Inefficiencies with scheduling have created more unnecessary administrative burden for facilities. As uncertainty in the healthcare industry grows, staff turnover worsens, patient demand fluctuates, and budgets become tighter, it’s paramount that facilities optimize healthcare scheduling to create the most cost-effective and efficient solutions.
Implementing strategies to optimize scheduling doesn’t have to be challenging. There are several ways healthcare facilities can streamline their scheduling to achieve better outcomes.
Track data and insights to identify trends
The first step to optimize healthcare scheduling is by tracking data and facility trends. All this information can provide key insights for creating staffing structures that are flexible based on seasonality, callouts, and patient demand.
Healthcare is full of constantly changing factors, one of the biggest being patient demand. In traditional staffing models, administrators typically schedule a set number of full-time employees for each day, regardless of what the demand looks like at the moment. This strategy is no longer effective or efficient for the modern workforce. When facilities don’t take into account real-time demand, this can lead to overspending on unnecessary staff or even understaffing during critically busy times.
Alongside patient demand, callouts are also an ever-changing factor that’s important to pay attention to. While facilities can’t perfectly predict when people are going to call out, they can take into account when callouts are more likely to occur. For example, summer tends to be a busier time for vacations, and fall tends to have more callouts due to illness.
Our smart scheduling feature makes it easy to track key data and pick up on trends to help with labor forecasting. Through past trends and availability, it forecasts when floors might need more staff and optimizes schedules directly in the software so administrators don’t have to do extra work to create a better schedule.
Keeping track of these trends and changes isn’t the only step to optimizing healthcare scheduling, though. After understanding facility trends, it’s important to integrate a more flexible staffing strategy to account for these changes and fluctuations. Having a mix of contingent labor as well as full-time staff allows room for changes in staff at a moment’s notice. When changes happen in census due to seasonality, callouts, or turnover, facilities are prepared to handle the extra patient load or have the flexibility to rely on only the staff necessary for the floor. This ensures facilities aren’t overspending on staff who aren’t needed while also making sure quality patient care is upheld.
Rely on a mix of staffing options
Relying on internal teams can often be the most cost-effective way to fill open shifts and ensure timely coverage. But as staff burnout becomes more prevalent, relying too heavily on internal teams can fast-track high turnover rates and cause even more critical staffing gaps.
One of the ways to combat this is through a staffing solution that allows facilities to utilize all staffing options, including internal staff, external vendors, and contingent labor, depending on need and availability. Listening to what facilities needed from a staffing solution, Medely set out to create a better solution for varied staffing needs with our Talent Fusion offering.
Talent Fusion provides facilities with the flexibility and backup they need to ensure their shifts are filled in a timely manner and in the most cost-effective way possible. As soon as a need occurs, facilities post a shift through the Medely platform. This will send the shift to the most cost-effective option first, which is typically an internal resource pool. This allows internal staff to pick up extra hours if they want, but if they don’t, they can choose to pass on it. If no internal staff can pick it up, it’ll then be sent out to the appropriate per diem nurses and health professionals via Medely’s Talent Marketplace. If nobody in Medely’s Talent Marketplace can take the shift, it’ll then be sent to external vendors.
Automate healthcare scheduling
Even with the incredible technological advancements in healthcare, the administrative side is still tedious and inefficient. A lot of administrators are still relying on pen and paper or ineffective scheduling tools to plan their weeks. As administrators are asked to do more within their allotted work hours, automating scheduling can be a great way to reduce menial tasks. Some facilities also incorporate workflow automation tools like to connect scheduling platforms with other essential systems, helping reduce manual data entry and improve overall coordination between departments.
Medely’s smart scheduling feature matches worker availability with open shifts and takes into account planned time off, callouts, and need. If someone calls out or an open shift appears, the shift will be sent through Medely’s waterfall system to internal staff, Medely’s Talent Marketplace, and external vendors to ensure that it’s filled. It also takes into account clock-in times, breaks, and clock-outs, ensuring everything is stored in one place.
For facilities that utilize Medely’s Talent Marketplace frequently, they can further optimize and automate their scheduling by creating a go-to list of nurses and health professionals who use Medely. Favorites give administrators reliable professionals they have worked with before and who are already familiar with the facility. This reduces time spent on orientation while offering the consistency of a float pool and the flexibility of contingent labor.
Optimize healthcare scheduling with Medely’s easy-to-use solution
Optimizing schedules doesn’t have to be complicated. Medely can help ease scheduling conflicts, ensure appropriate staff ratios, and automate tedious manual processes through our technology-based, on-demand staffing solution. Ready to optimize your schedules? Sign up for Medely today!
