These three questions can streamline ASC staffing coverage

Key takeaways: ASCs need quick, flexible staffing coverage to avoid cancellations. With Medely’s Talent Fusion, ASCs can book vetted local clinicians, manage internal and external staff, reduce reliance on expensive agencies, and plan for future ASC staffing needs with our AI-powered scheduling tool.

Surgery day rolls around. Procedures are scheduled, physicians are prepped, and you’re ready for a busy day of cases.

You weren’t expecting one of your surgical techs to call out sick.

Instead of being able to slowly sip your coffee and prep for the day, you immediately have to switch into high gear to get the shift filled.

You could send a text and see if any of your full-time staff could cover the shift, but after your last surgical tech cited burnout and long hours as the reason they left, you don’t want to overextend the bare-bones team you already have. You’ve been trying to recruit a new surgical tech, but operating room staff are in high demand.

After deciding that asking your full-time staff is off the table, you realize you have two options: Shell out an exorbitant amount of money to get the shift filled through an agency, or cancel the entire day’s worth of surgeries.

Each option impacts your budget, revenue goals, staff, and even reputation in the community.

How can I reduce the impact of unexpected callouts?

Each callout triggers a series of events that impact your facility now and in the future. The key to more effective ASC staffing is to reduce the long-term impacts of the callout from weeks to hours.

Callouts might seem like a one-off, but when you zoom out, proactive planning can mitigate some of the impact.

Take Briarcliff Surgery Center, for example. Within 18 months, they had 10 of their full-time staff take maternity leave. Not only was there a drop in consistent coverage, but the surgery center’s caseload also increased by over 100 cases per month. In spite of the rapid, unpredictable changes, Arielle Esclamada, clinical director, didn’t bat an eye.

She didn’t have a crystal ball or the superhuman ability not to stress; she had a plan in place.

Arielle took the information she had to plan accordingly. She couldn’t predict a rise in coverage, but she could plan for staffing going on maternity leave.

As her full-time staff requested time off, she knew she needed coverage to get her through a few months of being short-staffed, but ultimately knew that she didn’t need more full-time staff.

This is when she turned to Medely to create a plan. She built a go-to list of PACU and pre-op RNs with Medely that could help with the rise in cases. When her full-time staff started going on maternity leave, she had a solid list of go-to nurses on call to keep her facility running.

What could have been a disastrous time for Briarcliff Surgery Center ended up showcasing their team’s strength in the midst of ASC staffing challenges, securing their spot as a go-to surgery center in the Kansas City area and setting the facility up for continued success. “The pros who we’ve had here have been wonderful and flexible and can pick up what needs to be done and take on a solo role if needed,” Arielle shared. “It’s been a godsend.”

How do I guarantee the right ASC staffing coverage?

Proactively prepping for callouts reduces some stress, but how can you trust that when you call in contingent labor, you’re getting the right person at the right time? How can you make sure per diem workers are ready to step in right away and work independently without an extensive orientation?

A mix of experience and adaptability can be hard to find, but it’s exactly what Paula Solipaca, administrator at Jefferson Surgical Center at the Navy Yard, needed.

Paula was in charge of four facilities, so she didn’t have time to personally vet every per diem clinician. She needed three things: reliable coverage, quick shift fill times, and clinicians who could excel while working independently.

Thanks to Medely’s thorough vetting process, Paula didn’t have to waste her resources vetting the nurses and health professionals. She could trust that they had been accurately validated and checked when she booked them.

“What I found so strong about Medely was nurses who really were able to work independently at facilities like this,” Paula shares. “You really need to be independent, and I had that with Medely.”

We know that you need clinicians to jump in as soon as possible, so our approval process covers extra bases. On top of licensing and credentialing, every nurse and health professional has to complete and excel at a thorough skills assessment and an interview with one of our tenured nurses and health professionals.

Even though Medely does all the heavy lifting, we’ve added an extra layer of transparency to our verification process. After you’ve booked a shift, you can view the credentials of the booked clinician for extra peace of mind.

For Paula, this trust in the nurses and health professionals on Medely not only helped avoid cancellations, but it also promoted trust with her team of physicians. “The feedback that I received from my director of nursing and the physicians was really strong,” Paula shared. They knew whoever was working would be ready to perform at the same level as full-time staff.

How do I expedite ASC staffing?

While you can plan as much as possible, sometimes callouts are last-minute. When your revenue depends on tight turnarounds and packed surgery schedules, you need quick shift fill times.

Christine Costello, regional administrator at Harbor Heights Surgery Center and Potomac View Surgery Center, was on the brink of cancelled procedures due to an uptick in callouts and general staff turnover.

She was at a crossroads with finding coverage. She needed quick, inexpensive, reliable coverage, but the options presented to her left her having to sacrifice one of those three in order to get the shift filled.

Thankfully, Christine discovered Medely before ever having to make that decision.

From the beginning, Christine heralded Medely’s ease of use, cost-effectiveness, and reliable, rapid coverage. It wasn’t uncommon for Christine to receive a callout within a few hours of a shift starting. Instead of nerves and panic, Christine was able to remain calm and collected. “It was about 6:00 in the morning when I found out, and I needed a nurse at 7:00,” Christine shared. “Somebody picked it up right away. That’s pretty much the norm for us.”

With such short fill times, Christine has been able to use Medely as a buffer in case her full-time staff isn’t available or already overworked. Having multiple avenues to fill shifts helps Christine optimize costs and create a stress-free environment that supports healthcare workers going through burnout.

I just love the ease of going online and using the scheduler there. It’s very easy. I don’t have to think about it much,” Christine shared. “It’s a huge time saver.”