SCL Health Improves Patient Care with ShareFile

When Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth opened its first hospital in 1864 in Colorado, its mission was “to reveal and foster God's healing love by improving the health of the people and communities we serve—especially those who are poor and vulnerable.”

More than 150 years later, that mission remains unchanged, but the faith-based nonprofit—now called SCL Health—has grown to encompass 11 hospitals, 210 physician clinics, home healthcare, hospice, mental healthcare, and safety-net services in Colorado, Kansas, and Montana.

Not surprisingly, even with more than 118,000 employees helping carry out SCL Health’s mission, the logistics of delivering high-quality care in a timely manner can be daunting.

Doctors and clinicians need instant, secure access to patient information to make the split-second decisions that save lives. Patients need to be able to connect with physicians and services regardless of their locations. And all employees need comprehensive, coordinated information to do their jobs and meet the common goal of improved patient care.

Improved workflows lead to heightened productivity

In an organization with as many moving parts as SCL Health, it’s important to maintain a consistent, efficient workflow across locations and departments. Without it, confidential patient and hospital information could be at risk for accidental exposure.

Now that SCL Health uses ShareFile, employees have an easy way to securely share files and manage permissions. This, in turn, has reduced the calls to IT staff for file-based moves, additions, and changes. “This empowerment,” says Brim, “is valued highly by our end users—both clinical and nonclinical.”

Further empowerment comes with the implementation of Podio for social collaboration and workflow automation. SCL Health’s Talent Share department—which pools the organization’s employee resources for staffing among hospitals and clinics—was stymied by ineffective and disorganized manual processes that prevented the team from providing services to the entire hospital system. With ShareFile and Podio in place, that department is now serving five hospitals rather than just one. As a result, says Brim, “the impact on the Talent Share department has been tremendous, but the impact on the organization has been immeasurable.”