As the end of summer draws near and schools across much of the country prepare to re-open and bring students back to campuses and buildings, safety has to be the #1 priority. Without adopting the right technologies and policies, there is no chance of providing a safe environment. In fact, schools in some parts of the country are already in session, and we’ve seen what happens when appropriate measures aren’t taken.
To safely re-open schools – and the same applies to businesses – leadership has to adopt a combination of tools and procedural changes to minimize risk. Salesforce has already been helping organizations with their re-opening procedures through its Work.com workplace management solutions. Similarly, CVS has been helping schools and businesses re-open with its Return Ready program, which provides customizable COVID-19 testing solutions to support safe activities.
Now, the two have launched a strategic partnership that combines the two programs to deliver an even more comprehensive solution that will help schools build trust in their COVID-19 procedures and policies by backing them up with technology.
Though each company launched its solutions independently, any contact tracing or other workplace management solution isn’t nearly as effective if faculty, students, and employees aren’t able to easily get tested. The same goes for testing – even if testing is accessible, without the supporting contact tracing and workforce management technology, it’s nearly impossible to understand the impact of positive test and reduce the spread of the virus.
“While COVID-19 testing is an important tool to responsibly reopen worksite and campus locations, a comprehensive strategy requires wellness monitoring and contact tracing to help prevent an onsite outbreak and spread of the virus.”
Troyen Brennan, M.D., M.P.H., Chief Medical Officer, CVS Health.
That’s not to say there aren’t other companies providing a variety of testing capabilities to schools and businesses — there certainly are. But, through their partnership, Salesforce and CVS are providing easy, integrated access to both solutions – including technology from the company that really put cloud on the map.
Between the two companies, schools and other organizations have access to:
Wellness Monitoring – Salesforce’s survey tool helps organizations monitor and assess their personnel’s health and wellness. When personnel are identified as eligible for testing, they will receive an email with additional information about how and where to complete testing.
COVID-19 Testing – CVS Health’s testing solution, guided by clinical consultation, allows organizations to develop a customized testing strategy by letting them choose who, how and where to test people coming to campuses or workplaces. Integrated online test scheduling and results notification simplifies the experience.
Reporting – COVID-19 test results can be shared with the school or business that sponsors the testing, with opt-in from the student or employee. Alerts for positive results and state and federal reporting is also done as required. Organizations can then view data securely in Work.com to manage risk and assess current status as it relates to personnel, spaces and policies.
Contact Tracing – When individuals test positive, Salesforce’s manual contact tracing solution can facilitate notifications to those who may have been exposed and identify possible points of transmission, including other students, faculty, and staff on campus. Anyone potentially exposed receive a notification along with information on how to get tested themselves.
Shift Management – Built directly into Work.com, organizations can monitor facility preparedness and manage shift schedules to determine how to safely adjust or resume business operations. That allows them to better balance workplace coverage and employee availability while creating new capacity models designed to help enable a safe return to work.
The University of Kentucky is already using Work.com to manage its return to campus through daily assessments, tracking and contact tracing, data analytics, and other features.
“”Our investment in Salesforce’s solutions is more than a crisis response – it’s an investment to come out on the other side of the pandemic stronger and show our community how deeply we care about them. We are using it as a springboard for a healthier community, supporting student mental health and well-being, and preparing our university to handle any number of future scenarios.”
Dr. Eli Capilouto, President, University of Kentucky
That’s the outlook all schools and businesses should have. It’s clear COVID-19 isn’t going away very quickly, and it’s also certain there will be future emergencies that will require the kind of rapid response these kinds of solutions enable. As far as COVID-19 goes, without these solutions, any school that tries to bring students on campus will likely find themselves returning home before the semester is over.
