Three Ways to Control Contingent Workforce Costs in a Challenging Environment
1. Leverage Healthcare Staffing Technology Organizations have found success with flexible workforce strategies by leveraging the necessary technologies to support all components. The right staffing technology will simplify tasks and streamline operations, which helps an organization create better schedules sooner, reduce costs, and increase staff satisfaction. The most relevant metric to consider when evaluating a staff scheduling system is the fill rate, ensuring patients receive the appropriate care. Other measurable benefits of staffing technology include:
• Better core staff schedules (fewer canceled shifts, core staff floating)
• Improved budgeting and resource planning
• Reduction of “in-the-moment” staffing decisions and critical needs
One example of a leading technology that supports an enterprise approach to workforce management is Smart Square ® . This enterprise scheduling tool utilizes a proprietary predictive model to forecast staffing needs starting 120 days (about 4 months) before the shift. Updated weekly, predictions pass through the staffing matrices for each unit/service area, identifying predicted patient demand versus staff supply. These predictions also fuel open shift management, cost- effectively increasing fill rates as shifts approach. Use of Smart Square results in 75% of open shift hours being picked up more than two weeks ahead of the shift.
Smart Square has reporting features that are hard to find in another software solution. Our company needed a solution that could minimize the workload of our team but increase the capabilities of the solution. Smart Square provided that for us. Marla D. Application Analyst II Healthcare System, 10,000+ beds
Healthcare professionals should have input in creating their schedules to promote fairness and work-life balance. Self- scheduling and open shift management tools are popular options for giving staff more flexible schedules. Offering incentives for shifts in need weeks in advance benefits both staff and the organization. With a comprehensive view of staffing needs, centralized staffing offices can make smart placement decisions.
1. American Hospital Association. “Fact Sheet: Strengthening the Health Care Workforce.” Accessed July 12, 2023 from https://www.aha.org/fact-sheets/2021-05-26-fact-sheet-strengthening-health-care-workforce
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