After a long search, South African coal miner, Eyesizwe (currently under
Exxaro), selected the MMS-OH to help them to fully comply with South African
occupational Safety, Health, Workplace Environment and Quality (SHEQ)
regulations for its two medical facilities servicing Eyesizwe's four coal
mines.
MMS-OH delivered extensive occupational health and workplace environment
(hygiene) capabilities. MMS-OH was also integrated with Eyesizwe's existing
ERP system to lift efficiencies and improve knowledge sharing.
Within months of implementation a delighted Eyesizwe reported significant
improvements in medical service delivery and staff efficiency and reductions
in sundry office costs.
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Various pieces of legislation, regulation and protocol fell under the SHEQ
umbrella including South Africa's own strict Compensation of Occupational
Injuries and Diseases Act (COID Act) and definitions drawn from
International Labour Organization Standards. Eyesizwe management was
committed to fully meeting these obligations; their existing systems failed
to achieve this goal.
Management of medical processes was separated from the supporting business
processes. Key systems were not integrated and decision makers and medical
service providers did not have access to real time data.
This led to unnecessary risk for Eyesizwe from increased compensation
claims and financial penalties under the Acts where reporting milestones are
missed, or full compliance cannot be demonstrated. In addition, a risk of
fraudulent manipulation existed with the then-current pre-employment
procedures for new employees or contractors which could lead to employment
of inappropriate personnel.
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To deliver a system enabling Eyesizwe to fully comply with South African
SHEQ legislation and regulations by providing Medical and HR staff with
real-time information across their medical facilities and business processes
to comprehensively monitor, manage and support employees and patients
through standard employment related procedures, accident related health care
or any claims or penalty processes.
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Mitrais' existing MMS system provided primary health care management within
an industrial hospital and clinic environment and formed the platform upon
which the new occupational and environmental health features were built.
The new MMS-OH modules captures all medical treatment data for an injured
worker in real time correlated with background administration information
and provide time critical reporting and auditable event-tracking/data
recording to demonstrate full compliance with the COID Act and provide
highest quality health care to aid in-patient recovery.
The delivered MMS-OH solution facilitates Eyesizwe's goal of providing the
highest degree of physical and mental wellbeing for workers in all
occupations by preventing departure from health, controlling risks and
adaptation of work to people, and people to their jobs. The M-OH system,
integrated with Eyesizwe's human resources system, supports the full
employment lifecycle including pre-employment health checks for contractors
and employees, routine medical examinations scheduled and linked to an
individual's occupational risk exposure, primary health care for sick or
injured workers, contractors or approved dependents and end-of-employment
medical checks.
MMS-OH supports improved health outcomes by providing medical staff with
the latest occupational risk exposure profiling (OREP) at the time of
scheduled medical examinations, monitoring health indicators over time and
providing automatic triggers for follow up should observations exceed
acceptable levels.
MMS-OH also assists line managers in many ways, for example by providing
automatic emails to alert supervisors when one of their employees is placed
on sick leave, or emails to warn production management of increased health
risks applicable to individual employees or contractors.
MMS-OH is also used to manage pharmaceutical and medical inventories
assisting to minimize wastage and out of date stock. Medical action charges
are tracked for efficient cost recording across departments and, where
appropriate, cost recovery from medical aid arrangements, billing to
contractors or staff payroll deductions.
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The bottom line for Eyesizwe is enhanced ability to manage compliance with
SHEQ while reducing the risk of financial costs through penalties and
unjustifiable compensation claims. Opportunities for fraud have been
significantly reduced by moving to the auditable, real-time paperless
environment of MMS-OH.
Where previously it might have taken required several days for clinical
staff to compile the information to meet their requirements for claim
filing, the task can now be successfully completed in less than one hour.
These efficiencies ensure on-time filing of reports and claims to meet
legislated deadlines and release staff back to their "real" jobs.
Direct financial savings have been identified from improved stock control
and better cost allocation and/or recovery.
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