A digital workplace with SSO and access to external applications: ZuidOostZorg leads the way

“Healthcare is becoming increasingly difficult, so we need to do smart things to make work easier.”

ZuidOostZorg has fourteen nursing and care homes and a home care department in the southeast of Friesland. 'And one in Dokkum', adds Tjeerd. As an information manager, he has been closely involved in the use of a new social intranet over the past two years.

For years, ZuidoostZorg used an internally developed and managed digital work environment, based on a remote desktop server (RDS).

“We did that from our own data center. We took care of the maintenance of servers and applications ourselves. We had a team of about six technical people who were working on it full-time. '

Well arranged, you would say. But the digital workplace that ZuidOostZorg thus facilitated required a lot of effort and was also not profitable enough. For the 2,500 employees, the work environment was hardly an added value. Because the emphasis was on the technical side of the work environment, there was no connection with practice. “There was little time to think along with healthcare workers or to find out what they really need in their work.”

The digital workplace outside the door

Around 2013, ZuidOostZorg decided things had to be done differently. “We wanted to create a place where employees could find everything that would really benefit them. In addition, we didn't want to worry so much about technology anymore. ' The road to the ideal digital work environment was started, although it would take a few more years.

As a first step, ZuidOostZorg was going to purchase its digital work environment as a cloud service. The in-house team was able to focus on other things and the organization's information needs were viewed critically.

“We went from more than a hundred to about sixty applications”

“How do we do it now and what do we need? A few crucial decisions were made there. In the years that followed, we evaluated, renewed and ultimately VersaAST many core applications, such as our ECD and other core systems that we use in healthcare. '

Parallel to that switch, the number of applications that ZuidOostZorg used fell considerably. “It was a bit fragmented, employees had to work in different systems. We've reduced that to a core, making it easier for them. We went from more than a hundred to around sixty applications. '

Towards a social intranet

When ZuidOostZorg from a hierarchical one in 2018 rake model switched to self-organization, the need for the digital workplace also changed. “In our IT roadmap, we had already determined that we would take this path. We wanted a portal where you, as a user, can start and find everything. '

An important condition for ZuidOostZorg's new digital work environment was that employees would be able to use a large number of external applications from the platform. Various Microsoft solutions and products from other suppliers came by. Their main flaw was that they were not accessible enough for users.

When ZuidOostZorg was introduced to Embrace, it was a hit. “The social intranet immediately resonated with our employees. It's simple, people compare it to Facebook. The choice was actually made quite quickly. ' Step by step, the healthcare organization began replacing its existing intranet with Embrace in April 2018.

Quick access to applications with Liquit

Back to that important condition: being able to unlock applications from the intranet. “Embrace said that they use Liquit Workspace for that. We didn't know that, but we were excited about it after an exploration. '

Liquit Workspace gives users quick and easy access to all their applications. In addition, it does not matter whether those applications are unlocked via SaaS, run from a server or installed on the user's device. Liquit has been integrated into ZuidOostZorg's social intranet via a widget.

“We wanted to facilitate employees from their jobs and from their work location. Liquit is perfect for that. '

“We wanted to find a situation where employees are facilitated from their position and from their work location. An environment where they find what they need. Liquit is perfect for that. Based on their profile, it offers people the applications they need to do their work. '

A special extra feature of Liquit is that it can also act as an identity provider. This ensures that ZuidOostZorg can make use of single sign-on (SSO). “For a long time, we've been looking for an affordable, complete web solution that supports SSO. But there wasn't actually one until recently. '

With Liquit Access Manager, ZuidOostZorg still got the SSO solution it was looking for. All non-privacy-sensitive systems it uses now work with single sign-on. “If I'm not mistaken, we are the first customer to produce this Liquit SSO solution. In that regard, we are at the forefront. We've been using it since September 2019, and it works really well. '

Intensive collaboration

Just like the social intranet, ZuidOostZorg also ran a pilot for the implementation of Liquit, with a proof of concept environment (POC). In addition, it brought in a partner: Netflex. “Netflex joined the project at an early stage. They supervised the set-up of the POC and the go-live, and are now still involved in carrying out support and maintenance around Liquit. '

Netflex helped ZuidOostZorg identify users' needs, ultimately making the healthcare institution the very first customer of Liquit Access Manager. “That implementation was really a technical project, and such projects never go as expected. What matters is what people you have around you, how willing they are to solve things. This has been scaled up very well every time, and that is far from obvious. '

'It's important that you have suppliers who keep switching well'

“It's important that you have suppliers who keep switching well. There was intensive contact between the Embrace developers and the people at Netflex, and we are reaping the benefits. In the end, everything was technically good, and Liquit's rollout went very smoothly. '

In the coming period, ZuidOostZorg will see how it can make things even easier for employees. “We first included the applications that are commonly used, so that employees immediately notice that something has improved. At the moment, we've come to the more complex applications, and we're going to see how we can incorporate them into the story. '

Making heavy work easier with smart technology

The transition to a new digital work environment is a complex but interesting process, says Tjeerd. During that process, the end goal did not change, but the route to it did. “Along the way, you sometimes make different choices than you had previously thought of. But we have always said: we first want to make it easier for employees, facilitate everything properly for them in one place, and only then put the finishing touches in terms of technology. That technical battle contains the biggest cost savings, but that should not be the motive. '

ZuidOostZorg has now been using its new intranet for almost a year, and Liquit has also been running for six months. “Users are very enthusiastic, they can access their applications with one click and no longer have to log in to all kinds of different systems. It reduces the lead time enormously. And if Embrace were offline, we would always have a bypass to the Liquit environment. '

The new intranet is quietly beginning to occupy an important position within ZuidOostZorg, says Tjeerd. And fellow healthcare institutions have also realized that something is going on in Southeast Friesland.

“Other healthcare organizations regularly ask if they can come and have a look. We'd love to do that. Ultimately, we all have the same challenges: healthcare is becoming increasingly difficult, staff shortages are increasing. So we need to do smart things to support our healthcare colleagues and make work easier for them. That way, we can offer clients even better care — because that's what it's ultimately about. Technology is essential here, I really believe in that. '