Thanks to a variety of advanced technologies, today's organizations in all industries have access to data that can help them make informed business decisions designed to drive growth.
In healthcare, every hospital and medical facility can use technology to optimize every aspect of their operations, including staffing. With the right data, these facilities can gain valuable insight into how staffing is impacting their revenue and profitability and strategies they can use to optimize staffing. In this post, we will delve further into the process of using data to support staffing strategy.
Why do you need a staffing strategy?
Businesses in the healthcare industry need a staffing strategy for a variety of reasons, including:
Efficacy and productivity - Having competent, qualified medical staff is essential to any healthcare organization's success. You want to be sure that you are attracting the best talent. A solid staffing strategy improves the hiring process and, thus, the quality of your staff.
Preparing for the future - When you have a clear staffing strategy, you will better understand every facet of your organization. When you contemplate significant changes, such as mergers, you will have the information you need to make wise decisions moving forward.
Positive patient experiences - A well-planned staffing strategy ensures a better quality of care for patients, which leads to enhanced patient experiences and a better reputation for your company.
Using data to support a staffing strategy
By generating and using the right data to your advantage, you can develop a staffing strategy that helps your organization grow and thrive. Some of the ways you can use data for this purpose are listed below.
Understanding morale - Healthcare organizations can collect data from employees to gain insight into workplace satisfaction. Using this information, organizations can make changes designed to maintain morale, ensure sufficient staffing levels, and protect the continuity of patient care.
Assessing turnover - Data can provide valuable information about physician turnover rates, as well as the factors that increase turnover. Using this information, healthcare organizations can build a staffing strategy that retains quality physicians.
Improving patient experience - Patient experience scores provide healthcare organizations with essential information about patients' satisfaction with care. Organizations can use these scores in combination with data related to staffing levels to understand how these two factors interact.
Optimizing utilization - Using the right data, healthcare organizations can evaluate and understand the current utilization of contingency staff, allowing them to optimize this aspect of staffing accordingly.
Identifying trends - Healthcare organizations can use data to understand staffing trends and the factors that drive them.
Generating data with technology
It's clear that collecting and analyzing the right data can help you build a solid staffing strategy you need, but many healthcare organizations still struggle to generate this data. Fortunately, healthcare organizations can simplify this process by adopting a Vendor Management System (VMS) or a Managed Service Provider (MSP). Both of these solutions can generate useful data and assist organizations with staff management.
If you want to build an effective staffing strategy, generating and analyzing data is an essential part of the process. VISTA's service line, VISTA Select, can help you gain the visibility you need in these areas to build a strategy that enables you to improve your management of staffing levels and drive growth. Contact VISTA to learn more about VISTA Select and how we can help you develop an optimized staffing strategy.
Editor's note: This post was originally published October 26, 2019, and has been updated for accuracy and timeliness.
