SUCCESS STORY

HMS has been providing cost-containment services to healthcare payers and sponsors for over 40 years. Their technology and data analytics solutions help save their clients billions of dollars each year by recovering overpayments and preventing improper disbursements. HMS aims to ensure all medical claims are paid appropriately by eliminating fraud and abuse as well as verifying eligibility and payment accuracy.

Will Martin, Senior Director of Real Estate and Facilities at HMS, is responsible for overseeing the nationwide facilities management (FM) at HMS. With his team, he manages everything from moves and service requests to print and mailroom needs, room reservation and reception functions.To ensure the entire HMS workforce and each HMS workspace has the highest productivity, he and his team need insight into all personnel and equipment. Unfortunately, HMS’ FM strategy did not make this easy.

Before implementing iOFFICE, HMS characterized its approach to FM as reactive instead of proactive. While HMS operates a very sophisticated consulting and strategy business, it was running its FM division on 11-by-17 paper floor plans. Twice a year the firm would update the floor plans with HR data in Excel spreadsheets. Since HMS has more than 3,000 employees in 27 offices and 40 sites across the country with a total workspace of over 450,000 square feet, this process was woefully inefficient.

To make matters worse, FM was decentralized at HMS, with every location managing their own systems. As a result, it was difficult to understand both the current and future needs of each office.

The turning point for Martin was in 2012 when Superstorm Sandy hit the East Coast. Martin needed to know how many seats and employees were actually located in their New Jersey space, but without one integrated database to consult, support of both the employees and the business units was deeply strained.

It was at this time Martin realized he needed a tool that would put FM at the proactive center of the workplace. So, in 2013, HMS decided to move forward with iOFFICE. HMS appreciated its intuitive user interface and easy access to critical facilities data.

IMPLEMENTATION

• The Space Management and Move Management modules allow the HMS FM team to quickly see which workspaces are available and assign them to employees. The modules also give the FM, HR and IT departments the ability to coordinate and confirm data.
• By connecting the Move Management module to HR’s software platform, HMS can quickly prepare workspace, ID badges, email accounts and login information for new employees.
• HMS uses the Service Request module and the mobile app on iPads to ensure the FM team has real-time updates on service request tickets.
• The Mail Tracking module keeps the flow of mail in and out of HMS spaces running smoothly. The inbound scanning feature lets HMS instantly notify employees when mail has arrived and then measure delivery time with PDAs.
• The Copy/Print Management module supports the coordination of large orders within the print and mail rooms. HMS can also track critical printing assets (for example, multi-function printers) throughout the system. With this module, HMS employees can submit large print orders (similar to a service request) and track the progress of the order.

THE RESULTS

iOFFICE has allowed HMS to transform localized facilities leaders into regional managers. Prior to iOFFICE, one team could only maintain a single site at a time, but now one team can manage multiple sites and regions across the entire organization. Additionally, the Service Request module and mobile app have lead to faster response times and work order fulfillments for the FM team.

iOFFICE’s reporting tools have improved communication and understanding across the company and helped identify where resources can be better allocated. Martin and his team now have regular meetings with company executives to review occupancy levels and ensure workspaces are utilized efficiently. They have been able to identify opportunities where workforces can be combined and extraneous sites can be closed, saving the company thousands of dollars in rent and other facilities costs.

THE FUTURE

In the future, HMS plans to use iOFFICE’s Room Reservation module to better meet the needs of their ever-changing workforce. HMS is currently using Microsoft Outlook to reserve space, which can be cumbersome. They also plan on using the Room Reservation module to manage hot-desking and utilize empty seats to accommodate freelancers and mobile workers.