The delicate dynamics of inpatient operations are exacerbated by staffing related challenges including nursing shortages that have profoundly impacted healthcare organizations, resulting in higher nurse-to-patient ratios, increased reliance on premium pay strategies, and the need to close beds due to inadequate staffing, all of which impact patient care quality and staff satisfaction.
According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, there are 193,100 projected job openings for registered nurses on average per year until 2032. However, for the decade between 2022-2032, the U.S. expects only an additional 177,400 nurses to enter the workforce, which is less than what is needed to fill one year of projected openings.
Historical approaches to staff shortages such as workforce management systems, new consulting practices, and centralized staffing models have reached their limits and are not designed for long-term success. And meanwhile, the remaining staff are bearing the brunt of not only patient care but also administrative duties that require juggling, coordinating, and planning through manual means like phone calls and faxes. According to the American Nurse Association, 62% of nurses experience burnout and 69% of nurses under the age of 25 report burnout, demonstrating how manual burdens are taking a toll on nurses and creating an environment that is not sustainable for the future.
Integrating advanced technologies with strategic management is the key to unlocking success
Solving today’s problems starts with leveraging people, process, and technology. While many organizations are still reliant on out-dated, manual workflows, the good news is that we have the tools needed to course correct and improve inpatient operations by better utilizing the nurses you have. In order to accomplish this, the industry needs to pivot from traditional staffing approaches and embrace a system that harnesses the power of AI, integrated workflows, and change management to improve nurse satisfaction, outcomes, ROI, and sustained transformation.
The AI-enabled iQueue for Inpatient Flow solution does just that and solves three key operational issues frontline leaders face every day, including disjointed practices, limited access to capacity, and suboptimal nurse coverage by anticipating issues before they occur. The solution provides operational intelligence to anticipate needs based on demand, recommend adjustments and automate deployment days in advance.
Beginning with the transformative power of AI
iQueue for Inpatient Flow optimizes staff coverage through three AI-enabled tools to make processes more efficient and equitable. The Staffing Toolkit tool helps staffing leaders proactively identify future system-wide staffing needs and align resources accordingly. This ultimately allows leaders to make data-driven decisions that equitably allocate the nursing staff, maximize staffed capacity and optimize nurse-patient assignments.
Leaders also need a tool that enables their organizations to see the immediate needs of the day-of schedule and deploy staff. The Shift Planner tool provides a built-in communication platform that connects the staffing office with charge nurses across the health system to help coordinate staffing needs and allocations. Once staff is allocated, the Workload Coordinator tool utilizes AI-enabled automation to help assign the work based on factors like staff skills and experience, resulting in fair and equitable workload distribution
The results of using these AI-enabled tools include increased quality to improve care delivery and patient outcomes, improved satisfaction to boost staff morale and patient satisfaction, and higher margins in elevating operational efficiency to achieve greater profitability.
Operationalizing change within a health system
Time after time, we’ve seen great technology come to fruition, but ultimately fall short due to the lack of proper utilization. The truth is hospitals need more than just technology — they need a dedicated change management team of experts to ensure lasting success. With iQueue for Inpatient Flow, not only do hospitals and health systems receive the AI-enabled tools to optimize capacity, but also a team of dedicated experts to ensure the technology is being properly used and adopted to maximize ROI.
Establishing a dedicated governance team is crucial for sustained success. This team collaborates closely to define clear roles and responsibilities. The governance team plays a vital role in identifying, prioritizing, and establishing staff policies such as incentive pay, equitable prioritization methods (float, cancel, etc.), and new care models (virtual, multi-role structures, etc.). This approach creates consistency in operations and implements standardized processes across the system. This helps to not only streamline workflows but also ensure that iQueue is consistently optimized and aligned with the organization's goals. Ultimately, the governance team's efforts lead to more efficient operations, reduced manual workload, and improved overall performance.
Hospitals and health systems across the country embracing predictive data, AI, and change management have seen demonstrable improvements. Immediate results from utilizing iQueue for Inpatient Flow include 49% less time spent to determine the needs for upcoming shifts, 53% less time spent communicating about the schedule, and 46% less time spent coordinating with staff to fill gaps. Sustained improvements include a 63% reduction in patient moves within the same level of care, 250+ days of usable capacity created with improved staff allocation, and more than $1 million in savings per year in efficiency gains.
There continue to be numerous opportunities to improve nursing coverage across the healthcare industry. By leveraging predictive technology and change management strategies, hospitals can avoid significant operational disruptions. Embracing these innovations is crucial for improving operations, ultimately leading to enhanced patient care, increased staff satisfaction, and improved financial performance.
Watch the on-demand Transform Hospital Operations Virtual Summit segment on “Optimize Nurse Coverage: An Innovative Approach to Overcoming Staffing Challenges Leveraging AI and Automation to Enhance Collaboration and Outcomes” to hear more on this topic.