We spoke with Louie Balinao, OR Charge Nurse at an outpatient surgery center in Maryland, just outside of Washington, DC. In the ORs at this surgical center, they perform procedures in the specialty areas of spine, sports medicine, plastic surgery, and more.
Louie got into nursing after seeing his mother, who is also a nurse in the operating room, take care of others, and says that her experience and her stories are what got him interested in the field.
As the center’s OR Charge Nurse, Louie has seen a lot of changes since he started in 2017. During COVID, he said that a lot of surgeries were getting canceled from the hospital, so the surgery center got an influx of cases, and they still see more cases to this day. And, it was during this influx that they started using Medely more.
“It was a quick and easy solution to fill our PRN needs,” says Louie.
““Medely is just really easy and convenient,” he says. “Easy and convenient, that’s my relationship with Medely!”
Read more of our interview with Louie and find out how Medely helps him find the healthcare professionals he needs when he needs them:
Q: What is something you love about booking professionals through Medely?
A: “It’s just so easy. Medely continually updates their user interface and software, and so it makes it easier for me without having to go through a rep,” says Louie.
“It’s a direct line from me to the professional.”
“There’s no middle man involved, unless we want a middle man involved. Our account manager, Dianne is always available, but I don’t need her to schedule someone for me, so that’s a huge plus.”
Q: Is there anything that surprised you about using Medely?
A: “The ease of use. Of course, you have to vet these professionals and Medely takes that headache away from me. At the same time, if I want to double check that these guys are credentialed in their field, Medely has it readily and easily available for me to look up online.”
Q: Do you have any stories about a time when Medely helped you find the staff you needed quickly?
A: “So, I try to book a per diem shift, somebody signs up for it, but at the last minute they cancel on me. So, what’s nice about Medely, it automatically reposts it for you and notifies you that someone dropped, but we’re looking for someone right now. Inevitably, someone signed up and they ended up being one of my favorites, one of the regulars who come here often.”
Q: How would you describe the professionals you’ve booked through Medely?
A: “Great! That’s another thing about Medely, we’ve utilized a few agency people, but outside of Medely, you are kind of stuck with these professionals whether you like them or not.”
“Medely has that per diem option where somebody works here once and if we like them, we can invite them back as a favorite.”
Q: Has using Medely professionals impacted or changed the quality of care you provide?
A: “100%. It takes a long time to onboard people. With a surgery center, we have a fluctuation of cases, sometimes you’re slow, but sometimes you’re really busy. If, for example, I just need an extra person for this week where I’m crazy busy, and I don’t need someone for an extended period of time. Just the fact that I can use professionals for a week at a time for when I need it, then we don’t have to cancel cases just for staffing reasons.”
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
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