As the U.S. enters year three of the pandemic, the healthcare workforce is still reeling from COVID-19’s impact.
Labor shortages and burnout among clinical and non-clinical staff challenge healthcare organizations’ ability to provide a consistent patient experience. These trends affect care delivery, the patient experience and health systems’ financial performance. In this environment, healthcare organizations need new strategies and solutions to support their mission.
A recent advisory call — hosted by Becker's Hospital Review and sponsored by Phreesia — brought together a group of healthcare leaders and technology experts to discuss current staffing challenges and the transformations necessary to address them.
Here are three key takeaways from the call:
1. Labor shortages are transforming operations. Much of the attention around labor shortages has been focused on clinical labor shortages on the front lines. But gaps in staffing at the front desk, scheduling, revenue cycle and other key departments also have significant potential to cause operational challenges and disrupt the patient experience.
As a result of these shortages, hospitals and health systems have had to cancel appointments, delay procedures, reallocate staff and alter workflows. "We've had to divert cases coming into the emergency department because we didn't have enough staff or beds," the regional CFO from a large health system said. "It is impacting our revenue." A healthcare IT executive from the west coast said her organization has struggled to "just keep the basics running."
Amid rising labor costs, the CEO of a surgery center located in the Mountain states said his organization has put a greater emphasis on ensuring patients are well-prepared for their procedures, understand their insurance coverage and are aware of their share of the cost. This has helped prevent costly no-shows and last-minute cancellations.
2. Technology can be a lever for retention and a better patient experience. "Everybody, whether it's finance or nursing, is being recruited pretty heavily right now," the regional CFO said. "It is really a game about keeping your people and being more attractive for a myriad of reasons, not just compensation." These reasons can include not just pay increases and flexible scheduling, but also working conditions, including workload and the technology that staff use to do their job.
The West Coast Healthcare IT executive mentioned that using technology to improve the patient and staff experience is a major priority for her organization. "We've got a big digital initiative to create a unified, frictionless process to allow our patients, providers and administrators to interact seamlessly," she said.
An organization's culture and environment play a major role in retention—transparency and continuous improvement can go a long way in maintaining morale and reducing burnout.
“If you can stay engaged with staff, strive to follow up quickly and improve on things that you are able to control, that will make your workplace a desirable workplace,” the surgery center CEO said.
3. Difficult times require new solutions. "Throughout the pandemic, many front-line workers have had to be retrained on new processes. Many felt like a lot of new work was being dumped on them," said Sandra Schittone, Phreesia's vice president for strategic accounts. As staff are stretched thin, many organizations are turning to digital platforms and automation to reduce time-consuming phone calls, paper forms and other manual processes, and allow staff to focus on more complex tasks. These technologies not only improve operations but also make sure "employees feel supported and connected," Schittone said.
"Not having enough people on the job can have ripple effect of consequences that spread across an organization," said Liz Fox, Phreesia's senior director of analytics. "It is affecting your operations, your financial operations and the patient experience."
As staff shortages continue to impact healthcare organizations, leaders must focus on supporting their existing employees in every way possible. As healthcare organizations look to overcome this challenge and add resiliency to their operations, technology will help their staff feel able and empowered to accomplish their core mission of patient care. Tools such as automated appointment reminders, templated communications, and automatic eligibility and benefits verification relieve staff from manual, time-consuming tasks. Providing these essential tools helps employees feel supported while simultaneously improving the patient experience.
Learn how automation can help your organization reduce burnout and overcome staffing gaps.
About Phreesia
Phreesia gives healthcare organizations a suite of robust applications to manage the patient intake process. Our innovative SaaS platform engages patients in their healthcare and provides a modern, convenient experience, while enabling our clients to enhance clinical care and drive efficiency.