Many hospitals and healthcare facilities are making an effort to use contingent labor and per diem nurses because of the high costs that come with recruiting and retaining full-time staff. It’s actually a convenient strategy to boost hospital revenue because with PRNs or per diem nurses, because hospitals can hire only when they need coverage.
Hear from Enterprise Account Manager Lindsey Gove on how hospitals can use per diem nursing to meet patient demand and boost revenue.
Here are 4 ways that adding per diem nurses and health professionals to their full-time workforce can actually boost hospital revenue for their facilities:
1.) Per diem nurses help reduce use of expensive overtime
Coverage is a key concern for hospitals. Plus, leaders at hospitals charged with finding coverage have a few options, but none are cost effective.
The first thing they often do is offer overtime to nurses and health professionals on their permanent staff. While this can be a great opportunity for staff to make some extra money, it can also lead to burnout and churn when the facility is relying too heavily on its current staff to fill those gaps in coverage.
With a solution like Medely, leaders can offer overtime first to their staff, and also have a secret weapon where they can easily book highly qualified, credentialed per diem nurses at the click of a button on Medely’s platform.
And the outlook for PRN nursing is high and expected to grow. The per diem nurse market is expected to reach over $16.4 billion by 2033, according to Market.us.
Here’s how it works. Facility leaders post the shift and a per diem nurse or health professional picks that shift up the same day, keeping the staff happy and patient needs met.
Hear from Annie Giagni, CNO at Exceptional Community Hospital – Maricopa in AZ who said that when their nurses in the trenches saw that they were being supported with additional staff, it actually caused a visible uplift in morale and the happiness of their culture. Read the full story on our blog here.
2.) Per diem nurses can help revenue-driving units keep up with patient demand
Today, many hospitals are in the red because the units that impact their bottom line and drive the most revenue are struggling to maintain consistent coverage. In some hospitals that’s ER, OR, and behavioral health. Medicare and insurance dollars are going there, and they tend to be the most profitable. But, we know that keeping those units staffed can be the most challenging, so adding per diem nurses on a platform like Medely can ensure that any call outs or surges in cases, there is always coverage.
Keeping up with demand in those units not only helps provide the best possible patient care, but also keeps money coming in for your facility so you can keep treating the patients that need your help.
3.) Per diem nurses can prevent revenue going towards costly recruitment, training, and retention efforts
When we think about staffing at health facilities, most leaders will tell you one of the most expensive aspects is recruiting, training, and retaining full-time staff.
In the U.S., the cost to hire a registered nurse is about $1,633. It takes between 36 and 42 days to fill the average role. And, on average, it takes around 12 weeks for a new registered nurse to become settled and be productive at work, according to Zippia.
When you add per diem nurses to your workforce by using Medely, you can book those nurses whenever you need them, know that they are credentialed and verified, and Favorite them so they keep coming back, saving money, time, and effort on extensive recruiting processes, training, and retention efforts.
4.) Per diem nurses help boost hospital revenue through flexibility and control
With full-time staff, hospital leaders are paying them whether their units are busy or not, which gives them less control over their staffing spending.
If leaders book per diem nurses with Medely when they need them, they can pull back or increase spend on contingent labor when it’s most convenient for their units and their facilities.
Medely empowers healthcare facilities to optimize their workforce, taking back control from costly staffing agencies. Our innovative technology is configured specifically to your needs and uses data-driven decision making to help facilities seamlessly connect with verified nurses and healthcare professionals, cut agency and overtime costs, reduce churn, and secure full coverage. Sign up here.
How to effectively combat healthcare labor shortages in 2024
Learn how to effectively combat healthcare labor shortages with an extended workforce to maintain continuity of care and gain access to tools you can use to manage your extended workforce more effectively and efficiently. In this eBook, you’ll learn:
- ■ Why nurses are leaving full-time jobs behind.
- ■ The factors impacting healthcare professional employment.
- ■ How you can use an extended workforce to meet demand.
- ■ How you can use data-led staffing planning to manage costs.
