanced medical information request management. Addressing MIR and AER management is critical to compliance within the life science and healthcare verticals. An organization that succeeds at both will be able to foster trust among its consumers and providers while also avoiding any regulatory penalties.

Implement process automation to reduce errors

Deploying a centralized AER management database is a significant step toward better efficiency and compliance. Still, if adverse event reporting workflows continue to rely on manual inputs, they will always be plagued by human errors. Organizations tasked with AER management should implement process automation tools like BP Logix’s MIR solution to combat errors and further mitigate risks.

Our dynamic platform enables entities to automate traditionally tedious, manual processes, in turn freeing up AER management teams to tackle more dynamic tasks while simultaneously reducing the frequency of errors and mitigating their risks. BP Logix’s MIR solution integrates into an organization’s existing reporting system and can be tailored to meet the needs of nearly any healthcare or life sciences entity.

Leverage predictive analytics to identify trends

When AERs are dispersed across an entire team, detecting and tracking trends among them can be tricky. The longer a concerning pattern of adverse events goes undetected, the more likely it is to result in reputational damage and patient harm.

With that in mind, companies must incorporate data analytics software into their AER management workflows. Analytics and machine learning tools can detect trends as soon as they emerge, allowing stakeholders to use real-time data to guide decision-making processes.

Provide training and support to employees

Although workflow automation technologies can improve reporting efficiency, employees will always be the backbone of any AER initiative. Adverse event reporting will remain a challenge without talented, well-trained, confident workers.

Therefore, decision-makers must invest in employee training and upskilling efforts to turn AER management into an organizational strength, all of which must be designed with the employee in mind.

Generally speaking, it is best to avoid long, tedious training blocks and break down programs into smaller, easier-to-digest sessions. Such an approach can improve information retention and help team members get the most out of each training session.

Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements with regular audits

The abovementioned strategies should significantly improve an organization’s adverse event reporting processes. Still, organizational leaders must ensure compliance with regulatory requirements by conducting regular audits and process reviews. These reviews will reveal which tactics are working and what shortcomings still exist within the AER management strategy of the business.

If possible, organizational leaders should outsource audits to ensure objectivity. Using a third-party auditing firm can also provide additional insights, as the outside source may be able to offer a fresh perspective on old business challenges.

Modernize adverse event reporting

While many challenges are associated with adverse event reporting, your organization must navigate each to ensure compliance and preserve its reputation within the healthcare community.

You can create a dynamic strategy to facilitate streamlined reporting by leveraging the adverse event reporting tactics outlined above. When you pair that strategy with BP Logix’s robust MIR management solution, you can further expedite your reporting processes and achieve ongoing compliance.

BP Logix’s platform includes a suite of automation and visibility tools designed to help you track MIRs and adverse events throughout the reporting process. You can prioritize time-sensitive requests and avoid reporting mishaps that expose your business to fines or other penalties. Additionally, our solution reduces instances of human error and facilitates complete reporting of adverse events.

If you are ready to rethink how you manage adverse event reporting, explore BP Logix’s MIR solution to learn more.

Medical information request management is undoubtedly one of the most important functions of medical affairs teams that operate within the life sciences space.

Be that as it may, processing medical information requests (MIRs) has, historically, proven to be a challenging, tedious, and time-consuming task that ties up essential resources and exposes pharmaceutical entities to compliance issues, which can lead to fines, reputational damage, and other penalties that threaten profitability and business continuity.

Fortunately, organizations that produce pharmaceuticals and medical devices can mitigate these risks by implementing a versatile information request management system (IRMS) solution. Modern IRMS software empowers organizations to rethink how they handle medical information requests, promote efficiency, and facilitate compliance.

With that said, there is a sizable number of IRMS software solutions on the market today, which can make it difficult for life science entities to find the right platform for the needs of their organization. To help expedite your search, we’re walking through some must-have features and attributes to look for when exploring IRMS software for your company.

What are medical information requests?

MIRs are self-initiated, unsolicited requests made by a healthcare professional and submitted when a clinician or other healthcare professional needs to obtain technical, scientific, or medical information about a product that is not readily available in its instructions for use (IFU) or initial prescribing information.

There are several different types of MIRs, including adverse event reports (AERs), product complaints, general requests for information, and notifications about potential off-label effects or uses. Due to the broad scope of MIRs, it is important that all inbound requests are quickly reviewed, categorized, and assigned to the appropriate medical affairs team members.

Why manual MIR processing falls short

Medical information requests are commonly received via shared inboxes and subsequently tracked via spreadsheets, but any organizations that have used or are currently using such an approach can attest to its inefficiency.

When multiple team members are using the same inbox to receive and process inbound requests, it is all too easy for MIRs to slip through the cracks. Similar issues arise when medical affairs personnel are tracking dozens of MIRs at once, with spreadsheets that are scattered about their organization’s network.

For instance, let’s say that your team uses both spreadsheets and a shared inbox. When the medical affairs team returns to the office on a Monday morning, they have several dozen new MIRs in the joint inbox, which means that each team member is assigned to handle a specific type of request (adverse events, general requests, etc.).

As each staff member begins filtering out the requests that fall under their purview, the individual that is tasked with responding to general MIRs accidentally moves an AER to their personal inbox. They don’t notice their mistake until the following day, at which time they reroute it back to the shared inbox. However, since the message is already showing as “read,” the team member tasked with handling AERs does not see the message for several days, resulting in a delayed response to a time-sensitive MIR.

When your organization bases its MIR processing protocols around such antiquated technologies and procedures, even if they’re detail-oriented, talented medical affairs teams are bound to make these sorts of mistakes on occasion. Even a single oversight can lead to serious financial consequences and set the stage for irreparable damage to your organization’s reputation. Therefore, automating the MIRs of your life sciences entity with IRMS software should be a top priority.

Automating MIRs with IRMS software

Manually handling MIRs only serves to bog down medical affairs teams and limit their productivity. Additionally, inefficient manual MIR processes diminish the experience of healthcare professionals and their patients, creating compliance headaches and making it nearly impossible for teams to respond to requests in a timely manner.

Fortunately, organizations in the pharmaceutical and medical equipment sectors can circumvent these issues by adopting IRMS software.

These technology suites include tools that enable medical affairs teams to automate traditionally manual, tedious MIR-related tasks, such as report intake and analysis. The most robust IRMS software solutions also assist with categorizing, prioritizing, and responding to medical information requests, thereby streamlining every touchpoint of MIR processing.

With IRMS software, medical affairs teams will no longer be inundated with a seemingly endless list of pending MIRs. Instead, they can effortlessly respond to each request, generate detailed reports, relay information to healthcare professionals, and ensure compliance with relevant regulatory requirements.

Benefits of an IRMS software

The benefits of IRMS software are significant and far-reaching. By implementing such a solution, organizations in the pharmaceutical and medical equipment industries can achieve the following:

Improve efficiency

Using inefficient processes, like using a shared inbox to receive requests or leveraging spreadsheets to track outstanding MIRs, sets the stage for delayed responses and missed deadlines, which can cause frustration among healthcare professionals, endanger patients, and diminish trust in an organization.

An IRMS software solution can improve end-to-end MIR processing efficiency by providing medical affairs teams with the tools and technology they need to maximize productivity. They can automate intake processes, categorize and prioritize inbound MIRs in seconds, and distribute each request to the appropriate staff member, making missed requests and delayed responses a thing of the past.

Enhance compliance

The pharmaceutical and medical device sectors have long been, undoubtedly, some of the most tightly regulated industries. In recent years, state and federal authorities have enacted even more stringent regulations, which not only raise the bar for compliance but also include severe penalty schedules for violators.

IRMS software can help ensure compliance with state and federal regulations by facilitating timely, transparent, and efficient responses to medical information requests. Upon receiving a request, medical affairs teams can quickly begin processing the MIR and conveying the appropriate information to the submitting healthcare professional.

Furthermore, IRMS software supports additional compliance by providing teams with analytics tools they can use to monitor and improve the efficiency of their MIR processes.

Facilitate better data management

Tracking medical information requests with spreadsheets creates data silos and leads to a lack of MIR visibility. In other words, MIRs can end up overlooked, misplaced, or outright lost, and when that happens, medical affairs teams are bound to provide delayed responses or relay inaccurate or otherwise incomplete information to those requesting it.

Transitioning to a centralized IRMS software solution will facilitate better, more transparent data management. Medical affairs teams, compliance personnel, and decision-makers will be able to easily view how many MIRs are in the pipeline, what the status of each request is, and other important factors. They can then use that information to ensure that response deadlines are met while also monitoring the efficacy of MIR processes.

What to look for when choosing an IRMS solution

Investing in an IRMS solution is a major decision that will have a profound impact on patient and healthcare professional experiences. The platform that your team chooses to implement will also affect compliance, which is why you must carefully evaluate each prospective IRMS software before settling on a solution.

Therefore, as you search for IRMS software for your organization, you should consider a wide range of factors and attributes that include the following:

Customizability

While the general process of responding to MIRs is relatively standardized, the needs of every medical affairs team are unique. Therefore, it is important that you select IRMS software that can be tailored to align with your team’s structure, objectives, and needs.

The ideal IRMS software or platform for your organization will allow you to customize several aspects of the user experience. Specifically, you should choose a solution that allows you to modify workflows, create custom data fields, and augment the dashboard to provide a more seamless user experience.

User-friendliness

Speaking of the user experience, the best IRMS solutions are exceptionally user-friendly, though it’s important to note that some options out there are clunky, tedious to use, and downright complicated.

If you implement IRMS software that falls in the latter camp, you will experience diminished employee buy-in and a reduced return on your investment.

On the other hand, when your new platform is intuitive and easy to use, your team will experience a shallower learning curve, be more accepting of the software change, and will embrace the tools you provide them with. On a broader scale, adopting user-friendly IRMS software will decrease your time to value and boost your ROI.

Integrations

One of the biggest challenges associated with traditional MIR management is a lack of data visibility. When your medical affairs team uses disparate software to manage its MIRs, visibility is poor, and errors occur far too often.

With that in mind, tearing down data silos and promoting total MIR visibility are both vital if you want to streamline your medical information request management processes, and to achieve those goals, you need an IRMS software solution that seamlessly integrates with your existing technology stack.

Before you commit to a solution, though, make sure it is compatible with your customer relationship management (CRM) software and other database systems, as well as your email and collaboration tools. Such a solution will be able to share vital data with your other systems and empower your staff to optimize productivity.

Compliance

Your IRMS software should also support your compliance efforts. Choose a solution that provides various compliance and governance tools so that you can closely monitor and regulate your medical information request management processes. In particular, you should use IRMS software that features audit trails, permission controls, and a notification system that updates you on the latest regulatory changes so you can ensure adherence.

Reporting and analytics

Implementing an appropriate IRMS software solution and modifying your medical information request processing protocols will help promote compliance and improve efficiency.

However, it is important to closely monitor the efficacy and performance of your MIR processes on an ongoing basis, and selecting an IRMS solution that provides robust reporting and analytics capabilities will help you do exactly that. You can leverage the insights from these reports to identify potential pain points, further promote efficiency, and deliver a frictionless experience for healthcare professionals.

Security

In addition to responding to MIRs in a timely manner, your organization is also tasked with protecting sensitive medical data. Failing to do so can lead to severe reputational damage and hefty civil penalties.

Unfortunately, antiquated MIR management tools, such as shared inboxes and spreadsheets, not only leave the door wide open to security breaches but also increase your exposure to cyber threats.

A modern, cloud-based IRMS solution can support your cybersecurity strategy and help you avoid these challenges. Maximize your security by choosing a platform that offers features such as user authentication, access controls, and encryption, as each of these will help you ensure the confidentiality and integrity of the information you manage.

Transform your MIRs management processes with MIRador

Without the right tools in place, your medical affairs teams will become overwhelmed by the complexity and sheer volume of MIRs that they receive. If your pharmaceutical entity wants to position your teams to succeed while simultaneously promoting compliance, you need IRMS software.

Investing in an IRMS software solution can help you streamline the medical information request management process and unlock other benefits, including:

• Better data management
• Enhanced compliance
• Improved efficiency
• Optimized visibility

However, if you want to get the most out of your investment and expedite time to value, it is critical that you select a solution that is customizable, user-friendly, and robust.

MIRador provides the tools and capabilities your medical affairs team needs to facilitate compliance and optimize overall MIR handling efficiency.

When discussing our IRMS software, a senior pharmaceutical executive had the following to say:

“Every company does MIR differently. Some companies have dedicated medical information teams, while small to midsize companies might not have a dedicated person in that role. Having established best practices and a technological foundation for collecting and processing this information is critical. Any organization that is looking for a medical information solution should consider BP Logix as an option.”

If you would like to learn more about the purpose-built solution that was delivered for this executive, and many other entities in the life sciences space, book a call with BP Logix today.

Space management refers to optimizing productivity within an organization by maximizing the efficiency of space utilization. Space management strategies provide a framework for assessing the availability of space, planning resource allocation, and ensuring that current space utilization practices support an entity’s objectives and goals.

Without an effective space management strategy in place, an organization will experience a host of logistical challenges. Some spaces may be underutilized, whereas others may be crowded or overused, causing friction between various teams and hindering collaboration.

All types of facility spaces should be managed with a cohesive plan, including:

• Office buildings
• Warehouses
• Retail stores
• Higher learning institutions

Historically, facility space management has been especially challenging for higher education organizations, as the institution’s leadership is tasked with managing various spaces while juggling the needs of dozens of faculty members and thousands of students.

Fortunately, higher education facilities can simplify this task and optimize space utilization by leveraging facility space management software.

Facility space management in higher education

There are numerous challenges associated with managing facility spaces in a higher education setting. Most notably, these learning institutions are responsible for managing a huge diversity of spaces, including:

• Classrooms
• Labs
• Study rooms
• Residence halls
• Student centers
• Libraries
• Parking spaces
• Fitness centers
• Conference rooms

When creating space management strategies, the institution’s leadership must ensure that they meet the needs of faculty, student organizations (i.e., sports teams and recreational groups), individual students, and entire classes or programs.

The process of space management in higher education is further complicated because these institutions must also manage an inventory of shared and rentable assets, including A/V equipment, laptops, tablets, and other devices.

The organization must ensure that the right assets are available and deployed to the appropriate spaces or groups and must frequently allocate staff to help set up equipment for the groups that reserved it.

How to implement effective facility space management in higher education

Creating winning space management strategies in higher education requires a systematic approach. When creating or revamping a space management plan, organizational leaders should:

1. Identify and analyze the needs of the facility and its users

Step one is to figure out how many different groups, professors, classes, or programs need access to space and equipment. In other words, who is using what, and when?

Once organizational leaders better understand their user base, they should then conduct an assessment of available resources. During this assessment, organizational leadership should identify any potential deficiencies.

For example, if a higher education institution plans to offer 10 science courses that include a lab component during a single semester but only have one serviceable lab, scheduling issues are bound to arise. In this instance, the institution may need to invest in a second lab or reschedule some courses for the following semester.

2. Develop a space utilization plan that factors in fluctuating demand throughout the academic calendar

The next step involves the development of a space utilization plan, which must account for fluctuating demand throughout the academic calendar.

For instance, when several teams’ sports seasons overlap in late fall or early spring, the demand for the fitness center and the gym will be at its peak. As such, organizational leaders must take a proactive approach to space management and start looking for potential scheduling conflicts so they can be quickly remedied.

The space utilization plan must address spikes in demand for other types of space. This may include the library, labs, conference rooms, and even parking spaces. Ideally, space management strategies will also include a future demand planning component.

Demand planning will help organizational decision-makers continue to meet the needs of faculty and students as the institution grows.

3. Implement a space management system

Having a great plan is only part of the equation. Next, organizational leaders will need to implement a space management system to support the strategy they’ve devised. The space management system may entail software like a class scheduling platform, room reservation technology, or some combination of the two.

Space management systems vary greatly in terms of sophistication, usability, and other qualities. With that in mind, higher learning institutions should seek a solution that was purpose-built for educational organizations.

Using a generic, off-the-shelf solution might help simplify space management, but it won’t optimize the allocation of available facility resources as effectively as an industry-specific platform.

4. Utilize technology to optimize space usage

To truly optimize space usage, higher education institutions should implement custom facility space management software.

Such a solution can provide real-time insights into the status of all spaces and AV resources. Facility space management software can streamline scheduling tasks, prevent human errors like double booking, and help the university precisely track space usage.

Higher education institutions can further enhance space management by deploying internet of things (IoT) sensors.

These sensors can be used to track the status and location of AV equipment or monitor the state of available spaces. Using IoT devices like smart thermostats can also enhance space management by enabling facility leaders to automatically adjust temperatures when rooms are in use and minimize HVAC usage when they’re not.

Using technology to streamline facility space management

Facility space management software is designed to streamline the process of finding, renting, scheduling, and monitoring space usage on your campus.

The best facility space management software solutions also provide advanced reporting to track usage trends, identify which resources are in high demand, predict future demand, and meet the evolving needs of faculty and students.

Investing in the right software can turn space management into an organizational strength that enhances the student experience and minimizes friction between faculty members and departments.

Benefits of using space management software

There are numerous advantages of levering the right facility space management software. By implementing such a solution, you’ll gain instant access to the following:

1. Better visibility

The key benefit associated with facility space management software is enhanced visibility.

Put simply, a solution for higher education institutions will provide facility staff with an administrative-level bird's eye view of all reservable campus spaces, including classrooms, labs, library meeting rooms, and more. These users can configure space availability and make  scheduling conflicts a thing of the past.

Facility space management software also increases visibility for end users, such as students and faculty, because they can easily see what spaces are available and book the desired room or area using an intuitive interface.

2. Real-time data

Booking a space using traditional processes is often tedious and sometimes downright frustrating.

A faculty member has to contact the person tasked with scheduling spaces. Then, that person has to verify that the space is available and hope it wasn’t accidentally double-booked. Facility space management software simplifies this process by providing schedulers with real-time data.

The technology takes the guesswork out of scheduling classrooms, labs, and other spaces. When students or faculty members book a space with modern software, they can be confident that it will be available when they arrive at the scheduled date and time.

3. Actionable reporting

Facility space management software provides robust reporting tools that administrators can leverage to gain meaningful insights into utilization through comprehensive and eye-opening reports about current utilization rates or historical usage trends. These reports can help administrators predict future demand or pinpoint underuse issues.

For instance, let’s say you have three conference spaces located at different points across the campus. After generating a utilization report, you determine that two are almost always booked, but the third is rarely used.

With this insight, you can survey users and determine why the third space is used so much less. You may find that the layout isn’t conducive to your faculty’s needs and decide to revamp the lab or replace the existing furniture or equipment with modern alternatives.

4. Automation 

Managing facility space at a larger higher education institution is a complex, labor-intensive task. Facility space management software can make things much easier by providing powerful higher education automation tools and self-service solutions.

These tools can automate processes like scheduling, notifying users of their upcoming time slot, and tracking which spaces are currently available. Empowering students and faculty with self-service tools will further reduce the burden on your administrative staff and give them more time to engage in dynamic tasks.

Room reservation systems

Let’s look at a detailed example of the challenges associated with managing room reservations on your campus. Specifically, these issues can arise when doing something as simple as reserving classroom space for a school club’s meetings or events.

We’ll examine four hurdles you likely encounter on a regular basis and outline how facility space management software can help you overcome each of these challenges.

Challenge #1: Complex scheduling requirements

As you’re no doubt aware, managing space scheduling at a higher education facility can be incredibly challenging.

One of the things that makes it so difficult is that the demand for space on a college campus is constantly in flux. For example, you may experience low demand the week after a semester ends and peak demand during final exam periods.

During lulls in demand, ensuring that your space is being used efficiently can be tricky. On the flip side, you may struggle to get staff and students what they need during periods of peak demand.

Facility space management software can help you automate scheduling by allowing users to easily request and reserve spaces. Faculty members can even set up recurring reservations if they need a specific space throughout a term.

The platform will automatically track existing reservations and take the academic calendar into account to prevent double bookings.

Challenge #2: Lack of visibility into room usage

Another challenge that arises when using outdated space management strategies is a lack of visibility into room utilization. Conflicts and inefficiencies will abound when you don't have a clear picture of what rooms are occupied or how frequently.

Room reservation software provides real-time visibility into how your rooms are being used.

Your facility management team can use this data to track usage patterns, identify inefficiencies, and, if needed, make recommendations for adding new spaces. Additionally, facility management can rework existing spaces to make them more appealing and versatile.

Challenge #3: Error-prone manual processes

Performing room reservation management with manual processes takes time, which is something you won’t always have in abundance. Manual practices also set the stage for problematic data entry errors. Ultimately, these errors will lead to confusion and frustration for faculty members that need to reserve spaces.

Facility space management software safeguards against human error by automating the bulk of the reservation process. A leading solution can automatically send confirmation emails, generate usage reports, and save your facility management team valuable time.

Room reservation tools also provide the space management staff with a single source of truth, which prevents double bookings or scheduling conflicts.

Challenge #4: Poor communication

Traditional space management strategies are notorious for hindering communication between faculty, staff, and students.

When there's a lack of clear communication about space usage and availability, conflicts are the inevitable result. This friction can disrupt the learning experience, negatively impact participation in clubs or school organizations, and decrease staff morale.

Room reservation software provides availability information that enables faculty members to verify whether a space is vacant or in use. If the room they need is already reserved, they can explore alternative solutions, such as claiming a different space or pushing back a lab session to another date.

By improving communication between staff, groups, and students, room reservation software reduces the likelihood of conflicts.

Best practices for ensuring effective ongoing facility space management

Facility space management software will lay the foundation for optimized space utilization. However, if you want to ensure that your space management strategies support your organizational objectives, you should also take the following steps.

Conduct regular reviews and analyses of space utilization data

Implementing facility space management software allows you to tap into all your utilization data, but it’s up to you to put it to use. To do so, you should conduct regular reviews and analyses of space utilization trends. You can closely monitor weekly, monthly, seasonal, or even semester-long trends to identify periods of peak demand.

Conducting these reviews will enable you to make better use of all of your facility’s space. From classrooms to labs and even parking spaces, you can make sure none of your precious resources are going to waste.

Collaborate with stakeholders

You should routinely collaborate with stakeholders as part of your space management strategies.

Each month or quarter, gather feedback from faculty, support staff, and students about your space management efforts. Find out what challenges they encountered when reserving spaces on campus and assess whether there’s a need for additional space on your campus based on current usage trends.

While every higher education institution would like more space and resources, you may find that your current ones are adequate but simply underutilized.

Gathering feedback from your stakeholders will help you determine how to make the most of your existing spaces. Their input will guide furniture purchasing decisions, remodeling efforts, and other efficiency-promoting measures.

Be flexible and adaptable to changing needs

Facilities like classrooms, labs, and conference areas are often viewed as static resources. While this is partially true, the most effective space management strategies promote flexibility and adaptability. A great plan will identify ways to make every space more versatile so it can meet the ever-changing needs of your campus.

While you may not be able to easily expand the square footage of a room, you can make each space more user-friendly and appealing. For example, you might install multi-purpose furniture, compact equipment, and ample storage to take advantage of the space you have.

Designing rooms with flexibility in mind will give faculty and students more options in case their desired rental space is unavailable.

Use data and analytics to inform decision-making

Although you can restructure or repurpose existing rooms in short order when necessary, you can’t create new space overnight. It’s therefore important to take a proactive approach to space management at your higher learning institution.

Facility space management software can provide you with detailed usage reports and powerful analytics tools that you can use to plan ahead. You can predict the space requirements of your campus years in advance so you can budget accordingly, invest in additional resources, and ensure that your students and faculty are being served.

It's time to get serious about your facility space management strategy

Space management strategies rooted in traditional practices and manual processes can produce untold amounts of confusion, frustration, and unnecessary expense for your institution and its faculty and students.

When your organization relies on outdated facility space management software — or worse, paper-based practices — double bookings and other errors will run rampant. Fortunately, you can modernize your space management strategies by leveraging leading-edge technology that provides real-time insights into space utilization.

The right solution will help you optimize resource usage, avoid errors, and automate traditionally tedious booking processes. The result will be a more sophisticated institution, more orderly internal processes, and a better experience for everyone. Hasn’t that been the goal all along?

Want to learn more about automating space management at your higher education organization? Contact BP Logix today for a demo of our space management solution.

A new employee roadmap can be an effective way to get your HR onboarding processes “on paper,” so that you can then review both their effectiveness and their fit to the current needs of various stakeholders within your organization.

Let’s explore how and why such a roadmap is good policy, as well as the many ways to optimize the process using thoughtful planning and cost-saving HR automations.

The importance of the employee experience

As has been greatly underscored by the current, hot job market, the success of your organization in pursuing its financial and business goals depends in large measure on how your employees view their experience(s) working for and with you.

Employees who benefit from a clear, thoughtful, and efficient new employee roadmap will contribute towards greater retention in your organization. This reduced turnover will have a net positive impact on recruiting costs.

Additionally, employees who are happier, more informed, and feel valued  – all byproducts of smart and thorough onboarding, in addition to general company policy and culture – generate increased productivity.

Taken together, these two benefits of smooth onboarding (decreased turnover and increased productivity) help improve workplace culture.

So, let’s explore how to ensure that you’re doing everything you can with your new employee roadmap to optimize for such benefits and improvements.

How to improve your new employee roadmap

Remember that metaphorical “piece of paper” we start with, that outlines your current onboarding process?

Hopefully, it’s digital by now. But a more important question is whether you’re taking full advantage of all the opportunities to develop the best roadmap for your new employees.

1. Sync related processes

In a word, we recommend client’s “sync” related and overlapping HR processes with smart automations. This commonly manifests as a streamlined system that identifies and removes redundancies – or introduces new efficiencies – into your recruiting, preboarding, and onboarding cycle.

The main benefit of this approach becomes immediately apparent once implemented: a seamless experience, visible end-to-end, of the entire initial employee experience. In addition to cost-savings and the good impression it makes on new hires, HR leadership is able in this way to identify areas of future improvement within your evolving new employee roadmap.

2. Develop a standardized provisioning checklist

Imagine you’re a new employee. It’s your first day. You have everything you need to hit the ground running. Sounds perfect, right?

Except this is still a rare scenario, in too many organizations.

With the right groundwork, and smart automations, your HR department can stand out in this key area to new employee onboarding.

Here are some examples of what can be included in a standardized provisioning checklist:

• Computer
• Office supplies
• IT accounts
• VPN access
• Other equipment
• Facility access
• Parking pass
• Welcome package

Standardization doesn’t mean inflexible. With solutions like those offered by BP Logix, provisioning can be customized to your organizational needs, no matter the industry or administrative structure.

With everything listed in one place, HR leadership can enable management and departmental leadership to automate as much provisioning fulfillment as possible, leaving more time for important tasks like job fulfilment and company growth.

3. Engage with new hires before their first day

While a relatively simple and straightforward recommendation, pre-engagement merits a special mention when it comes to your new employee roadmap.

After the offer and acceptance, and before the official start date of your new hire, consider systematically equipping your new colleagues with the option of getting a head start. It helps both parties to clear some paperwork before engaging in the exciting but potentially overwhelming task of getting started in a new role.

Engaging with new hires before their official start can help smooth out the earliest days of a new business relationship, to the benefit of everyone.

4. Digitize new hire paperwork

Not every organization has digitized their new hire paperwork yet. Often, this is just something that’s gotten kicked down the road. That’s okay. But revisiting or rebooting your new employee roadmap should start with digitization.

As in – everything. There’s no need to fill in any gaps with paper forms, anymore.

Digitization makes everyone happier. Critical for remote-first and/or hybrid workplaces, but arguably just as or more important for physical office spaces, digitization reduces clutter (and your carbon footprint), speeds up form-filling, and enables data sharing across departments.

5. Assemble a welcome package

Perhaps you’ve seen them in snapshots posted to LinkedIn. A welcome package can be an opportunity for more than simple data collection, for forms and regulatory requirements.

Welcome packages impress employees, help them to feel connected at the onset of their work with your company, and they contribute to retention increases of up to 82%.

Some items you might include in a welcome package:

• Welcome letter
• “Getting to know you” survey
• Welcome gift
• Business cards
• Company swag (mug, notepad, koozie, etc.)
• Employee handbook
• Org chart/directory
• Info on company tools, office amenities and perks, nearby eateries and cafes

It takes just a little bit of upfront effort to plan and fulfill welcome packages, with high dividends paid back to you in the form of boosted retention and productivity.

6. Assign an onboarding buddy

Before remote and hybrid work became more common, many organizations large and small would often consolidate new employee onboarding processes into an orientation day. While this can still work, in today’s workplace this same motivation to build culture and speed up onboarding can be achieved by assigning onboarding buddies or cohorts digitally (and/or IRL).

An exhaustive new employee roadmap will focus on softer benefits like this along with other more tactile solutions. Help new hires acclimate by pairing them with others who might know more directly how they are feeling in their first days.

7. Home Run swing – knock your "day one" agenda out of the park

If we’re mentioning retention goals again, it’s because we’ve seen firsthand how valuable it is to our clients. On top of streamlining as much as possible, and as a supplement to other efforts to provide your new hires with a warm welcome, knocking your employee’s day one agenda out of the park is a great way to impress them and make onboarding more comfortable.

A strong first day agenda might involve:

• An office tour (bonus points for creativity)
• Meet-and-greet with team/leadership
• 1:1 with direct manager
• 1:1 with onboarding buddy
• Welcome lunch or other social event

Much of what we’re discussing around your optimized new employee roadmap is about clear, direct, thoughtful communications with new hires – and a winning day one schedule sets the tone in this regard.

8. Develop a 30/60/90 plan

Make it clear, document goals and milestones, establish expectations at the onset.

With things like automated onboarding helping to clear the busywork at the start, a firm and clearly communicated 30/60/90 onboarding plan will see so many positive returns for both your organization and its new hires.

Productivity will benefit from such a structured plan, as will morale.

9. Streamline training and orientation with online learning

Especially when paired with many of the above strategies and tools, employing online learning for new hire training and orientation can provide additional onboarding efficiencies. It also documents regulatory compliance efforts and makes them easily reportable.

Finally, especially for trainings that are important but don’t require you or other leaders to necessarily be “in the room”, online learning provides a speedier process for employees eager to go at their own pace – and then get to work on their day-to-day responsibilities.

10. Get feedback from new hires

Last but not least, a comprehensive new employee roadmap will create space for many feedback touchpoints. Automation can help again here, but whether you use it or choose to check in manually, it’s worth engaging new hires at regular intervals to see how things are going for them. Take advantage of their perspective to identity improvements or new additions to your roadmap.

Process automation: The core of your roadmap

As has hopefully been made clear, process automation for your employee onboarding can introduce many efficiencies and benefits into your new hire roadmap.

At BP Logix, we’ve designed products that maximize these efficiencies, while also leaving room for custom solutions built to the unique needs of your organization.

To more closely explore how process automation can take your new employee roadmap to the next level, set up some time with BP Logix to demo our software.

Better retention, higher productivity, a happier workplace culture – all these and more can be won by smarter, faster, error-resistant new hire data collection and processing.

Automating your employee onboarding consolidates and reduces redundancies in HR processes, saves you time, and improves the accuracy and security of organizational data. In even better news, it also contributes to greater productivity and retention among new employees.

In this guide, we’ll dive deep into how and why implementing an HR automation solution for onboarding proves so powerful for future-forward organizations.

Why should I automate in the first place?

Manual onboarding or partially automated onboarding processes can leave a lot to be desired for both HR leaders and employees. 

With all respect for the challenges of managing employee data in a complex and/or growing organization, legacy processes often suffer from a number of inefficiencies:

• Siloed data, both within HR departments and between shared departmental resources
• Disconnected recruiting, hiring, and onboarding processes
• Human error

Automated onboarding enables greater leveraging of the same data points across departments and functions in your organization. By identifying areas of overlap, or revealing new opportunities for data sharing – all while proving more secure than manual processes – automated onboarding introduces a greater fluidity to existing processes.

With AI-enabled technology leading the way, errors are reduced, compliance is made simpler, and employees are left impressed by your organization. This not only fosters greater satisfaction in their first days at the job, it also improves retention in the long term and ensures more productivity at the onset. 

In this way, employees can jump into their new job functions with confidence, while you report to management that the help they needed is on the way, faster than ever before.

How to automate your employee onboarding process

At BP Logix, we do not advocate for a one-size-fits-all approach to automated employee onboarding. Every organization has unique needs, and your automated onboarding process should meet those needs better than your current manual or partially-automated processes.

In most cases, you and your team will know best which processes could benefit from automation. You probably have a list of headaches and bottlenecks from processes that either need a complete update, or could stand to be made more efficient.

When identifying how to automate more holistically, you’ll want to audit current processes to discover which (and how many) need to be retired or integrated with other solutions.

Examples of onboarding processes and HR tasks that are frequently improved through automation can include:

• Recruiting and hiring
• Employee referrals
• New employee forms
• Benefits enrollment
• Equipment provisioning and/or reimbursements or expenses
• Facilities access
• IT setup
• Vaccination attestation
• Training and compliance

Many of the data inputs and outputs inherent to these processes can be shared, and organized in such a way that they both align with your unique organizational structures and meet the essential needs for internal reporting, regulatory compliance, and employee engagement.

What to look for in your automated employee onboarding solution

While there are many onboarding solutions on the market, several options seek to force the disparate needs of various organizations into one, broad approach. 

This can help to marginally improve things, but such an approach often shortchanges HR departments on some of the very promises that automation offers in the first place.

Instead, look for software that promises a robust set of capabilities that matches your organization’s unique needs.

• End-to-end visibility: Track progress and identify bottlenecks with a high-level view of the entire employee onboarding cycle, from recruitment, to day one, through to 30/60/90 day analyses.
• Customizable workflows: Automated onboarding systems should fit your company’s particular HR needs – not the other way around.
• Pre-built workflow components: Customization doesn’t mean you can’t hit the ground running, or that you can’t implement a new automated system quickly. Smart onboarding automations provide templates and pre-built modules for common tasks like requests/approvals, document submission and filing, and provisioning checklists. This allows HR managers to swiftly improve core processes even as bespoke integrations are being implemented (these can also be built quickly, with the right software).
• Intelligent routing and approvals: Ensure the correct review/approval tasks are delivered to the right hands, at the right times, with automations that account for the busyness and imperfection of humans in the loop. Automations are meant to make lives easier. They aren’t just a means of simply duplicating manual processes in digital form.
• Predictive analytics: Be warned when a task is going to be late, or if there’s another similar challenge looming. Analyze organizational trends to target new efficiencies.
• Seamless integrations: Plugging into existing IT systems should be as easy as possible. Low-code, AI-enabled technology will reduce friction in matching new automated solutions to existing data architectures.
• User-friendly dashboards: HR managers want automations that help them do their jobs, which should include reports and interfaces that are as easy-to-use as the underlying automation technologies they are built upon. Extended to users and onboarding employees, this easiness should reap many more positive benefits within the organization, once rolled-out.

A great way to see just how crucial features like these can optimize your employee onboarding processes is with a tour of BP Logix's solution:

Spotlight: Automated employee onboarding success in action

University of Wisconsin Eau Claire

When the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire was looking to replace a legacy onboarding system that was no longer meeting their evolving needs, and costing too much money for a fixed cohort of licensed users, they did a lot of homework. 

After looking at over 100 products, a few key factors in particular led to them to shortlist Process Director, from BP Logix.

UW-Eau Claire needed an onboarding solution that:

• Favored cross-compatibility
• Didn’t cost more than made reasonable sense
• Was easy to develop to internal needs
• Was easy to use
• Did not charge per-seat for licensing
• Did not have any barriers to development
• Featured better responsiveness and support

According to UW-Eau Claire, they ultimately selected BP Logix as their partner for automating employee onboarding based on the strength of their demo of Process Director. 

In line with the professed advantages in speed, simplicity, customization, compatibility and cost-reduction, UW-Eau Claire found that Process Director  for BP Logix delivered on the promise of automation to make their HR processes better and more modern.

The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP)

Human resources leaders at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) wanted to take advantage of the opportunity presented by the organization’s decision to go green, to also streamline employee onboarding and other processes through more advanced automation.

Ultimately, they chose BP Logix as their partner in this, with the end result being the elimination of 200 paper forms and counting. 

On top of this, UTEP cited the following benefits to automating their documentation:

• Easy to install, use and customize BP Logix software
• Time saved – the UTEP IT team saved countless hours with low-code implementation
• Less frustration, no more missed deadlines, thanks to greater visibility and smart notifications from the BP Logix dashboard

UTEP ultimately felt they found a perfect match in BP Logix, considering that they also needed more advanced functionality with their new automated employee onboarding solution, such as user authentication and dynamic documentation routing.

With this blend of streamlining and custom modification, UTEP was able to leverage automated onboarding to make user experiences more pleasant for employees and students alike.

Smart automation makes for happier humans, too

While perhaps less easy to quantify in the past, in recent years researchers have begun to see how the right automations can lead to happier, more productive employees. 

We’ve already touched on such benefits a bit, but let’s dig in more fully, considering the importance of employee engagement to organizational success.

The employee advantages to implementing an automated onboarding system are numerous, and often include:

• Removing tediousness from the process
• Bridging the gap, and speeding up the handoff, between recruiting and onboarding
• Empowering and impressing new hires from the onset
• Positive impacts on workplace culture

Automated onboarding represents the sort of technology organizations will want to adopt, as they continue to focus more on the human in human resources – towards results that will also impress leadership, when costs are reduced and productivity grows.

Take employee onboarding into the future with BP Logix

Examples like the above highlight just some of the ways by which BP Logix seeks to deliver automated onboarding solutions that strike the appropriate balance of efficiency and customization for an organization like yours.

If you’re reading this and wondering if a new automated employee onboarding solution could make your life easier, and your organization more productive and happy, let’s get you a demo and dig in on what particularly BP Logix can do for your HR team.

Happy onboarding!

HR automation software can streamline recruitment workflows and enhance the employee onboarding and offboarding experience. Here's our guide for businesses looking to streamline their HR processes with technology.

What is human resources (HR) automation?

Human resources (HR) automation is a process of streamlining repetitive human resource functions, including employee onboarding and offboarding, payroll, benefits administration, and more. HR automation uses technology to digitalize and automate time-consuming and repetitive tasks that fall under the scope of the HR department.

Statistics from Gartner’s Artificial Intelligence Survey showcase that the businesses who are implementing automation tools powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline repetitive HR tasks improve employee experience and make informed decisions. In fact:

• 51% of businesses implement HR automation tools to capture cost savings.
• Over 56% of those deployed AI-powered HR automation tools are looking to improve customer experience and automate repetitive, time-consuming, or manual tasks.
• 62% of those deployed AI-powered HR automation tools are looking to improve the accuracy of decision-making.

Automating HR processes is a paramount for organizations of all sizes as it helps in reducing employee turnover rates and increasing organizational productivity. We put together this guide to help businesses understand the benefits of HR automation and identify the common HR workflows to automate.

Common HR processes and workflows to automate

A few common HR functions and workflows to automate are recruitment, development, payroll, employee relations, employee retention, tax compliance, health and safety, performance management, and offboarding. Let’s take an in-depth look at a few of these below.

Recruiting efforts

The recruitment process comprises several steps, including recruitment planning, strategy development, searching for ideal candidates, screening of candidates, and evaluation.

An HR automation software can reduce the cost-per-hire and improve recruiter productivity by eliminating the need for human interference in the following recruitment tasks:

• Candidate sourcing and engagement.
• Screening resumes based on various predetermined parameters such as experience, qualifications, salary expectations, and skill sets.
• Applicant’s status updates throughout the recruitment journey.
• Scheduling interviews.

Employee onboarding

Over 36% of HR leaders in a recent survey blamed insufficient technology for their inability to streamline employee onboarding programs. An HR automation software can enhance the onboarding experience for new hires by eliminating the need for manual interference in activities such as:

• Pre-boarding workflows, including sending welcome emails and creating user accounts.
• Scheduling orientation meetings.
• Employee onboarding documentation.
• Collecting feedback on recruitment and onboarding process.

Not sure where to start? Don't miss our guide for how to automate the employee onboarding process.

Employee offboarding

Employee offboarding is a process that involves several activities leading to a formal separation between the employer and the employee. Organizations need to streamline the employee offboarding process to meet compliance standards, minimize legal risks, and provide the best possible experience for the departing employee. An HR automation software can automate offboarding activities such as:

• Resetting shared passwords.
• Creating backups of data or documentation.
• Revoking access controls.
• Getting non-disclosure agreements signed.
• Conducting exit surveys.

Payroll and employee benefits

Manually managing payroll is time-consuming, error-prone, and labor-intensive. The lack of automation often results in employees receiving salaries and benefits at a later date than expected, or identifying mistakes that take great lengths of time to resolve.

A few payroll and employee benefits tasks that can be automated are:

• Timekeeping and time tracking.
• Calculating wages based on working hours, overtime, and holidays.
• Processing direct deposits and sending notifications to employees about their salary deposits.
• Managing deductions for employee benefits.
• Completing and filing relevant paperwork.

Expense claims

Expense claims are reimbursement requests submitted by employees to claim back the costs they paid on behalf of their employer. Every month, HR team members receive expense claims in the form of mileage, food, and travel expenses. However, a recent survey found that 43% of businesses are still managing expense reports manually. Of those who implemented automation software, 82% have said they aimed to simplify the expense reporting process for employees and managers.

An HR automation software can simplify the expense claims process by:

• Eliminating the need for physical reports/paper documents.
• Enabling employees to scan and upload claim reports.
• Getting the approvals from managers through e-signatures.
• Automatic and timely pay-outs.

Routine data entry

Did you know that HR professionals lose over 14 hours a week on manual and repetitive data entry tasks that could be automated? In most organizations, HR teams are forced to do routine data entry tasks with regards to HR processes such as attendance, payroll, employee data recording (personal and medical), and taxes. An HR automation software can eliminate human interference in routine data entry processes such as:

• Entering employee data.
• Identifying the incorrect, irrelevant, incomplete, and duplicate data.
• Verifying and validating data.
• Updating the database.

Tax filing

Staying compliant with employment tax requirements is one of the biggest concerns for businesses. With manual HR processes, it is very difficult for HR teams to keep up with tax laws and deadlines.

According to Deloitte, organizations have a 15-90 percent cost reduction opportunity depending on the taxation activities they select for automation.

HR automation software can help businesses streamline the following activities within the scope of filing taxes and help them stay compliant with tax laws:

• Gathering and validating data from employees.
• Running reports and calculating adjustments.
• Filing income tax returns.
• Keeping tax reports to meet the compliance standards.

Performance reviews

91% of companies that adopted continuous performance management are making informed-people-decisions and removing biases in promotion and advancement. With automation software, HR teams can streamline the feedback collection process and spend less time on administrative tasks related to performance appraisal such as:

• Gathering self-feedback from employees.
• Gathering feedback from peers and managers.
• Sending reminders to employees/managers.
• Implementing Objectives and Key Results (OKR) framework (OKR is a tool used by organizations to determine SMART goals and track their outcomes.)

Benefits of automated HR systems

There are a myriad of benefits to implementing automation in your HR systems and processes, including:

Improved efficiency that positively impacts operations

HR teams often waste time on unproductive and repetitive tasks such as screening candidates, scheduling orientation meetings, and manually entering employee data into spreadsheets and timesheets.

Software that automated processes in HR systems can improve the efficiency of HR teams by letting them focus more on strategic tasks such as recruitment planning and succession planning than unproductive and repetitive tasks. This level of efficiency can trickle down to other parts of the business, positively impacting revenue-generating departments of an organization.

Less dependence on paper documents

HR is a document-driven department. However, paper-based processing is highly time-consuming and costly. In fact, U.S businesses waste over $8 billion managing papers every year. Additionally, they spend an average of $120 to find a misplaced document and $220 to recreate a lost document. An HR automation software reduces the dependence on paper documents and increases the productivity of HR teams by digitalizing activities such as onboarding, offboarding, tax filing, and feedback collection.

Reduced clerical errors that cause financial loss

An overwhelming 97% of the workforce, in a recent survey, stated that automation can help their organization in reducing human errors and improving productivity. An HR management software may help organizations reduce clerical errors that cause financial losses.

Improved experience for job candidates

Job candidates often feel anxious about the company when they don’t receive updates on the status of their recruitment journey from the HR department. When manual processes are in place, HR staff struggles to provide updates to job candidates on a regular basis, risking the loss of potential new employees. This often results in dismal recruitment experience for job candidates and reflects poorly on the organization as a whole.

An HR automation tool can improve the experience of job candidates through following ways:

• Providing regular updates on the status recruitment journey.
• Answering repetitive questions about the job through chatbots.
• Streamlining the employee evaluation through push notifications.
• Streamlining pre-boarding workflows.

Put your people first! Better experience for existing employees

An HR automation software enables you to put your people first and provide them with a better working experience. This often results in higher employee retention rates and better organizational performance. To add, organizations in which HR departments facilitate a positive employee experience report 1.3 times higher organizational performance.

Effective HR and business process automation with BP Logix

Automation can help HR managers eliminate redundant, time-consuming, and labor-intensive tasks in areas such as recruitment, onboarding, payroll, offboarding employee benefits, expense claims, tax compliance, performance management, and more.

A human resources automation software can improve the efficiency of HR teams and make them less dependent on papers.

Ready to accomplish the same?

Streamline your human resource management processes with the help of BP Logix HR Automation Software. Request a demo to see how it can assist your organization today.

Employee offboarding is a process that leads to a formal separation between employee and employer. The offboarding process involves several activities, including deactivating access rights, returning equipment, collecting feedback through exit surveys, and transferring job responsibilities. Let's walk through how employee offboarding works and how HR automation can streamline the process.

When to start offboarding an employee

The offboarding process begins immediately after the employee tenders the letter of resignation for the job. A few common reasons for kickstarting the employee offboarding process are:  

Voluntary resignation

Voluntary resignation takes place when an employee chooses to leave the organization voluntarily. Employees opt for voluntary resignation for various reasons, including a better offer from another organization, personal conflict with managers, health issues, and relocation.

Retirement

Retirement takes place when an employee permanently leaves the job as he/she attains the full retirement age. For instance, the full retirement age in the United States ranges between 66 years and two months and 67 years.

Furloughs and layoffs

A furlough is a temporary mandatory leave given to human resources in special situations such as an economic recession or a pandemic like COVID-19. A furloughed employee may be called back to work when the situation returns to normalcy. 

Layoffs are a temporary or permanent termination of employment of a worker or a group of workers.

Involuntary termination

Involuntary termination refers to the dismissal of an employee from employment by the employer. A few reasons for involuntary termination may include poor performance, willful insubordination, fraud, and dishonesty.

Onboarding vs. offboarding

Onboarding and offboarding aren’t the same. Here is a table that identifies the differences between employee onboarding and offboarding:

Most employers don’t give as much priority to offboarding as they give to the onboarding of employees. The below statistics showcase the importance of the formal offboarding process for organizations:

1. According to Intermedia SMB Rogue Access Study, 89% of employees were able to access sensitive corporate applications after they completed offboarding formalities.
2. 72% of CEOs, in a recent survey, admitted that they have taken important intellectual property (IP) details, ideas, and sensitive data with them from their former employer.

Moving forward into this article, we’ll explain more about why proper employee offboarding is important for the organization and provide a checklist that helps HR teams to improve the effectiveness of the offboarding process.

Why is proper employee offboarding important?

Organizations may need to implement a proper employee offboarding process to:

1. Meet compliance standards and regulation

Data leakages by former employees may result in compliance violations and attract huge penalties from regulatory bodies. For instance, the penalties imposed by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) for data breaches can go up to $1.5 million per violation.

Automation helps the organization avoid costly data breaches and meet compliance standards by preventing email forwards and resetting passwords without any manual intervention.

2. Minimize legal and security risks

Around 50% of IT leaders, in a survey conducted by TechRepublic, said that the outgoing employee’s accounts remain active for longer than a day after they left the organization. This poses a huge security risk to the organization.

By automating the employee offboarding process with the help of HR Workflow Software, the HR team can deactivate the access rights to sensitive information immediately after the employee’s resignation is accepted.

3. Collect critical feedback for the department/organization

Employees are the best source of information for the organization. Since employees interact with various stakeholders, including co-workers, suppliers, customers, and creditors daily, they will be in a better position to provide honest feedback about both department and organization-wide operational practices.

An employee offboarding process, powered by automation software with a user-friendly interface, can collect and interpret the critical data from employees through:

1. Detailed and well-thought-out template questions.
2. Best-in-class analytics.

4. Part ways on the best terms

Former employees can make or break the employer brand. A poor offboarding process may spread negative word of mouth about the employment practices of an organization in the market. This negative word of mouth makes it difficult for the organization to attract qualified employees. Therefore, the organization should always try to part ways with employees on good terms.

By automating the offboarding process, the HR teams can streamline the activities such as getting the documentation signed and issuing the final paycheck on time.

The two major benefits of automation here are:

1. Hassle-free offboarding experience to employees.
2. On-time relieving of the employee.

5. Helps with future onboarding processes

Offboarding and onboarding go hand-in-hand. An ineffective offboarding may negatively impact the onboarding processes of the organization.

For example, if the knowledge transfer is not properly done during an employee offboarding, the organization may need to train the new employee separately by spending additional resources. Therefore, HR teams should focus on streamlining the offboarding if they want to improve the effectiveness of the onboarding processes.

A quick employee offboarding checklist for HR teams 

Here is a nine-point checklist that helps HR teams to complete the employee offboarding process successfully:

• Notify all key stakeholders of the employee leaving
• Get all relevant paperwork and documentation signed and filed
• Plan an official knowledge transfer
• Issue final paycheck and update payroll
• Update your organization charts
• Recover all company assets and hardware
• Revoke or cancel systems access
• Conduct an exit interview 
• Stay in touch!

1. Notify all key stakeholders of the employee leaving

Employees regularly interact with various stakeholders including co-workers, suppliers, and customers. When an employee leaves the job, the first thing the HR team should do is to notify all key stakeholders about this development through email, phone, or any other relevant means of communication.  

This communication may include the following details:

• The last working day of the employee.
• Details of the person, who handles the work until a replacement is found.
• Details of the successor, if already a replacement has already been hired.

2. Get all relevant paperwork and documentation signed and filed

Documentation is a vital step in employee offboarding. The employee needs to sign a few documents and receive several forms from the HR team while leaving the organization.

1. Get the non-disclosure agreement signed, if applicable. This agreement ensures the employee does not use the company’s sensitive information for his personal use or third-party’s benefit.
2. Get the Change of Address form filled, if the employee is relocating. This ensures the employee receives his/her Form-W2 without any delay.
3. Gain the employee’s written permission to release the employment records for future reference checks.
4. Give out the letters related to the status of health insurance, retirement benefit, and other benefits the employee might have received from the company.
5. Provide details about Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA).

3. Plan an official knowledge transfer

Knowledge transfer is a process of transferring the skillsets, job knowledge, and behaviors from the relieving employee to the one who replaces him/her. An effective knowledge transfer, at the time of employee offboarding, may involve several steps, including, but not limited to:

1. Explain the job responsibilities.
2. Identify the outstanding tasks and give knowledge on how to address them.
3. If possible, facilitate the work shadowing for a week (work shadowing is an on-job training wherein a new employee observes an expert performing the job).
4. Use knowledge measurement tools to assess the success of knowledge transfer.

4. Issue final paycheck and update payroll

HR teams may follow the organizational policies while issuing the final paycheck to employees. If the organizational policy states that the employees receive their final paycheck on the last day, HR teams should stick to the same and make appropriate arrangements.

HR teams should consider the following aspects while issuing the final paycheck:

1. Deduct the salary advance from the final paycheck.
2. Add bonus, commissions, and reimbursements, if any, to the final paycheck.
3. Add the money the employee had accrued through paid time off (PTO) to the final paycheck.

Once the final paycheck is issued, HR teams should remove the employee's name from the payroll. According to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the organization may need to maintain the payroll records of employees for at least three years. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) asks employers to maintain the records of employment taxes for at least four years.

5. Update your organization charts

An organizational chart represents the hierarchical structure of roles, responsibilities, and relationships within the entity. The organizational chart plays a vital role in seamless communication flow and internal reporting at the workplace.

Employee termination or resignation creates a void in the organizational chart and obstructs the information flow within the organization. Immediately after an employee departs from the organization, the HR team should update the organizational chart and ensure there is no disruption in the information flows and internal reporting.

In large-scale companies, HR teams may need to update the organizational charts both department and organization-wide.

6. Recover all company assets and hardware

HR departments need to recover all the company’s assets and hardware from the employees when offboarding them. The following are the assets the HR team may need to recover from employees:

1. ID badges
2. Computers, laptops, and chargers
3. Hard drives and pen drives
4. Drawing pads
5. Phones
6. Car or other vehicles
7. Credit cards

Though it is a bit rude, the HR teams are advised not to give final clearance until the employee returns the company property that they may have in their possession.

7. Revoke or cancel systems access

Considering the increasing number of data breaches, revoking system access is a vital step in the offboarding process. While revoking the systems access, the HR team should focus on four aspects:

1. Reset shared passwords
2. Prevent email forwarding or sharing files.
3. Revoke access to corporate applications.
4. Create reliable backups.

8. Conduct an exit interview 

An exit interview is the best way to collect honest feedback from the departing employee. It helps the HR team to identify areas of improvement in employment practices.

A few exit interview questions that can be asked to a departing employee are:

1. Why do you choose to leave the job?
2. Which aspects of our organizational culture you did not like?
3. What could we have done to retain you?
4. What did you like the best and least of the job?
5. Were your accomplishments recognized throughout your employment?

The “check the box” type of feedback collection is ineffective. The HR manager should engage in face-to-face interaction with the exiting employee to gather feedback.

9. Stay in touch! 

Never get disconnected from your former employees. Stay in touch with former employees, learn about their career progression, and offer compliments for their professional achievements even after they exit from the organization. HR teams can make use of social networks such as LinkedIn and Twitter to maintain a relationship with ex-employees.

Simplify and automate the employee offboarding process with BP Logix

There is no better way to simplify the employee offboarding process than by automating it. A proper offboarding process is important for the organization because it helps to meet compliance standards, minimize legal and security risks, collect critical feedback for the department/organization, and part ways with employees on the best terms.

HR team members may need to create a checklist for the employee offboarding and make sure each point in the checklist is marked before giving a formal send-off to the employee. An HR workflow software enables the organization to streamline the activities involved in the employee offboarding process and ensure employees are relieved on time.

Automate the employee offboarding process with the help of BP Logix HR Workflow Software. Request a demo to see how it can assist your organization.

Streamlining the employee onboarding process with HR automation can increase the new hire retention rate. Here is an HR guide to best practices for new employee onboarding.

What is employee onboarding?

Employee onboarding is a systematic process of introducing new hires to the organization and integrating them into the organizational culture. The process of onboarding a new hire starts from the day the organization releases the offer letter.

A proper onboarding process creates a positive first impression about the organization and its culture. It helps the HR team establish the company culture and set up the stage for a collaborative workspace.

The following statistics showcase many organizations haven’t yet adopted the best practices for employee onboarding:

1. In a survey conducted by Gallup, 88% of employees said that their employers did a poor job onboarding them.
2. As little as 37% of companies are extending the employee onboarding process beyond a month.

The absence of the best practices for employee onboarding is a cause for concern because it increases employee turnover rates and lowers organizational productivity. We put together this guide to help HR teams of manufacturing companies adopt best practices for the employee onboarding process and develop a checklist for day one of the employee onboarding.

Benefits of the onboarding process for new hires

The major benefits of the onboarding process for new hires to the organization may include a higher employee retention rate, better workplace productivity, increased employee confidence, and improved employee performance.

Read more about how a streamlined onboarding process can benefit organizations:

1. New hires that undergo a streamlined onboarding process are 58% more likely to stay with the organization for more than three years.
2. A streamlined onboarding process can increase the retention of new hires by 82%.
3. A standard onboarding experience can increase the productivity of new hires by 50%.
4. Organizations that use the pre-boarding process retain 81% of their new hires.

The ideal employee onboarding process - best practices for HR

Organizations need to adopt several best practices to create an ideal employee onboarding process. Here is a list of the seven best practices every HR team should follow to improve the employee experience:

1. Refine your hiring process

The hiring process creates a path for onboarding. Rather than using traditional job portals, HR teams should use platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter to attract suitable candidates and assess their competencies.

HR teams should focus on creating a job description that communicates about the job position, major duties, the scope of the work, working conditions, compensation, and qualifications. Organizations should also engage a hiring manager who works in coordination with the HR department and supervises hiring processes.

2. Make good first impressions

A first impression is the best impression one could make. Since office visits aren’t very commonplace anymore due to hybrid work settings, organizations can create a great first impression by automating the entire onboarding process.

An automated onboarding process can get all the documentation done, schedule an introduction call with new team members, set up user accounts, and create an email flow that communicates the organization’s policies, vision, and objectives. Organizations can make the onboarding process transparent and inviting with the help of automation.

3. Send the offer letter

The process of employee orientation should start from the time of sending an offer letter to the new hire. The offer letter is a formal document sent to a candidate offering a job. The offer letter should comprise several details on the job offer including the start date of employment, job title, compensation, benefits, and company policies.

4. Check in with the new hire before day one

Hiring managers need to check in with the new hire before day one to start the onboarding process. Automation helps to streamline all activities involved in pre-boarding. For instance, the HR automation software would help the organization automate the pre-boarding workflow, which comprises the following activities:

• Sending a welcome email to the new hire.
• Upon receiving an acknowledgment from the new hire, the software may trigger a notification to the IT team to set up a user account to start the onboarding process.
• Once the user account is created, the software sends the username and password for the new hire to log in to the onboarding platform.
• Once new hire logs in to the platform and fills out their forms and gives their e-signatures, the software uploads them.
• The new hire would provide bank account details to the software in order to set up their direct deposit.

5. Provide a welcoming first day

The HR team should provide a welcoming first day to the new hire. The first day is where the actual onboarding experience for the employee starts.

HR teams should give warm welcome to new hires and take them for an office tour. The paperwork, if pending, should be completed on the employee’s first day itself. Introduce the new hire to team members and provide them with the employee handbook that highlights the company’s culture, reporting structure, vision, and mission.

6. Encourage employee engagement during their first month

Employee engagement is the key to workplace productivity. If the organization wants to achieve higher productivity, it should engage new hires in the work during their first month itself. An effective onboarding program that establishes the expected workflow encourages new hires to engage in the work during their first month.

The workflow may include activities such as:

1. Communicating expectations in the first week.
2. Assigning key responsibility areas (KRAs).
3. Developing clear reporting structures.
4. Providing the training schedule.

7. Turn their first month into their first year

Successful onboarding ends when the employee becomes a part of the company culture. An effective onboarding process enables the new hire to learn about the company and become a part of its culture within a month or two.

With a poor onboarding process, this may take six months to a year. Employee retention rate increases if the employees align their goals with the organization and start to share the organization’s culture.

Benefits of automating the onboarding process

Automation is the best way to streamline your employee onboarding process. McKinsey reported that 56% of hire-to-retire (human resource management) tasks can be automated with the help of existing automation technologies.

Here are the five major benefits of automating the employee onboarding process.

1. Automation simplifies the pre-boarding workflows which include sending welcoming emails, creating user accounts, adding the new hire to the onboarding channel, and scheduling orientation meetups.
2. Quick turn-around as the automation streamlines activities such as reviews, approvals, and sign-offs (hours vs. days and days vs. weeks).
3. The authorized people have visibility into all aspects of the employee onboarding process.
4. Automation digitalizes the entire onboarding process through electronic forms, e-signs, and online change requests. It eliminates redundant documentation and reduces paperwork. Therefore, HR teams can allocate more time to answer queries from new hires and coordinate with them to create a streamlined onboarding experience.
5. Automation helps the organization meet the compliance guidelines by creating an online platform that gathers employee vital data accurately and stores it on a secure cloud.

Day-one employee onboarding checklist

Day-one of the employee onboarding is the right time for HR professionals to create a strong positive impression about the organization’s policies, culture, operational procedures. The onboarding process should make employees feel they are at the right place on their starting day.

An onboarding program may be termed successful when employees get acquainted with their roles, new co-workers, and the organization’s culture. Here is a checklist for successful day-one employee onboarding:

• Finish the paperwork or documentation
• Introduce to team leader and team members
• Tour of workspace.
• Assign employee training
• Give brief about the organization’s vision, mission, and objectives
• Establish expected workflow
• Introduce to company culture
• Introduce to team members
• Set up communication channels
• Set up the employee’s desk
• Communicate policies, code of conduct, and procedures

Streamline your employee onboarding process with BP Logix

The traditional onboarding process takes time and involves a lot of paperwork. Automation is the best way to streamline the employee onboarding process. An employee onboarding software, which eliminates the new hire paperwork and increases the speed of the onboarding process, may help the organization improve the new hire onboarding experience. Not sure how to get the ball rolling? Don't miss our how-to guide for automating the employee onboarding process.

A streamlined onboarding helps the organization to improve employee retention and workplace productivity. The first day and the first month are critical in the employee onboarding process. Ideally, the HR teams should create a first positive impression on the first day and make the employee become a part of the company’s culture by the first month of the employment.

Automate the employee onboarding process with the help of BP Logix HR Workflow Software. Request a demo to see how it can assist your organization.

As more employers roll out workplace vaccination policies that require employees to share their vaccination status and/or COVID test results, there’s a lot of confusion surrounding the role of HIPAA in this effort. Do employers need to comply with HIPAA policies when collecting and storing employee vaccination and testing data?

In this article, we’ll explore employers’ responsibilities in safeguarding employees’ COVID-19 vaccination and testing data. But first, let’s answer the most burning question:

Does HIPAA apply to employee vaccine tracking?

No. HIPAA requirements do not apply to employers or any technology they use to track their employees’ vaccination data in this situation because they are not a covered entity under HIPAA. Any vaccination or testing data an employer collects is considered employee data, rather than patient data.

To explain why, let’s dive a bit deeper into how HIPAA works.

What is HIPAA? What is a covered entity?

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is a United States federal law that ensures the protected health information (PHI) of the patient is not disclosed to anybody without the consent of the patient or the patient’s authorized representative.

There are four covered entities of HIPAA. According to HIPAA, a covered entity is an individual, institution, or organization that is involved in the transaction of protected health information. This transaction may be related to healthcare status, enrollment, treatment, insurance, and payment.

The covered entities of HIPAA are:

• Healthcare providers: Including doctors, nursing professionals, hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, and other entities that transmit patients’ health information electronically.
• Health plans: Including insurance companies, government insurance agencies that pay for programs such as Medicaid and Medicare, health maintenance firms, and military health programs, and veteran’s health programs.
• Healthcare clearinghouses: Entities that act as intermediaries between healthcare providers and health insurers. These clearinghouses process non-standard health information and convert it into the standard that meets the HIPAA regulations.
• Business associates: Individuals or companies that have access to, store, and disseminate the patients’ health information.

All covered entities of HIPAA must comply with the HIPAA Security Rule that safeguards the patient’s electronically stored health information. To comply with the HIPAA Security Rule, covered entities should execute the following responsibilities:

• Ensure the confidentiality of patients’ protected health information.
• Detect threats and protect the information against these threats.
• Restrict the impermissible uses and disclosures of the data.
• Ensure compliance by workforce.

Employers are not considered one of the four covered entities under HIPAA. Any vaccination or testing data shared with an employer is considered employee data, not patient data for which the HIPAA privacy rule applies.

Regardless of HIPAA, keeping employee data secure is still crucial

Although employers need not worry about HIPAA compliance, they aren’t completely off the hook. Just like any other employee data, employers still have a general responsibility to keep their employees’ COVID-19 vaccination and testing data confidential and secure.

Failing to safeguard employee data – whether it’s contact information, social security numbers, or COVID-19 vaccination and testing data – can have a serious, life-changing impact on employees. In a recent study conducted by Kaspersky, nearly 48% of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), where a minimum of one data breach happened in the previous year, reported the incidents harmed the overall work experience of employees.

In addition to lowering employee morale, poor management of employee data can result in major repercussion for employers in the form of PR debacles and legal problems. Organizations that don’t follow legal guidelines for safeguarding data could face legal action from their employees. For example, employee data is legally protected under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). A data breach or poor management of employee data could result in lawsuits from employees in the State of California.

To avoid these issues, employers need to identify a secure way to collect, store, and maintain employee COVID-19 vaccination data and test results. The most efficient and secure way to do this is to implement a vaccine tracking solution that takes the privacy and security of employees’ health information seriously.

When researching vaccine tracking solutions, employers should look for applications that:

1. Are hosted in a secure cloud SOC2 environment. According to the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), SOC2 is a compliance standard that meets the five trust service principles, which include security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy).\
2. Meet the international and industry-specific compliance standards such as ISO/IEC 27001:2013, and NIST SP 800-53.
3. Allow administrators to define the user roles and allow the data access to only a few authorized people.

Why should I be tracking my employees’ vaccination status?

With all the complexity that comes with ensuring the security of employee vaccination and test data, some employers may wonder if it’s even worth the effort.

Tracking vaccination status and safeguarding the employee data related to COVID-19 vaccination or testing with the help of a vaccine tracking application can benefit the organization in several ways.

Watch the full webinar.

Here is a list of several reasons why organizations should be tracking employee COVID-19 vaccination status.

Avoid lawsuits

There is a growing number of COVID-related workplace lawsuits being filed by employees under the OSH Act's General Duty clause, which states that employers are responsible for providing employees with a generally safe workplace. Implementing a solution now can help prevent COVID-related workplace liability lawsuits by reducing an employers’ general liability for unsafe workplaces. The OSH Act is not dependent on mandates.

Improved incident reporting

As reported by scientists of the University of Hong Kong, the Omicron variant can spread 70 times faster than the Delta variant. Left unchecked and unmonitored, the virus can spread very quickly in workplaces. Without vaccination records and weekly testing reports of unvaccinated employees, it can be incredibly difficult to make informed decisions impacting the daily operations and staffing of your workplace. Tracking vaccinations helps employers manage incidents and instill greater confidence for employees concerned about COVID transmission in the workplace.

Reduce manual processes and data entry

Collecting vaccination data from each employee and manually entering it into a system can be an administrative nightmare, especially for companies that operate in multiple states with varying vaccination policies.

The best way to automate this process is to implement a tracking application, such as the BP Logix Vaccine Tracker, that allows employees to easily upload vaccination proof and test results from desktops, smartphones, and tablets. A vaccine tracker solution helps the organization reduce the dependency on manual processes and data entry, improving the speed at which the organization identifies the unvaccinated employees, gathers proof of vaccination, and complies with any established policies or governmental mandates.  

Keep employees’ health data safe and secure

It is the responsibility of the organization to safeguard the employee’s health data. Manual processes can lead to data leakages and make the organization vulnerable to penalties and lawsuits. A vaccine tracker solution rolled out via secure cloud deployment (SOC2/3) helps organizations safeguard employees’ health data.

Keep track and keep safe with BP Logix

HIPAA makes sure that its covered entities, including healthcare providers, health plans, healthcare clearinghouses, and business associates don’t disclose the protected health information of patients to anybody without their consent.

Though employers don’t need to comply with HIPAA privacy rules while collecting, storing, disclosing, and disseminating employee vaccination and testing data in this COVID-19 situation, they may still want to implement a vaccine tracking solution to eliminate the chances of employee’s health data breach and manual oversight.

Employers should choose a vaccine tracking solution that can be hosted in a secure cloud SOC2, meet international compliance standards, and allow data access to only a few authorized people.

Effectively track employee vaccination information and comply with COVID-19 vaccination mandates with the help of the BP Logix Vaccine Tracker application.

Take a tour of the app and request your demo today.

Verification vs Validation: Definitions

Software testing is a process of examining the functionality and behavior of the software through verification and validation. 

• Verification is a process of determining if the software is designed and developed as per the specified requirements. 
• Validation is the process of checking if the software (end product) has met the client’s true needs and expectations. 

Software testing is incomplete until it undergoes verification and validation processes. Verification and validation are the main elements of software testing workflow because they:

1. Ensure that the end product meets the design requirements.
2. Reduce the chances of defects and product failure.
3. Ensures that the product meets the quality standards and expectations of all stakeholders involved.

Most people confuse verification and validation; some use them interchangeably. People often mistake verification and validation because of a lack of knowledge on the purposes they fulfill and the pain points they address.

The software testing industry is estimated to grow from $40 billion in 2020 to $60 billion in 2027. Considering the steady growth of the software testing industry, we put together a guide that provides an in-depth explanation behind verification and validation and the main differences between these two processes.

Verification

As mentioned, verification is the process of determining if the software in question is designed and developed according to specified requirements. Specifications act as inputs for the software development process. The code for any software application is written based on the specifications document. 

Verification is done to check if the software being developed has adhered to these specifications at every stage of the development life cycle. The verification ensures that the code logic is in line with specifications.

Depending on the complexity and scope of the software application, the software testing team uses different methods of verification, including inspection, code reviews, technical reviews, and walkthroughs. Software testing teams may also use mathematical models and calculations to make predictive statements about the software and verify its code logic.

Further, verification checks if the software team is building the product right. Verification is a continuous process that begins well in advance of validation processes and runs until the software application is validated and released.

The main advantages of the verification are:

1. It acts as a quality gateway at every stage of the software development process.
2. It enables software teams to develop products that meet design specifications and customer needs.
3. It saves time by detecting the defects at the early stage of software development.
4. It reduces or eliminates defects that may arise at the later stage of the software development process.

A walkthrough of verification of a mobile application

There are three phases in the verification testing of a mobile application development:

1. Requirements Verification
2. Design Verification
3. Code Verification

Requirements verification is the process of verifying and confirming that the requirements are complete, clear, and correct. Before the mobile application goes for design, the testing team verifies business requirements or customer requirements for their correctness and completeness.

Design verification is a process of checking if the design of the software meets the design specifications by providing evidence. Here, the testing team checks if layouts, prototypes, navigational charts, architectural designs, and database logical models of the mobile application meet the functional and non-functional requirements specifications.

Code verification is a process of checking the code for its completeness, correctness, and consistency. Here, the testing team checks if construction artifacts such as source code, user interfaces, and database physical model of the mobile application meet the design specification.

Validation

Validation is often conducted after the completion of the entire software development process. It checks if the client gets the product they are expecting. Validation focuses only on the output; it does not concern itself about the internal processes and technical intricacies of the development process. 

Validation helps to determine if the software team has built the right product. Validation is a one-time process that starts only after verifications are completed. Software teams often use a wide range of validation methods, including White Box Testing (non-functional testing or structural/design testing) and Black Box Testing (functional testing).

White Box Testing is a method that helps validate the software application using a predefined series of inputs and data. Here, testers just compare the output values against the input values to verify if the application is producing output as specified by the requirements.

There are three vital variables in the Black Box Testing method (input values, output values, and expected output values). This method is used to verify if the actual output of the software meets the anticipated or expected output.

The main advantages of validation processes are:

1. It ensures that the expectations of all stakeholders are fulfilled.
2. It enables software teams to take corrective action if there is a mismatch between the actual product and the anticipated product.
3. It improves the reliability of the end-product.

A walkthrough of validation of a mobile application

Validation emphasizes checking the functionality, usability, and performance of the mobile application. 

Functionality testing checks if the mobile application is working as expected. For instance, while testing the functionality of a ticket-booking application, the testing team tries to validate it through:

1. Installing, running, and updating the application from distribution channels like Google Play and the App Store
2. Booking tickets in the real-time environment (fields testing)
3. Interruptions testing

Usability testing checks if the application offers a convenient browsing experience. User interface and navigations are validated based on various criteria which include satisfaction, efficiency, and effectiveness.

Performance testing enables testers to validate the application by checking its reaction and speed under the specific workload. Software testing teams often use techniques such as load testing, stress testing, and volume testing to validate the performance of the mobile application.

Main differences between verification and validation

Verification and validation, while similar, are not the same. There are several notable differences between these two. Here is a chart that identifies the differences between verification and validation:

Verification and validation are an integral part of software engineering. Without rigorous verification and validation, a software team may not be able to build a product that meets the expectations of stakeholders. Verification and validation help reduce the chances of product failure and improve the reliability of the end product. 

Different project management and software development methods use verification and validation in different ways. For instance, both verification and validation happen simultaneously in agile development methodology due to the need for continuous refinement of the system based on the end-user feedback. 

Testers can use automation tools developed with low code development to streamline the processes of verification and validation. Contact us today to discover how BP Logix's workflow automation platform, Process Director, can help automate your software testing process.

In this article…

• What is business process automation (BPA)? 
• What kind of tasks and processes should be automated?
• Business process automation use cases and examples
• Why are businesses turning to BPA? Benefits and advantages 

What is business process automation (BPA)?

Business process automation (BPA) is the process of automating complex functions (beyond traditional data collection and record-keeping activities) with the help of digital technologies.

Business process automation is not the same thing as case management. (Case management deals more with a group of processes, and therefore is much more complex. Cases typically involve multiple people and/or departments.)

Organizations implement workflow automation solutions such as Intelligent BPM and Business Rules Engines to enable accurate data reporting, improve accountability, identify and eliminate inefficiencies, streamline communication, and reduce operational costs. 

The market size of the global Business Process Automation (BPA) industry was approximately $9.8 billion in 2020. It is forecasted to grow at an annualized rate of 12.2% and reach $19.6 billion by 2026. 

In this article, we will cover the advantages of BPA and highlight its use cases in areas such as logistics, education, bookkeeping, human resources management, finance, contracts management, and more.

What kind of tasks and processes should be automated?

Did you know that employees waste 22% of their productive time on repetitive tasks and wasteful procedures? As such, every organization should aim to increase operational efficiencies by eliminating wasteful procedures and practices. One way to do this is through business process automation and business process management (BPM). 

BPM software helps organizations achieve optimal performance by automating very specific processes such as:

• High-volume, repetitive tasks that involve the same steps
• Tasks that require multiple people
• Back office workflows
• Time-sensitive tasks 
• Compliance and audit trails
• Scheduled tasks which occur at the same time on the same day each week
• Employee onboarding
• Purchase orders, accounts payables, and bill payments
• IT services desk support
• Marketing automation across multiple promotional channels
• Sales activities like lead qualification, prospecting, and funnel creation

To learn more about how to prioritize process automation projects, you can view our guide here.

Business process automation use cases and examples

Business owners may not have an idea of what processes and workflows they can automate at the workplace. Because of this, businesses often postpone adopting business automation platforms and end up wasting millions of dollars due to repetitive processes, low employee productivity, and poor compliance. 

The BPA use cases and examples below can help determine how automation efforts can improve operational efficiency and provide a competitive advantage: 

Human resources

The manual HR process is likely to result in an unpleasant experience for new employees. It may also lead to excessive paperwork for the HR team, inconsistencies in the hiring process, and a low employee retention rate. In fact, 36% of HR leaders feel that the lack of automation is the reason for their inability to better organize the onboarding process.

BPA empowers the organization to automate paperwork, map the employee onboarding journey, meet compliance standards, and so much more. BPA also makes it easier for HR teams to enroll benefits and assign key performance indicators (KPIs).

A few human resource management (HRM) functions that BPA can automate are:

• Hiring 
• Onboarding
• Training
• Leaves management
• Performance management

Legal and contracts management

Legal and contracts management comprises all legal tasks related to the management of contracts. A few vital tasks involved in the process of contract management are drafting contracts, preparing bids, processing claims, monitoring contract performance, and managing change requests. 

BPA enables organizations to create a central repository of contracts with a search function, automate contract drafting, send reminders to relevant teams about contract deadlines or renewals, automate approvals with e-signatures, meet compliance, create touchless contracts with fully-executed NDAs, and build conditional workflows.

Some legal and contract management tasks that BPA can automate are:

• Procurement and supplier management
• Contract management
• Contract compliance
• Claims processing
• Audit trails

Financial

Typically, finance-related tasks rely heavily on manual, repetitive, and time-consuming activities. Most finance tasks include invoice processing, financial data recording or reconciliation, budgeting, and financial projections, and more. These tasks are prime candidates for automation because of their highly-structured and rule-based nature. 

BPA automates these rule-based finance functions to reduce the likelihood of errors and fraud, achieve greater efficiency, meet compliance, and save time. It’s projected that organizations can automate 42% of the financial department’s work with the help of automation technologies like BPA and RPA (Robotic Process Automation).

Some finance-related tasks that BPA can automate are:

• Purchase orders
• Accounts payables
• Financial reporting
• Payroll processing
• Invoicing and accounts receivables
• Tax compliance and reporting

Data aggregation and bookkeeping

Improper data aggregation is the reason why accounting teams struggle with financial close and consolidation. Due to this, accounting teams have been failing to provide critical decision-making inputs to business owners. It also forces accounting teams to spend more time on mechanical data and manual financial consolidation adjustments. 

BPA enables organizations to automatically update and approve journal entries, conduct audit trials, create financial close checklists, match transactions with general ledger, compare account balances against sources to identify discrepancies, and give automated alerts on uncollected invoices.

Some data aggregation and bookkeeping tasks that BPA can automate are:

• Journal entries
• Basic data entry 
• Bank reconciliations
• Expense management
• Credit control
• Risk management

Education

27% of tasks in educational services can be automated with the help of existing technologies like business process management (BPM), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Robotic Process Automation (RPA).

BPA helps educational institutions transform from paper-based procedures to electronic procedures. It eliminates the hassle for students to visit the college premises multiple times to enroll in courses. Automation streamlines the process of student enrollment and engagement.

Some tasks that BPA can automate in the educational services industry are:

• Student enrollment and course registration
• Immigration compliance for international students
• Financial aid services

Logistics and shipping

Automation has become a common trend in the logistics and shipping industry. As business trends and demands evolved, organizations in manufacturing industries quickly learned that they cannot survive without an efficient logistics department and automated processes.

BPA software enables logistics and shipping companies to reduce inventory costs, eliminate the scope for costly errors, meet compliance standards, access real-time freight data analysis, improve stock visibility, and manage the distribution.

Some logistics and shipping processes that BPA can automate are:

• Lead management
• Inventory tracking
• Shipment scheduling and tracking

Why are businesses turning to BPA? Benefits and advantages

Gartner predicts that businesses will adopt at least 3 out of 20 process-agnostic types of software by 2024 to enable hyper-automation. Why?

It’s because any medium- to large-scale business can greatly benefit from implementing no-code BPA technologies. To name a few, businesses can streamline processes, reduce human errors, save time and money, and improve customer service.

Let’s review a few more of the key benefits to BPA below.

Streamlined and standardized processes

The primary role of BPA is to streamline and standardize complex and repeatable tasks. It enables organizations to develop a set of rules to complete each task and create a workflow that does not require human intervention.

Automation helps employees spend their quality time on tasks that improve organizational productivity. According to McKinsey, streamlining and standardizing processes through automation can increase productivity by 1.4% on a global basis annually. Further, BPA significantly contributes to overall business process improvement.

Compliance records

BPA helps businesses create automated reporting and documentation procedures that meet compliance regulations like Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), and The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

For instance, employee benefits compliance is one of the major concerns for organizations. Employee benefit laws like HIPAA and ERISA want organizations to roll out employee benefit plans and maintain records of the same. 

A BPM streamlines the employee benefits process and maintains its compliance records impeccably. It simplifies the complex process of collecting eligible employee data, gathering signatures, and generating approvals while processing employee benefits.

Transparency between teams and stakeholders

BPA increases visibility and accountability within organizations. It creates a workflow that all authorized professionals can track.

Likewise, automated workflows may also help an internal auditor assess whether the project team has followed a set of standards, policies, and regulations while executing an operational activity or not with a single mouse click.

Eliminate costly errors

Did you know that the Citigroup credit department accidentally sent $500 million to Revlon’s lenders by mistake? This was a severe human error that could have been avoided if automation tools were in place.

The implementation of automation technologies makes organizations less vulnerable to clerical and reporting errors that cost millions and millions of dollars.

Improved customer service

Customer engagement is the key to an increased customer satisfaction rate. BPA allows businesses to streamline activities like customer engagement, customer support, and customer experience through automated social media, automated emails, and automated service interactions.

For instance, a Social BPM can create a workflow that sends an automated alert or trigger when a customer makes a complaint on a social media platform like Twitter or Facebook.

Choosing the right BPA solution for your business

Choosing the right business process automation software that is more powerful than a traditional ERP or CRM can be challenging. However, you can choose a suitable BPA solution by analyzing if it meets the expectations in the following parameters:

• User experience: It involves analyzing the ease of use and efficiency of the solution. How friendly is the user interface? How smooth is the interaction between the user and the software?
• Artificial intelligence: How much human involvement is required while executing complex tasks? After all, you are purchasing the BPA solution to reduce user intervention. Choose a BPA solution that is powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning.
• Integrations: BPA platforms should facilitate API integration between existing software and solutions at the workplace for better efficiency. 
• Flexible deployment: Make sure that the BPA vendor offers flexible deployment options. The flexibility allows you to deploy the application on your premises or third-party cloud infrastructure based on your preference and requirement.
• Low code development: Coding can be a hassle and complex. With low-code applications, you can customize and quickly adapt the applications in response to the fast-changing business environments.
• Mobile use: 60% of employees use mobile apps for work-related activities. If the BPM solution is not mobile-friendly, it would not make tasks and to-do lists available for employees on the go.

BPA solutions can boost the productivity of workplaces. They can save millions of dollars to businesses by standardizing workflows in areas like accounting, finance, human resources, contracts management, and logistics. They can also help eliminate costly errors and improve the quality of customer service. Ensure you choose a low-code and user-friendly AI-enabled BPM software.

Ready to learn more about how digital transformation powered by business process automation tools can streamline your complex processes and increase the efficiency of business operations?

Schedule a demo of BP Logix’s Process Director, or get in touch with us today!

Low-code platforms are on the rise across all industries. Read on to discover the benefits of low-code platforms for businesses.

In this article…

• What does low-code mean?
• Why is everyone shifting to low-code?
• Benefits of low-code development
• Difference between low-code and no code
• What can you build with low-code?
• Low-code business process automation solutions with BP Logix

What does low-code mean?

Low-code is a software development approach that uses little to no coding to create new applications, mobile apps, and software. Low-code approaches use graphical user interfaces with drag-and-drop capabilities rather than complex coding programs and languages.

This method is gaining much momentum, and Gartner has projected that the global low-code development platform market is forecasted to grow to a total of $13.8 billion.

Why is everyone shifting to low-code application development?

Low-code doesn’t necessarily mean limited; in fact, its capabilities are varied and far and wide. 

Usually, businesses tend to use custom coding and off-the-shelf SaaS as alternatives to low-code applications. Custom code is the code that isn’t part of the licensed software. Instead, it’s often programmed by implementation partners, supported end-users, and third-party developers to customize the application based on the specific needs of the organization. This implementation of custom code applications is time-consuming and cost-oriented. Developers may need to have sound knowledge of programming languages like Java, Python, or PHP to build custom applications. 

Off-the-shelf SaaS comes with a standard set of features to meet the requirements of a broad range of customers. It may not be customized and adapted to the changing business needs of the organization. 

Benefits of low-code development

Fast time to value

Businesses tend to choose low-code platforms because of the fast time to value (TTV). Time to value (TTV) refers to the time a product or service takes to offer desired benefits to the customer. The development lifecycle of low-code applications is as low as a couple of weeks to three months. 

This case study shows how a low-code BPM application was built and deployed within 45 days. Low-code development has also been a tremendous help in other large-scale universities and higher education institutions. 

Wide variety of industry applications

Various industries including, but not limited to manufacturing, education, healthcare/pharmaceuticals, advertising, financial, and more are implementing low-code applications to streamline their operations. Regardless if you operate in a highly complex and regulatory industry, a low-code application can solve your worries related to increasing costs of application development, long timelines of implementation, and maintaining an in-house development team.

Easy integrations

Low-code platforms facilitate the integration of existing applications and systems. They help IT departments create application programming interfaces (APIs) that play a crucial role in developing sophisticated and next-generation mobile applications based on the needs of the business.

Today, most of the reliable low-code platforms are facilitating integrations of database applications, document imaging software, email servers, SharePoint, social BPM, and web services/REST.

Unparalleled security 

Security is the biggest concern for every organization that implements enterprise-grade applications. Low-code development platforms offer unparalleled security through global access controls and user-based permissions.

Since low-code applications are hosted on enterprise secure DMZ or secure private cloud infrastructures, they can easily pass cybersecurity clearances. Most low-code applications have third-party certifications like SOC 2 Type 2 and SOC 3 that guarantee cloud security, availability, and confidentiality controls.

Improved customer/user experience

97% of development professionals believe that the low-code platforms enhance the end-user experience through features such as quick updates, visual development, flexible designs, and mobile-friendly interfaces. For example, low-code BPM software can help educational institutions to improve the experience of students through mobile-accessible enrollment forms and real-time visibility about the status of their applications. 

Likewise, retail companies can implement low-code workflow automation software that improves the consumer experience through better interaction, real-time updates, optimized assortments, and personalized promotions.

Increased transparency across teams

Today, most organizations operate with a functional organizational structure that groups employees as departments based on the specialized set of tasks they do. For instance, a manufacturing company comprises several teams or departments including, but not limited to procurement, production, accounting, human resources, and delivery. The lack of transparency and visibility across these teams can result in conflicts and increase production lead times. 

The implementation of a low-code application like Business Process Management (BPM) can address this issue by creating workflows that all authorized people across teams can track. For instance, the BPM enables the production team members to have visibility on raw materials or the inventory levels that help schedule the production activities in a better and more simplified manner.

Simple deployments

A recently conducted research indicated that low-code digital automation applications can shave off 50-90% development and deployment time when compared to traditional applications. 

Since low-code frameworks are built on the principles such as speed, efficiency, and democratization of technology, they can be deployed quickly on the third-party cloud infrastructure or on-premises of businesses. These features all come together to help businesses with their scalability.

Difference between low-code and no code

The functionality of low-code and no code, while similar, is not the same. There are several differences between low-code and no code in terms of business users, the complexity of the end product, the amount of customization required, and the cost.

What can you build with low-code? 

• Optimization apps: Optimization apps are the applications built to enhance the performance of a specific device or an operating system.
• Customer engagement apps: These are omnichannel communication applications that facilitate interaction and engagement between the organization and its customers. These apps help marketing teams to maintain customer relationships and increase customer retention rates.
• Business processes: These are automation applications that streamline complex business processes to improve organizational efficiency. Business Process Management (BPM) is one of the finest examples of business processes apps.
• Data models and business logic: Data model apps are the platforms that help you build logical data models and database structures. Business logic apps create automated workflows that integrate business apps, information, and services of an organization. Business logic apps can help you develop a scalable integration solution.
• AI-based solutions and processes: Low-code development can also be used to create AI-enabled chatbots, visual information processing tools, data analytics applications, and machine learning tools. These solutions and processes help businesses reduce human errors and optimize internal operations.

Low-code business process automation solutions with BP Logix

Low-code tools are playing a significant role in digital transformation. Low-code helps businesses quickly develop and deploy enterprise-grade applications that streamline internal operations and optimize productivity. The low-code development process is more effective than custom-coding and off-the-shelf SaaS. 

Low-code is widely-used to develop customer engagement apps, optimization apps, business process automation apps, case management, and AI-based solutions. Faster time to value, increased customer experience, unparalleled security, and quick deployments are a few of the most cited benefits of low-code app development. 

Discover how the Process Director, a low-code Business Process Management software from BP Logix can help you automate workflows and optimize productivity.

As employers with 100 or more employees join healthcare facilities and K-12 schools in efforts to comply with the federal COVID-19 vaccination and testing requirements, professional employer organizations (PEOs) are facing some interesting questions about their role in this situation.

Let’s examine the some of the hurdles that co-employers must overcome in light of recent government mandates and executive orders. 

1. The burden of responsibility

PEOs provide comprehensive HR services to small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) through a legal arrangement known as co-employment. Under a co-employment partnership, the PEO take on the management of HR functions (payroll, employee benefits, taxes, etc) and assume a share of employer liability and responsibility for employment risks. By outsourcing most (or all) of their HR activities, business owners can reduce costs and focus their efforts on growing their business, revenue, and customer base.

What this means is that the company's employees are also legally employees of the PEO, which begs the question:

If PEOs legally share the role of employer with their clients, are they on the hook for ensuring their clients’ employees comply with vaccination and testing mandates?

At the moment, it’s unclear what level of responsibility PEOs should expect to bear when it comes to vaccination mandates, which brings us to the second challenge:

2. Becoming an expert in vaccination compliance

PEOs do more than simply handle payroll and send out annual W2s. They also regularly serve an advisory role to their clients for matters involving compliance and labor regulations.

Do PEOs have a plan for helping their customers navigate vaccine mandates and implement processes that reduce employee anxieties? They ought to. Companies involved in a co-employer partnership will be looking to their PEO for guidance and resources on how best to handle his uncharted territory. After all, it's a pretty complex task to confirm the vaccination status of a company's workforce and set up weekly testing for employees who are not fully vaccinated. 

PEOs will not only need to have a firm handle on federal and state mandate requirements – they must also be ready to provide their clients with a solution for tracking employee vaccinations and tests. If PEOs don’t have one at the ready, they should at the very least be able to direct their clients to a solution so that no one has to resort to the dreaded task of tracking vaccinations via spreadsheet.

3. Retaining clients and winning new business

It’s no secret that the pandemic drastically changed the nature of work and commerce. Businesses must adapt, and PEOs are no exception. As vaccination mandate deadlines close in, PEOs must make sure they are investing in digital tools and infrastructure that keep existing customers ahead of the compliance curve while also enticing potential new business to sign on the dotted line.

Tools for tracking vaccinations and tests are a prime example. If PEOs can't provide the necessary support and guidance to customers as they navigate vaccination mandates and other COVID-related policies, that could be a major dealbreaker for both current and potential customers.

Some larger players in the PEO industry know this and have already taken steps to adapt to rapidly shifting market needs by rolling out some simple vaccine tracking solutions for their clients or partnering with companies like BP Logix to provide a solution.

4. Identifying the best vaccine tracking solution for PEOs

Before we dive into what makes an ideal vaccine tracker for PEOs, let's first take a step back and talk about vaccine applications broadly.

Numerous applications for proving vaccination and testing status have rolled out over the past year, but there is no “one size fits all” solution. Why? Well, the end user goals of one vaccine status app may be completely different than the end user goals of another vaccine status app.

For example, while vaccine passports are incredibly useful for providing proof of vaccination on an individual basis (such as getting through the airport to catch flight to Hawaii), they don’t serve quite the same function as a vaccination tracking application for private employers, which boils down to trying to ensure compliance of mandates and manage large quantities of data collected from hundreds or even thousands of employees. 

With those goals in mind, a vaccination tracking app designed specifically for employers should offer the following features and benefits: 

• It should be accessible and mobile-friendly. 
• It should have workflow trigger for handling exemption requests and testing for unvaccinated people. 
• It should be simple to pull vaccination and testing data to prove compliance to regulatory bodies. 
• It should be flexible to scale with your organization as policies shift or expand.
• It should be ready for rapid deployment in order to meet mandate deadlines. 

5. Rolling out a vaccine tracking solution to client companies

When it comes to choosing a vaccine tracking solution, PEOs have an even more complicated task than independent employers. Not only must they find a solution that offers all of the features listed above, but they must also be able to roll it out to multiple co-employer clients at a reasonable cost.

BP Logix’s Vaccine Tracker app accomplishes this additional challenge with its multi-tenant model.

How? It all comes back to how co-employer partnerships work. In order to carry out their responsibilities within the arrangement, PEOs require their customers to provide them with access to employee information and core HR systems. BP Logix's multi-tenant model is able to leverage this technical arrangement for the Vaccine Tracker app to provide PEOs with lower pricing at scale, as well as the following benefits:

• Partitions between client companies and their data
• Customizable app configuration per client company
• Personalized in-app branding

Ready to learn more about our vaccine tracking solution for PEOs?

Schedule your customized demo of BP Logix's Vaccine Tracker app today.

As more private employers take the necessary steps to comply with state and federal mandates for tracking COVID-19 vaccinations and testing, many of them are seeking out solutions to make the effort as easy as possible.

Spreadsheets are often the first option to come to mind. After all, they are a “free” option and it’s fairly simple to set them up, even if you only have basic Excel experience. Unfortunately, that's where the advantages end.

Let’s take some time to break down exactly why it’s not a great idea to use spreadsheets for tracking vaccinations.

The limitations of spreadsheets

While spreadsheets are not the worst option for smaller employers that are only trying to monitor vaccination and testing for a handful of workers, they fall short for larger employers with 100 or more workers. Under the new OSHA rule, these larger employers are legally required to track vaccination status and testing for unvaccinated employees. This means that they must collect data from hundreds or even thousands of people and maintain records to ensure compliance.

Spreadsheets simply aren’t equipped to tackle that level of complexity or scale. A better option is to roll out a dedicated application that is specifically designed to collect vaccination and testing data, such as the Vaccine Tracker App. Let's dig a bit further into the disadvantages of spreadsheets.

1. Spreadsheets are tedious – for employers and employees alike

Manually collecting data from hundreds or thousands of people and then ensuring that data is entered correctly into a spreadsheet is a nightmare. It’s especially tedious when you consider the unvaccinated testing component of recent mandates, which requires employees to submit new data on a weekly basis and employers to keep records of that data. That's a lot for managers and HR teams to keep up with while also maintaining their regular job responsibilities. It's not too fun on the employee's end either.

Compared to spreadsheets, an application like the Vaccine Tracker provides a more accessible and mobile-friendly user experience for employers and employees alike. By making the tracking process as easy as possible, you can reduce barriers to access and maximize compliance. Applications also help employers reduce the time they spend agonizing over spreadsheet cells through the power of workflow automation and stronger verification features that circumvent the vaccination tracking “honor system."

2. Lack of exception handling

The lack of exception handling is, by far, one of the biggest limitations of using spreadsheets. As mentioned earlier, in addition to tracking vaccination statuses, employers must also have workflows in place for handling exceptions involving unvaccinated people, such as:

• Enforcing weekly COVID-19 testing and documenting results for compliance purposes.
• Collecting attestation for medical or religious exemption requests.
• Escalating contact tracing in the event of positive test results.

If these workflows aren’t automated, employers must devote significant administrative resources to sending out follow-up emails and weekly testing reminders, receiving proof of test results via email or text, manually updating employee data on a weekly basis, and keeping an eye out for instances of non-compliance that must be escalated. Depending on the size of the workforce, that can add up to several hours of work for administrative staff per week.

Exception handling is where vaccination tracking application shines. An application like our Vaccine Tracker handles exceptions with ease. If an employee indicates they are unvaccinated, the system triggers automated workflows and reminder notifications that help keep employees accountable to testing requirements.

3. Reporting and proving compliance is a headache

When tracking vaccinations, collecting the data is only one piece of the pie. Being able to make sense of that data through reports is just as important – especially for workplaces that must submit weekly or monthly reporting to regulators to ensure they are following through with mandates.

For example, when managing weekly testing for unvaccinated personnel, it’s helpful to have reports that tell you who has been tested and not tested that week, as well as see that data broken down by department or worksite. This allows employers to identify problem areas quickly and stay in compliance.

Unfortunately, this is yet another area where spreadsheets stumble. Using spreadsheet data to create reports and dashboards for these purposes can take hours, while a dedicated application takes only minutes.

4. Poor collaborative and integrative capabilities

Many organizations need vaccination data to make decisions, whether it’s deciding if facilities need to close temporarily due to an outbreak or determining if incentives should be offered for vaccinations. These kinds of decisions may require collaboration across different departments or worksites. In some cases, organizations may wish to share public-facing reports of their vaccination and testing data on a dedicated website for all to see.

This level of collaboration and transparency is difficult to achieve with a simple spreadsheet, which is limited in its capability to integrate with other data sources or applications.

For example, K-12 schools may need the ability to integrate with district data. Unfortunately, a spreadsheet isn’t powerful enough to enable pushes and pulls from HR information systems or applications like ClassLink single sign-on.

5. Poor security and data privacy best practices

While the way employers store employee vaccination data is not covered under HIPAA, it’s still important for organizations to treat their employee’s private data with care and respect.

Unfortunately, improper data sharing is not uncommon with spreadsheets. An application designed to help you track vaccinations and testing, on the other hand, will be provide a secure environment (e.g. SOC2 and HECVAT certified) and have the ability to add or remove decision makers and create rules-based permissions.

6. Prone to errors and instability

On top of poor data security, spreadsheets are more prone to human error. It’s easy to input incorrect data, alter or delete data, mess up conditional formatting, or even lose files completely – often without even realizing it. Plus, there’s no independent backups to rely on should disaster strike.

7. Dismal scalability

As vaccination and testing mandates evolve, the way you approach tracking this data must be able to keep up.

Spreadsheets are ill-equipped for adapting to changing requirements, and there are limits to the amount of data you can collect. The flexibility to scale and add new features is why it pays to choose a future-proofed solution at the beginning.

Discover the Vaccine Tracker app.

Discover how easy we make it for employees to confirm COVID-19 vaccination status or test results. Get in touch with the BP Logix team today to schedule a customized demo.

Tracking vaccination status in the workplace helps companies ensure compliance with government mandates, but that doesn’t necessarily guarantee employee confidence.

That’s because the vast majority of vaccination tracking efforts are based on the honor system, which, as the Wall Street Journal explains, is “one in which health information is often given voluntarily, and employees have few ways to be sure their co-workers are following the rules.”

When faced with poor transparency and lax enforcement around vaccination policies, some employees are choosing to join the “Great Resignation” rather than endure the anxiety of returning to in-person worksites under unknown health risk factors. That's why it's becoming more critical than ever for employers to upgrade from the honor system to a more robust and accountable COVID-19 vaccination tracking process.

Let's walk through the vaccination tracking challenges faced by employers before and after the FDA's approval of the first COVID-19 vaccine, and then discuss where to start with building a truly strong workplace vaccination policy.

Vaccine hesitation in uncharted territory

Back when the vaccines were only available under emergency use authorization, it was not a big surprise that employers weren't exactly rushing to impose vaccination and testing mandates.

Even though a August 2021 survey by Mercer revealed that 65% of workers want their employer to mandate vaccinations, few businesses were eager to risk a potential lawsuit or deal with the headache of hiring new workers should unvaccinated employees choose to quit due to medical reasons or political or religious beliefs.

There’s also the matter of the costs required to implement a vaccination and testing program with actual teeth. While it’s quick, easy, and virtually free to establish a “you only have to wear a mask if you’re unvaccinated” policy based on the honor system, it takes significantly more resources to require employees to provide documentation confirming vaccination status or weekly test results. Since there were no governmental vaccination mandates up until recently due to the vaccines’ emergency use authorization status, there wasn’t much to compel employers to expend the necessary resources.

FDA vaccine approval flips the switch

Once the FDA approved the first COVID-19 vaccine, the floodgates opened to vaccination mandates across the United States. At the state level, many governors ordered vaccination and testing for K-12 school employees, and at the federal level, President Biden instituted a new OSHA rule that requires vaccinations or weekly testing for workers at private companies with 100+ employees. Businesses that do not comply could face OSHA fines of up to $14,000 per violation.

What this means is that worries over employee lawsuits have now been replaced by worries over fines and penalties for non-compliance. In addition, companies must grapple with the possibility of not only losing unvaccinated employees – but vaccinated employees, as well.

Backed by the clout of FDA authorization and governmental mandates, many vaccinated employees at in-person worksites are now expecting more from their employer when it comes to fostering a safe working environment. Instead of the honor system, these employees want to see employers offering stronger measures, such as:

• Disclosure of the number of vaccinated vs. unvaccinated workers at worksites
• Assurance that employees and visitors forgoing masks have been confirmed as vaccinated
• Clear processes for enforcing weekly testing of unvaccinated workers
• Contact tracing infrastructure to handle positive cases

How to build strong, accountable COVID-19 workplace policies and procedures

Workplace COVID-19 policies and procedures should ideally accomplish three key goals:

• Prevent the spread of disease in the workplace
• Comply with mandates to avoid fines and penalties
• Reduce employee anxiety about workplace safety

Of course, even with vaccination mandates on the rise and vaccinated employees feeling more confident in demanding safer pandemic workplace policies, that doesn’t change the resource cost of implementing a robust vaccination and testing program.

When you’re dealing with hundreds or thousands of employees, manually checking paper CDC record cards and enforcing weekly testing of unvaccinated employees is simply not a feasible option. Combine these challenges with tight deadlines for complying with governmental mandates, it quickly becomes clear that automating these procedures as much as possible will be critical.

That’s exactly what BP Logix is helping employers do with the Vaccine Tracker App.

This secure, mobile-friendly application enables employees to easily upload proof of their vaccination status or test results, while providing administrators with a reporting dashboard to manage enforcement and access proof of compliance should OSHA come a-knocking.

Ready to strengthen employee confidence in workplace COVID-19 policies?

Get in touch with BP Logix today for a customized demo of the Vaccine Tracker app.

President Biden announced a sweeping federal vaccination plan last week that is making major waves in the private sector. Let’s walk through the details of this new plan and discuss the best way for employers to implement and enforce these new requirements with a vaccination tracking solution.

A summary of Biden’s vaccination plan

As part of Biden's plan, private employers with 100+ employees must ensure everyone in their workforce is either fully vaccinated or require unvaccinated employees to undergo weekly COVID-19 tests. Businesses that do not comply with the requirements may face fines up to $14,000 per violation from OSHA.

In addition to the vaccination mandate for private employers, Biden also expanded the scope of requirements for federal employees and health care workers. Vaccination is now required for all executive branch federal employees, all federal contractors, and all workers at hospitals and other healthcare facilities where Medicare and Medicaid patients are treated. There is no test-out option.

All in all, Biden estimates that his new plan will affect about two-thirds of all workers in the U.S.

The new federal requirements come just a couple weeks after several states announced similar vaccination and testing mandates for K-12 schools, many of which are slated to go into effect mid-October.

How private employers can implement and enforce vaccination mandates

With hefty fines and penalties on the line, employers are now on the hook for developing clear policies and procedures that comply with the mandates, as well as keeping records for compliance purposes.

According to the New York Times, the new OSHA rules would “require employers to keep records of which workers are vaccinated and which have recently been tested, [and] the agency could ask inspectors following up on unrelated concerns to check records for compliance with the vaccination rule.”

What's the best way for employers to implement and enforce these mandates to ensure optimal compliance – especially when they’re responsible for tracking hundreds or even thousands of employee vaccination records? Certainly not a spreadsheet. Employers need to be looking for an application that can automate the entire process for them.

Where to start? Here are seven critical questions to ask when researching applications for tracking employee vaccinations and testing.

1. How quickly must you roll out your tracking plan?

With looming compliance deadlines and the threat of fines, it’s important for organizations to find a solution that can be implemented quickly. A custom solution built from scratch by an in-house IT team or your company’s outsourced development vendor is unlikely to be ready in a span of just a few weeks. It’s more efficient to find an existing application, like the BP Logix Vaccine Tracker app, which can be deployed rapidly while remaining flexible enough to customize to a company’s unique needs.

2. Is your solution accessible and easy for employees to use?

When you’re trying to collect the vaccination statuses of hundreds or thousands of employees, the most effective solution is the one that is the easiest for everyone to use. Accessibility is key. A vaccination tracking app must be mobile-friendly so employees can use it whether they are on a smart phone, tablet, or desktop. Likewise, workflows must be logical and easy for users to navigate through.

3. How will you handle unvaccinated employees?

While vaccination rates continue to climb, there are still many people who are not vaccinated. Depending on your workplace’s policies, you will likely need to have automated workflows set up for handling exceptions, whether it’s gathering materials for medical or religious vaccine exemption requests or setting up a workflow that allows employees to share recent test results.

4. How will weekly testing for unvaccinated employees be enforced?

For many companies, employees that decline full vaccination will need to be tested for COVID-19 every single week. For compliance purposes, employers will need to cover all of their bases by making sure this data is collected every week. Manually collecting this information just isn’t feasible, but an automated system can keep everyone accountable by sending employees regular testing reminders, alerting managers to non-compliance, and triggering additional workflows in the event of a positive test results.

5. How will you sync data with existing HR systems?

Any good vaccination tracking solution should be able to easily integrate with an organization’s existing data sources, whether it’s a human resources information system, an enterprise resource planning system, or a student information system.

6. What is your plan for proving compliance?

Because OSHA is requiring employers keep records of employee vaccination and testing, one of the most important components to look for in a vaccine tracking app is a management dashboard that allows you to easily pull reports for your organization’s vaccination rates and testing history.

7. Will you be able to adapt to changing requirements?

The final thing to consider when researching solutions for tracking vaccination status is flexibility and scalability. If there is one thing we’ve all learned during this pandemic, it’s that things move fast. The application you choose must be able to evolve along with changing policies and current events. Not only does this help your organization respond quickly to new developments, but it can also help you avoid technical debt in the future.

Our solution? The Vaccine Tracker app

The Vaccine Tracker app is a flexible, mobile-friendly solution that enables employees to securely share proof of their vaccination status with their employer. For employees that are not fully vaccinated, the app can automatically handle exceptions by triggering workflows for weekly diagnostic testing, medical/religious exemption requests, and other escalation tasks.

Built using BP Logix’s powerful low-code platform called Process Director, the Vaccine Tracker app is endlessly customizable and easily scaled. In fact, while the app was originally designed for use at K-12 and higher educational institutions, the Vaccine Tracker app can be customized to suit the specific needs of any number of workplaces, including manufacturing plants, government facilities, retail establishments, private offices, and more.

Ready to automate vaccination tracking at your workplace?

Get in touch with BP Logix to learn more about our Vaccine Tracker app.

Here's our checklist of everything a K-12 school administrator must consider when researching automation solutions for tracking employee vaccination status. 

With students and teachers resuming in-person learning amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, many K-12 school leaders are scrambling to identify the most effective solutions for complying with new vaccination and testing policies mandated at the state, local, or institution levels.

Like most things impacted by the pandemic, this is uncharted territory for everyone. However, one thing is clear: If you’re trying to quickly and securely track the vaccination statuses or weekly test results of hundreds or even thousands of people, a rudimentary spreadsheet just won’t do. Schools must be able to collect data efficiently, sync with existing IT systems, report data for compliance purposes, and be prepared to adapt quickly to ever-changing policy requirements.

So, how do school leaders pick the best solution for the job? How can they achieve compliance with budgetary constraints, limited IT resources, and aggressive timelines?

At BP Logix, we’ve spent the last year working closely with higher education institutions and K-12 schools on developing a vaccination tracking app customized for their unique needs. Through this experience, we've put together a checklist of everything school leaders need to keep an eye out for when evaluating applications for tracking COVID-19 vaccination status, test results, and contact tracing.

To ensure your district is prepared for these evolving requirements, look for solutions with the following capabilities. 

Key capabilities

• Ability for users to upload vaccine cards proving vaccination status
• Integration with district data (push/pull from HR, Student Information Systems, ClassLink)
• Flexibility to scale and adapt to changing requirements as mandates evolve
• Exception handling for unvaccinated individuals, including workflows for diagnostic testing and religious/medical exemptions with attestation
• Contact tracing workflow triggers for COVID-19 positive test results
• Automated alerts and notifications for reminders and non-compliance

User experience and accessibility

• Intuitive and mobile-friendly user experience
• Single Sign On enabled (SAML integration)
• Accessible for users with disabilities (VPAT)
• Institutional branding

Compliance

• Secure environment (HECVAT, SOC2)
• Data privacy

Implementation

• Speedy deployment to meet mandate timelines
• Cost effective
• Ability to easily customize to your unique needs

Management

• Reporting dashboards
• Visibility/ Escalations handling
• Administration (add/remove decision makers, rules based permissions, etc.)

Get the Vaccine Tracker app today.

Make it easy for employees to confirm COVID-19 vaccination status or test results. Get in touch with the BP Logix team today to learn more or schedule a customized demo.

With “back to school” season in full swing and the recent FDA approval of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on Aug. 23, several states around the country have announced vaccination mandates for K-12 school systems. 

“We think this is the right thing to do and we think this is a sustainable way to keeping our schools open and to address the number one anxiety that parents like myself have for young children,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said earlier this month while announcing California’s new K-12 vaccine and testing mandate.

The vaccination mandates for schools are a bold step aimed at reducing the spread of the highly contagious delta variant, but logistical questions remain – how will the vaccine tracking process actually work?  

In this article, we break down current statewide vaccination and testing mandates for K-12 schools and explain how BP Logix’s new Vaccine Tracker app can help school officials implement and ensure compliance of these new mandates. 

COVID-19 vaccine requirements for K-12 schools by state 

Information last updated August 27, 2021. 

• California: All workers at public and private K-12 schools must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 15 or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing. 
• Connecticut: All workers in public and private preschools, K-12 schools, and childcare facilities must receive at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by Sept. 27 or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing. 
• Illinois: Teachers and staff at public preschool and K-12 schools as well as personnel and students at public colleges and universities must provide proof of vaccination by Sept. 5 or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing.
• New Jersey: Workers at public and private preschool programs and K-12 schools in New Jersey must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18 or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing. 
• New Mexico: All workers at public and private schools must be fully vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing effective Aug. 23. 
• Oregon: All teachers, educators, support staff, and volunteers at K-12 schools in Oregon must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18. 
• Washington: All employees and contractors at public and private K-12 schools, higher education institutions, and childcare/early learning providers serving children from multiple households must be fully vaccinated or obtain a religious or medical exemption by Oct. 18. There is no test-out option. 

The challenge for schools? Vaccine tracking logistics 

Faced with these new requirements, school administrators are now tasked with finding and implementing a solution for verifying the vaccination status of employees in time to meet their state’s deadlines. 

Manually checking paper CDC record cards is not a feasible option when you’re dealing with thousands of people, which is why finding a way to automate this process is critical. 

Thankfully, K-12 schools seeking a solution can look to their higher education counterparts, who are already one step ahead in their search for a solution. In April, California’s massive UC and Cal State university systems announced plans to require COVID-19 vaccinations for all students, faculty, and staff upon official FDA approval of the vaccines. At the time, the three COVID-19 vaccines were only available under emergency use authorization, but that didn’t stopped universities from thinking pro-actively about technical solutions for eventually verifying vaccination status. 

Tracking vaccinations with an app 

In response to requests from our higher education customers, the team at BP Logix developed the Vaccine Tracker app to allow school administrators to simplify and automate the vaccination status tracking process for their employees and students. 

With our app, school employees can easily and securely provide proof of their vaccination status, while administrators can manage enforcement and comply with mandates. 

There are several reasons why educational institutions are turning to BP Logix’s Vaccine Tracker app. 

1. Rapid deployment

Faced with looming compliance deadlines, schools subject to statewide mandates must move quickly to establish and roll out a process for verifying COVID-19 vaccination status for their teachers and staff. The Vaccine Verification app can be customized and deployed in as a little as a few weeks. 

2. Mobile-friendly and accessible

The trick to successfully verifying the vaccination records of thousands of people? Make it as easy and accessible as humanly possible. Vaccine Verification is a web-based app that streamlines the verification process for employees with a simple, intuitive form. It can be used on any device – from desktops to tablets and phones. 

3. Simple system integration

One of the best parts about Vaccine Verification is that it easily integrates with your existing campus data sources, whether it’s a student information system (SIS), a human resources information system (HRIS), or an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. By linking up the app with your key systems of record, you can effortlessly authenticate users and streamline their user experience. 

4. Compliance verification and exception handling

Vaccine Verification can do more than just verify vaccination information from immunized individuals. It can also handle exceptions for users that indicate they have not been vaccinated. You can pose additional questions or collect additional information required for your school to remain compliant with mandates. 

5. Management reporting dashboards

The administrator view of the app offers a robust, customizable dashboard with a bird’s eye view of your school’s vaccination data, as well as actionable reporting, data drilldowns, and always-on audit tracking. 

6. Customizable, flexible, scalable

The reality of living in a pandemic means that things change very quickly. While the COVID-19 vaccines are not yet authorized for children under 12 years old, that could change in a matter of months. Will schools have a plan ready should the K-12 vaccination mandate be extended include all children? That’s just one example of why it’s critical to choose solutions that can keep up with your changing needs and help you avoid technical debt. 

Built using a powerful low-code platform called Process Director, the Vaccine Verification app is endlessly customizable and easily scaled. In fact, while the app was originally designed for use at educational institutions, the Vaccine Verification app can be customized to suit the specific needs of any number of workplaces. 

Want to take our Vaccine Tracker for a spin?
Sign up for a 14-day demo. 

Automate vaccine tracking and other critical campus processes 

As a process automation partner to many higher education institutions across the country, BP Logix is well-versed in helping schools build solutions that automate their most complex or unique processes. In fact, our vaccine tracking app is just one component of a larger suite of apps geared to educational institutions. 

Ready to transform and scale your school with BP Logix?