ShiftWise’s Jeff Niles was recently a featured panel speaker at an AHA Member Initiative entitled “RoundTable for HR Professionals: The Transformation of Health Care”. The joint event with the AHA and ASHHRA’s local chapter in Indianapolis (ISHHRA) featured a roundtable discussion with local healthcare HR executives and leaders.
We recently sat down with Jeff to get his insight from this event and the greater picture of healthcare HR.
Q: What was the topic you were asked to discuss at ISHHRA’s round table event?
Jeff: I talked about the trends in contingent workforce management that are being adopted as health systems nationwide move from the 1st to 2nd curve with regards to contingent staffing. It ended up being a great discussion on what the issues are, how health systems are solving problems and what kind of strategies can be used to ensure survival in a very challenging labor environment.
Q: For those that don’t know, can you describe the 1st and 2nd curve?
Jeff: The AHA has been emphasizing this shift for quite some time now. It’ essentially the idea of moving from a volume-based care industry to one that is value-based. But it’s really about health systems adopting a new way of thinking that embraces transparency, efficiency and best practices. Projects like EMR get a big chunk of the headlines, but health systems have many other technology plays that can have major impacts on the bottom line.
Q: So what exactly are the issues you discussed? What are healthcare systems trying to solve with regards to contingent staffing?
Jeff: Everybody wants an easier way to share labor resources. In many areas in this country, there are highly skilled clinicians that are willing to drive a distance to work on short notice but they never hear about the need. It comes down to communication and a visible and standard way of filling open shifts across all departments.
But to get results, change management is key. For good reasons, health systems are risk averse and that means the status quo reigns supreme. However, things are changing and health systems are having to embrace change just like other major institutions have done.
Q: Is this happening at every level of healthcare or just in, say, nursing?
Jeff: Everyone has staffing needs. Nursing needs to fill scheduling gaps to ensure quality of care. IT needs qualified candidates to implement high-priority tech systems. There’s talk of physician shortages. And there’s administrative staffing needs as well. It all boils down to being able to fill these daily needs more efficiently to ensure quality, but with the added dimension of lowering costs in the process.
Q: What were you able to share with the group in terms of strategies they can use?
Jeff: Well, of course, I talked about the advantages of automation — that’s important — but there are details within the operation that are critical. For example, you have to demand that suppliers are accountable to delivering value and there have to be set metrics that are followed to inform decision making. And there’s the use of internal resources as well. A well-run float pool can maximize the usage of existing talent which helps both in quality of care and cost control.
Q: What kind of problems does automating solve?
Jeff: The word efficiency certainly comes to mind. Technology creates a smoother operation. But specifically, scalability is huge in the new era of healthcare. The continuum of care within one system is getting more complex and old methods of managing contingent staff simply can’t keep up. Another thing is the visibility you gain. Leadership needs to have tools to make better decisions. It’s just much easier to make decisions when you know staffing supplier A costs 30% less and delivers 40% higher quality than supplier B.
Q: What was the feedback like from the HR leaders in the room?
Jeff: It was very positive. I think I heard one person say “you’re preaching to the choir”. Like I said earlier, there are proven ways that web based solutions can impact something as basic as filling an open shift and everyone sees value in that. The question is, can your health system change to the new reality faster than your competitors.