Movista shifts gears to fill need for workforce health monitoring during COVID-19

Until a COVID-19 (coronavirus) vaccine is readily available, many employees may be subject to health monitoring in most public-facing workplaces.

Bentonville-based technology firm Movista is responding to that likelihood with a new program called Project Health. It’s aimed at companies and governments who may need to meet mandated compliance guidelines that require employers to maintain a safe work environment while respecting an employee’s right to privacy.

Movista, founded in 2010 by University of Arkansas graduates Stan Zylowski and April Seggebruch, uses smart device applications for managing mobile workforces.

“We are not launching a new functionality,” said Zylowski, the company’s CEO. “This is tried and true functionality. It is our technology that is being used millions of times a year on a broader application. It’s just repackaged in a smaller format so that [organizations] can move quickly and do it inexpensively.”

Project Health collects critical health and exposure data and lets employees automatically know if they should be working or not.

Under normal circumstances, that type of data collection would be legally prohibited. Due to the pandemic, collecting necessary data is encouraged, and in some instances, mandated.

Zylowski said the company is “heavily engaged” with clients in the Midwest for the new service. He said one of the company’s largest clients in Michigan is already using Project Health to help screen its workforce of roughly 60,000 workers.

Zylowski explained that the company has each employee report to a manager before beginning their shift. Each manager surveys the employees and enters data into the Project Health application. In addition to general health questions, the company is also using touchless thermometers and recording that reading as well.

Project Health lets the manager know if an employee meets the criteria to be able to work their shift or not.

“We hear a loud cry for a solution to the health-related data collection and decision-making demands in the market,” Zylowski said. He said Movista had priced the Project Health service “as low as possible” to enable maximum adoption.

Zylowski said Movista is also working with state governments to implement Capango, a mobile-first platform that connects job seekers to opportunities without requiring resumes. Movista acquired the search engine through its acquisition last year of South 49 Solutions, a holding company founded by Stefan Midford and based in Sterling, Va.

State governments will distribute the service at no cost to employers or workers.

“We want that product in the right hands, so when it’s time to go back to work, there’s a ready bank of willing applicants and companies don’t have to spend money to post their jobs,” Zylowski said.

Movista hasn’t made any workforce adjustments related to COVID-19, Zylowski said.

“We’ve had to do a lot of cost-cutting, but at this point, we haven’t had to do anything related to staff reductions,” he said.