Healthy Solution

nexONBÉR and nexONHR at the Jahn Ferenc Hospital

The management of the hospital employing 1,600 people decided to change their payroll accounting system and use NEXON's payroll management solution in mid 2004.
Introducing nexONBÉR and nexONHR's personnel management module demanded thorough professional preparation due to the many specifics of healthcare provision. We spoke to Dr Gábor Gerő, hospital director, and János Tinyei, head of the human resources policy and labour department, about the details of the project.

- As a public institution, what special features do you have to pay attention to in the area of payroll and human resources management?

Dr. Gábor Gerő: - The hospital's payroll management is at variance with that of the private sector in two respects. The first difference is the guaranteed basic salary due to being public servants and the second is round-the-clock service. Owing to the latter, the rate of being on duty is far higher and the degree of remuneration can vary according to person, department and even profession. In view of the fact that we are struggling with a shortage of staff, the overtime expenditure here is exceptionally high. This may grow further as, dependent on the European Court's decision, we may have to count being on duty and even being on stand by as full working hours. The great majority of hospital staff are public employees, which dictates how payroll and labour management as well as the whole human resources policy system operate.

- Prior to nexONBÉR which IT solution supported human resources policy processes and how did you reach the decision it was time to change?

János Tinyei: - We used to use a DOS-based program which, although it was able to cope with special rules applying to healthcare, had difficulty exporting salary and personnel data that could be used in other areas. Indeed this was to such an extent that we couldn't do this task ourselves and the system developer's programmer had to be constantly present. In addition, the program had reached its limits - it could no longer meet our requirements for further expansion and neither cope to provide a broad range of data on a large scale quickly, which is indispensable for management. To put it succinctly, it became clear that the system couldn't be expanded any more, it wasn't flexible enough and from certain aspects it was technologically out of date.

- What happened next? How did you begin selecting the new system?

G. G.: - Tenders were invited in September 2004 to find a suitable partner, then, in accordance with the legal regulations for public institutions, we conducted the official procedure. In all, three firms submitted offers in response to our call, and we provided each of them with the opportunity of a personal presentation where they could explain their tender and show us the system at its core. Two considerations were crucial in reaching a decision. One was professional expertise and the other value for money. On this basis we settled on NEXON.

- In what stages did the introduction take place?

J. T.: - The project started in October 2004. We assessed our equipment park, then made the necessary changes for the system requirements. The installation of the program went smoothly and there was only one critical point in the whole of the introduction that comes to mind. Unfortunately, we weren't able to easily save the files from the old program into the new system as our former service provider was unwilling to co-operate. Despite this the NEXON specialists were able to extract most of our database on employees, convert it and enter it into the new system. By 10 January 2005 the system was ready to calculate 13th month payments and the January salaries that were just due, and it all went without overstepping the deadline. At the same time the nexONHR personnel records module was introduced as well but we still don't use its functionality to the full.

- What was your overall experience of the introduction?

J. T.: - During introduction there was no need for parallel operation. For the payroll staff this solution wouldn't have been welcome as the double entry of data operating in parallel involved and the resultant extra work would have overburdened them. Instead we concentrated on the new system during introduction and accounted the salaries for the actual month using nexONBÉR exclusively. NEXON proved to be an excellent partner in this and in the introductory period their experts spent at least two days a week here customising the system while training our staff.

- How did the users react to the new system?

J. T.: - Usually employees are cautious about innovations, anything differing from what they're used to. Although the system was a little strange at first, now they are not simply used to it, but they positively like it. At the moment it's time to do the tax returns, and the work is steaming along. I've received very positive feedback from my colleagues about the module for this too. They like using nexONBÉR as compared to the old system it is more manageable and more transparent. Occasionally the odd snag occurs which we tell NEXON about. They take notice of them and modify the program to match our needs.

- How many people work in payroll with the nexONBÉR program?

J. T.: - At present four people do the payroll but one of them is due to retire next month. But with the introduction of the new system three people will be enough to do the job. Two payroll administrators also enjoy the advantages of nexONBÉR as they now have a far superior method of doing their job compared to the paperbased provision of data used until now. They can extract the data they need for the necessary operations from the Excel database.

- Changes in accountancy law are very frequent in the private sector. Is this true of the public sector as well?

G. G.: - Unfortunately, rapid changes in the law and implementing regulations affect us as well. Clearly these changes have a different fallout in the competitive sector than they do in the public sector. But despite this the result is the same - the payroll management system has to be constantly updated. While NEXON duly follows these changes in the law, it would be better for both parties if legal amendments were predictable for the forthcoming year.

- What is your experience of nexONBÉR now you have used it for over a year?

J. T.: - Apart from fulfilling our preliminary expectations it has been a great help in the area of accounting as the material printed in the course of this work does not have to be "bashed" into another program. Likewise it has facilitated the compilation of the reports we are obliged to make. Nowadays a month doesn't pass without us having to report something somewhere, which with a staff the size we have is a major task.

- What advice about introducing this system would you give to another public institution?

G. G.: - In healthcare we are NEXON's model project. I believe the program already had a public sector module, but our hospital was the first to have a solution specifically for healthcare. For this reason it will be significantly easier and simpler for other hospitals to follow.
J. T.: - I would point out the conversion of data as regards the project. This job has to be prepared very thoroughly. It is good to know well in advance what sort of computer or IT program an institution uses and, during the negations, to start work to accelerate the migration of data and make it safe.

- What sort of partner was NEXON during the introduction and your co-operation since then?

G. G.: - NEXON has been a correct and well-prepared partner. Compared with other IT firms, they are responsive to problems and react much faster, even when alterations to a product are by no means fast. Acknowledgement of our requirements and the need for change happens more quickly than we have experienced in other cases. This is without doubt one of the strengths of the company.
J. T.: - During the introduction and in the course of continuous professional co-operation we have seen that NEXON's specialists have great professional expertise and are most helpful. This is indispensable anyway in a project affecting almost 2,000 people.