Tidewell Hospice and Palliative Care HR Software Testimonial

Tidewell Saves Time and Money With Solution From Dresser & Associates

Sage Abra Delivers Broad Efficiencies

Tidewell Hospice and Palliative Care (Tidewell) delivers quality care to more than 1,100 patients daily across four Florida counties, making it one of the largest programs of its kind in the United States. Reflecting their importance to the organization, Tidewell refers to its employees as colleagues and extends the same commitment to quality service to all. Helping the organization manage its busy human resource and payroll departments are Dresser & Associates and Sage Abra HRMS.

Search For An Integrated Solution

The organization adopted Sage Abra when its old payroll and HR systems became too burdensome. "We were using People-Trak for HR and Sage MAS 90 for payroll," recalls Janet Bodner, director of HR for Tidewell. "Having two systems meant lots of duplicate data entry. New employees had to be added to both systems, addresses changed in both systems, and reports run from two systems. We wanted to streamline our operations and become more efficient." "In addition, we were reaching the maximum employee count the system could support. We had to find a new system and we sought software that would combine all colleague-facing tasks in a single solution," says Saida Bouhamid, director of finance.

Personalized Service Is Key

After analyzing the options available, Tidewell narrowed its choices to ADP and Sage Abra. "They both had lots to offer, but ultimately we decided on Sage Abra primarily because of Dresser & Associates," recalls Victor Polonski, director of IT at Tidewell. "Dresser offers personalized, on-site support that a huge company like ADP cannot. And Sage Abra made the best financial sense over the long term."

Self Service is Full Service

Sage Abra was put to the test shortly after the implementation, as Tidewell's annual open enrollment cycle began. "The Employee Self Service module allows our colleagues to complete the enrollment from home, with their families," Bodner says. "We've gotten very positive feedback. It takes much of the mystery out of the process and gives it the transparent quality that instills trust among our colleagues." Benefits management was always a paperintensive chore before Sage Abra. Now the Abra Benefits Manager module handles most of the work automatically by transmitting employee enrollment data automatically to Tidewell's benefit carriers.

Efficient Payroll Operations

Sage Abra has transformed the way Tidewell handles payroll. Before, 800+ checks were printed, stuffed into envelopes, sorted by location and given to couriers to deliver to each of 18 Tidewell locations. Now, Tidewell takes advantage of the direct deposit feature in Sage Abra Payroll, eliminating the need to print paychecks. Direct deposit vouchers are automatically available for employees to view and print from the Employee Self Service portal. "Our colleagues have access to all of their information through the portal," explains Bodner. "It has significantly reduced the number of calls and questions we get." "The efficiencies we've gained with Sage Abra allow us to do more with less," says Bouhamid. "Without these efficiencies, we would have to hire at least two additional people for our HR and our Payroll departments. We estimate that we're saving about $100,000 annually." "That savings doesn't even take into account the time savings we're realizing in our daily workflow," adds Bodner. "A single system saves us hours of duplicate data entry and allows us to quickly generate the reports we need."

Remain In Compliance

Dresser & Associates implemented an automated business monitoring and alerts solution for Sage Abra, Sage KnowledgeSync. "We have set up alerts to monitor virtually all aspects of our HR and Payroll departments," Polonski explains. "Notifications of new hires, changes in position, terminations, and upcoming evaluation dates are all things that we now handle automatically. The software sends the appropriate person an e-mail message when one of these events transpires." Sage KnowledgeSync has also proven to be a helpful compliance tool, reminding personnel of colleagues' license renewal dates and upcoming tax payments. "We are a nonprofit healthcare organization that is subject to multiple compliance requirements," explains Bouhamid. "The software makes it easier for us to remain in compliance by helping to ensure important dates are not overlooked." Dresser & Associates and Sage Abra have delivered on all their promises. "Our duty to our colleagues is as important to us as our duty to our patients," concludes Bouhamid. "Sage Abra and Dresser & Associates allow us to give our colleagues the attention and service they deserve."

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