At Your Service
Online concierge service frees up time for hospital staff—from choosing a gift to travel recommendations—and allow nurses to focus on patient care

By Pamela Stone
June 26, 2003

When John Dixon, MSN, RN, works long hours at Baylor Health Care System of Dallas, he does not want to spend his off-hours and weekends doing endless chores like finding a roofer for his house.

So, Dixon turns to the "Baylor Butler," an online concierge service provided by his employer. The benefit allows Dixon and other hospital workers to handle the work-life balance by enabling them to complete the items on their personal to-do lists in less time.

"At work, we value each moment, because we want to maximize our productivity," Dixon said. "If your personal matters are taken care of, it frees up your workday."

Baylor Health Care System initiated the concierge system in December. Serving as a recruitment perk, the Baylor Butler has two functions: "Our dual focus is to hire nurses and to retain them," said Fiona Macleod Butts, director of employment for Baylor. "We want to offer a lifestyle program that shows we care for our employees.

"The Baylor Butler provides something that touches the nurses every day."

Butts can attest to this. In October, when her parents were visiting from Scotland, she logged on for recommendations on a top-notch vacation place on the edge of the Grand Canyon, which they were planning to visit. "We wanted to be as close as possible to the spectacular view," she said.

Within 48 hours, through the Baylor Butler, Butts made reservations at a lodge just a few steps from the Grand Canyon. Also, the service provided a map and travel guide, a list of nearby gas and ranger stations, local stores and even weather information with suggestions on appropriate clothing to wear on chilly nights.

Work perk

Concierge services are among the most unusual personal benefits found in corporate America, according to a 2002 benefits survey by the Society for Human Resource Management. Only 4 percent of all companies offered concierge services to employees, just ahead of the 3 percent of businesses that offer workers pet insurance.

No surveyed health care companies offered concierge services in 2002, according to the Washington, D.C.-based human resource group.

The Baylor Butler concierge service is offered on a contract basis, through a 6-year-old Boston-based company called Circles Company Associates Inc.

Baylor Health Care employees, including 5,000 nurses and 3,300 doctors, can access Circles via an intranet link or by logging on to its Web site. Users can either complete online request forms or call a toll-free number. Once the request is received, Circles assigns a personal assistant to the task, who, if needed, will call the employee to obtain more information or insight on specific needs, such as choosing a gift.

Since its inception, Circles has created advanced information and technical systems, which are supported by several search engines used by its 200 employees. "We have a team of individuals who thoroughly research information, which they provide to our personal assistants," said Janet Kraus, CEO and co-founder of Circles.

Circles serves Fortune 1000 companies like British Airways and Pepsi Cola North America, as well as nine other health care organizations.

Baylor employees can use the service as often as they like, and their calls are not monitored. So far, about 1,000 nurses have used the service since December.

"We're offering a lifestyle program that cares for the nurses as they care for others," Butts said.

Mainly, the service has been used for buying gifts or making restaurant and travel reservations, as well as purchasing tickets for the theater, opera and sports events.

In Dixon's search for a roofer, the service provided him the names of three specialists with no black marks at the Better Business Bureau, saving him hours of research. During the holidays, Dixon also used the Baylor Butler to purchase special holiday lights and decorations for his yard, which he'd been unable to find in Dallas. In addition, the service helped Dixon locate a New Zealand tour agency.

Taking care of business

Since January, more than 170 nurses at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston have used the hospital's concierge service through Circles.

Marianne Ditomassi, MSN, MBA, RN, executive director of patient care services at Massachusetts General, said the service has two benefits: It demonstrates how much the health care system values its nurses and provides employees greater flexibility, which enables them to better care for patients.

"If they [the nursing staff] feel valued, then they will be free to focus on why they're here-to care for our patients and their families," she said.

Ditomassi said the hospital offered the service to department heads last year. The service was so successful they opened it to the nursing health care staff. Massachusetts General has 14,000 employees, including 3,500 nurses.

"We are using the service as a benefit when hiring nurses," Ditomassi said. "It helps with flexibility and scheduling."

For instance, for $10 an hour, an employee can hire Circles to meet a repairman at their home, pick up their wedding dress at a local store, or drop their clothes at the cleaners.

"This gives our nurses a chance to delegate their responsibilities to others," Ditomassi said. "It's nice to get something done on someone else's time."

How has this boosted company morale?

"It shows that our organization cares for its staff," Ditomassi said. "At our hospital, we have a fairly low vacancy and turnover rate, compared to other hospitals. We spend lots of money on ways to make sure our staff has the right tools to perform their jobs."

Butts, the Baylor Health Care System recruiter, also believes in the positive effects of the concierge service.

"Our new nurses are impressed with this service," she said. "This gift of time is the type of benefit that everyone can enjoy. It lets our employees know how much we appreciate them."

Contact Pamela Stone at pamstone3@aol.com