There's an old adage that every day in healthcare is an emergency or a disaster. And to a great extent it is true that hospitals and healthcare professionals face a chronic challenge of managing the unknown. New challenges come in the door every day. It might be several staff calling in sick, a high acuity or census load from a major freeway accident or natural disaster, but the challenges must be managed.

Concerro has never been just a software vendor. In fact, we don't even sell software! Our whole approach has been to help hospitals and healthcare facilities with their staffing and scheduling processes so that they can respond effectively and efficiently to the daily challenges.

Now we have expanded our service from web-based scheduling and daily staffing to add automation and best practices for emergency preparedness. There is a special need and particular difficulty in communicating with staff to address a regional emergency or disaster. A web-based service that tracks and schedules staff transparently and collaboratively with a built-in qualification and notification database is an ideal assistant during the stress of a large emergency.

In healthcare, there has never been a greater need to prepare and track clinical responses to maintain quality outcomes, avoid waste and protect revenues. With the expected impact of this year's flu season due to the potential H1N1 virus pandemic, hospitals may expect to see even higher patient volumes and possible staff shortages. We at Concerro want to help, and hope that our new PanFluAware service can contribute towards managing some of the anticipated challenges.