Overview
Edifecs is a leading healthcare technology company with the mission to improve healthcare outcomes, reduce costs and accelerate innovation. In a world that includes hundreds of millions of consumers and millions of care delivery sites and people, Edifecs puts healthcare data to work by delivering a single point solution to connect to all information exchange partners and to ingest, correlate and optimize digital health data. The company optimizes and perfects the end-to-end process of patient data interchange to easily and securely exchange it across the partner network.
With 25 years of experience enabling data interchange across the care continuum, keeping healthcare organizations healthy is what Edifecs does best.
Supernova Award Category
Future of Work: Employee Experience
The Problem
The COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed drastic changes in the way employees work. Through changes made to life, work environments, internal and external communications, and other aspects due to the pandemic, people adjusted to a new way of work. Edifecs’ employees were not ready to go back to a 100% in-person work environment – even prior to the pandemic, one-third of Edifecs’ workforce was virtual. Edifecs regularly surveys its employees to ensure the company is exceeding their expectations, but with the pandemic, this presented the challenge of making sure employees were comfortable and weren’t feeling like they needed to seek out a new employer that may better support their needs during this trying time.
The Solution
To help employees navigate the evolving challenges of the past couple of years, Edifecs launched its “Highly Productive Edifecs” (HPE) program in the fall of 2021, focused on ensuring employees feel safe, supported, and productive. The HPE model empowers Edifecs employees to work from wherever they feel most productive; it is designed to eliminate the stress of commutes, finding time to go to the doctor, and picking up kids from school, among other balancing acts.
The Edifecs operations team implemented best practices for working from home including collaboration tools, a microsite offering resources, and advice for a successful remote work set up and flow. The team also consolidated business processes and tools on Microsoft Teams including an internal recognition ap, Awardco, LinkedIn Learning, booking wellbeing services at the onsite wellbeing center.
The results
When the pandemic hit in 2020, it was immediately evident that Edifecs’ global employees sought additional support to be successful in the new virtual environment. The organization knew that to attract top talent and reduce attrition, its approach couldn’t be ad hoc or only temporarily satisfy employees. Instead, the organization doubled down on a long-term company-wide cultural shift that considers employees’ long-term futures – professionally, mentally, financially and physically. These new tools and practices resulted in over 90% of Edifecs employees reportedly feeling “great” about the new flexible work plans.
Metrics
In addition to over 90% of Edifecs employees reportedly feeling “great” about the new flexible work plans, the retention rate of employees at Edifecs employed by the company from March 1, 2021 to March 1, 2022, was 87.3%.
To further measure the success of the HPE program, Edifecs regularly surveys its associates to ensure it is not just meeting but exceeding its workplace wellness expectations. Positive associate feedback through these surveys has earned Edifecs recognition as a top place to work by Seattle Business Magazine, GeekWire, Best in Biz, Puget Sound Business Journal, and Great Place to Work® (in the United States and India).
The Technology
W/ HPE, onsite employees have access to Edifecs’ Wellbeing Center complete w/ fitness training, massages, yoga, organic food & chef led cooking classes. These classes are mirrored online for virtual associates.
Each associate was given $400 for their home office. Associates used the stipend for everything from standing desks to coffee machines. The team consolidated tech to MS Team to ensure easy access to all tools & tech
Disruptive Factor
The pandemic surfaced great challenges for everyone; after many conversations about whether the return to the office should be permanent or not, the company determined there was no “one-size-fits-all” approach for how every team works best within Edifecs. The pandemic showed the company that Edifecs associates continue to be productive whether they are in the office or working from home. The company culture centers around improving healthcare “from the inside out;” in order to transform an industry as complex as healthcare, the Edifecs team believes in first ensuring every single employee has access to the technology, and the health and wellness resources they need to feel happy and productive at work. When employees feel good, they are best positioned to bring forward-thinking ideas to best serve Edifecs customers.
The team also created comprehensive onboarding packages and processes to ensure new hires were introduced to the company culture and intergrated effectively.
Shining Moment
On top of the 23,000 square foot on-site Wellbeing Center at Edifecs Bellevue, Wash. headquarters, and the access to virtual classes and programs, such as mantra healing, dance aerobics, meditation, and nutrition support, Edifecs offers all employees, regardless of geographical location, a stipend to ensure they have the equipment, technology, and wellness tools they need to do their best work. Edifecs HPE approach fully caters to people in all different work models and periods of life.