Smart software for better quality in healthcare.Imelda Hospital in Bonheiden, Belgium, is a forward-thinking regional hospital offering comprehensive care. Every day, 1,700 staff members and 160 physicians are dedicated to providing safe, high-quality care to thousands of patients. Kristin Muller, the Quality Manager responsible for the hospital-wide quality policy, leads a committed core team. In this customer story, she shares their experiences with Zenya and its new AI functionalities in the audit and risk management modules.
At Imelda Hospital in Bonheiden, Belgium, over 1,700 staff, 160 doctors and more than 100 volunteers are committed to patient care every day. Every year, some 21,000 classic admissions and 48,000 day hospital admissions take place. On an annual basis, the hospital has about 211,000 consultations. How do they keep this running smoothly and provide quality care to so many people? They do so with enthusiastic teamwork and the most innovative techniques. For quality and risk management, the hospital has relied on Zenya for years. Kristin Muller structures and safeguards this from her role in a rapidly evolving healthcare context.
Originally, Imelda Hospital started using Zenya for document management. Today, it works with all of Zenya’s quality management modules, including the latest AI functionalities. Kristin says: ‘Providing quality assurance is super important to us, but risk management was done ad hoc at first. There was no overarching system or process. Audits? Those were mainly done on paper or in Excel. You can imagine that this was very labour-intensive.’
This needed to be changed and made more efficient, so Kristin started looking for a better solution for audit and risk management. ‘Part of the reason for this was to achieve accreditations. At least that accelerated the process,’ Kristin explains. ‘We wanted to structure how we identify and track risks. And audits also needed to be standardised. Not just because of accreditations, but mainly because we wanted sustainable change.’ That’s where Zenya came in, the software the hospital had been using for some time for document management, among other things.
Recently, we received an unannounced audit from the Flemish government. Thanks to Zenya, we were immediately able to show all relevant documents, risk analyses and improvement actions. That gives us confidence.’
So Imelda Hospital had been using Zenya (then iProva) for a while. ‘We already had experience with the document management and workflow management modules. Switching to the SaaS version with all Zenya modules seemed like a logical next step. The added value was not only in the software, but also in Zenya’s support and vision,’ says Kristin. ‘You can see Zenya is really built around the needs of quality managers.’
For risk management and audits, Zenya marked a real turning point. Previously, the hospital did occasionally do an FMEA (Failure Mode and Effect Analysis) here and there, or an analysis around medication distribution. ‘But it remained isolated projects. Now we perform consistent, hospital-wide risk management with Zenya RISK. Every team actively participates. The software does not enforce rigid rules, but supports us in the way we work. That’s a big difference from other systems.’
What sets Imelda Hospital apart from many other Zenya customers is the active use of AI functionalities. ‘We use AI features in the audit and risk management module. In audits, we load up the report and AI then automatically extracts observations and non-conformities. You immediately get a suggestion: these are your findings, these are the best practices. After that, all you have to do is review.’
Kristin continues, ‘I often call it an extra pair of hands. You are helped to structure, follow up and report. That increases the quality of our work as well as our job satisfaction.’ The hospital also gains time, time they can invest in care instead of administration. ‘For quality managers, Zenya is a gamechanger.’
Soon, the hospital also plans to start using Zenya AI Search within the document management system, to find documents faster. ‘The new AI search functionality will help us make protocols and guidelines accessible to healthcare providers faster. This is a direct gain for safety and efficiency,’ Kristin says.
Kristin is clear: ‘Zenya makes a difference. We now have everything in one place: documents, audits, questionnaires, risks, incidents and improvement measures. Everything is linked, so we learn a lot and keep improving.’ The hospital also notices this during unexpected inspections. ‘We recently received an unannounced audit from the Flemish government. Thanks to Zenya, we could immediately show all relevant documents, risk analyses and improvement actions. That gives us confidence.’
In addition, the software helps to work outcome-oriented, an evolution that is becoming increasingly important for healthcare funding. ‘We need to be able to demonstrate what we do, why we do it and what it delivers. Zenya helps us do that in a structured way. The system has become an indispensable part of our quality cycle.’
Kristin also stresses that AI functionalities have a positive impact on the culture. ‘AI allows us to work faster, but AI is also objective. AI sees connections that we ourselves might have overlooked. That helps us stay sharp and think beyond one analysis.’
Thanks to the AI features in Zenya, we can focus on delivering better care to patients, reduce administrative pressure and enjoy our work more.’
Kristin does not have to think long about why other hospitals should choose Zenya too. ‘We feel heard. We have an evaluation session every year and a fixed contact person, someone we can always turn to. If our contact person doesn’t know the answer, we can also call on Zenya’s helpdesk or community. We often look for a solution on the community ourselves first, for instance by consulting a training course. For me, that is very important in a cooperation: the feeling that we are not alone.’
Thanks to Zenya, Imelda Hospital works more efficiently, effectively and there is more focus on what it is all about: good care. Kristin: ‘Zenya supports all areas of our quality management. That makes for better communication internally, more overview and a greater sense of calm within our organisation.’
Still, it remains a journey of change and fine-tuning. ‘Not everyone is always on board immediately. You have ‘believers’, a large middle group and a few die hards who are not convinced. But if you keep showing what it delivers: time savings, insight and better cooperation, support will grow naturally.’
Imelda Hospital’s story shows how powerful the combination of software, smart AI support and intrinsic employee motivation can be. By centralising and linking processes in one system, the hospital is building a culture of continuous improvement. Zenya is not a silver bullet, but it is a smart, reliable solution for achieving better care.
Kristin concludes enthusiastically: ‘Zenya makes quality and risk management tangible and concrete. The AI features allow us to focus on delivering better care for patients, less administrative pressure and more job satisfaction. I would definitely choose Zenya again.’
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