VSys Anywhere and VSys Live.

Within two weeks, VSys launched a system using VSys One (for superusers), VSys Anywhere (for daily staffing administration), and VSys Live (for volunteers to apply and sign up for time slots). While several organizations use VSys One for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), this project was unique as it merged CSR with a traditional Volunteer Management solution, allowing for one platform for managing both staff and community volunteers.

Jennifer McCann, Pharm.D., Director of Clinical Pharmacy Services, who was one of the leaders responsible for this statewide initiative noted "having one tool that had every user in it that served multiple needs across the organization was key to the program's success." An estimated 70% of people staffing the clinics were Ascension associates with the remaining 30% representing volunteers from the local communities. Based on their credentials, volunteers were able to sign up for specific jobs. For example, a nurse employed by Ascension or a retired RN who was unaffiliated with Ascension (but who had current credentials) could sign up to give vaccinations. Nursing students were recognized as potential vaccinators under supervision and were able to give vaccinations. Non-clinical volunteers could sign up to be greeters or do administrative work like registering guests on arrival.

While the system was launched within two weeks, it required configuration to meet multiple needs across the organization. McCann noted that she was impressed that VSys solution was friendly to use by a variety of volunteers and provided a notification platform that was flexible to use by the local team. Adding complexity to the build was that requirements changed frequently as the state and federal government issued new directives. The system needed to be agile and adapt to the changing regulations on an almost daily basis. Melissa Bergin, Vice President and Founder, who heads many of VSys's more complex implementations, noted that this was a "build and learn as we go" on both sides. Working meetings led to iterative changes on the spot.

At one point Ascension St Vincent - Indiana had over 3,000 volunteers sign up in a two-week period. VSys was able to help Ascension filter through the applications to find skilled volunteers who could help administer the shots. As of May 8th, the Ascension St. Vincent Indiana clinics had administered over 189,000 vaccines.

The different volunteer groups needed to be tracked and managed, but in different ways. It was important for Ascension to quantify associate time that was donated. The system tracked community benefit hours for reporting requirements. Ascension's finance team was able to delineate unbudgeted time associates spent in clinics which will be used for future grant applications. The system handled routing licensure checks on community volunteers to the Ascension's Human Resources for verification. Community volunteers underwent a shortened version of the background check process. In addition, the local clinics needed day-to-day operating reports to ensure adequate staffing needs were met to meet the demand of the patient volume each day.

The system was configured to make it easy for all parties. Volunteers found VSys similar to Signup Genius, but it was a lot more sophisticated behind-the-scenes in terms of functionality. Volunteers did not even need to put in their hours as hours were automatically pulled from the assignments. Ascension was able to configure reporting to provide the information needed across the organization. When it became clear more reminders were needed, the messaging platform was configured to automatically send via text messages. This was part of the iterative process as this solution was added after the original launch when the need became apparent.