Adventist Health has transformed its staffing strategies from a cost center to a profit center by implementing an in-house Managed Service Provider (MSP) model.
That transformative change was the topic of an interactive session titled "Innovative Staffing Strategies: Journey from Cost Center to Profit Center with Adventist Health" presented at Becker's 14th Annual Meeting in Chicago.
Panelist for the session were:
- Jacalyn Liebowitz, DNP, MBA, RN, FACHE, NEA-BC, SVP System Chief Nursing Officer, Adventist Health
- Jeff Mock, MBA, Chief Financial Officer - North Coast Network, Adventist Health
- Melissa Hosey, MSN, RN, NP-C, System Director, Clinical Workforce, Adventist Health
- Joe Heilman, Program Manager, Agency Staffing Office, Adventist Health
The model, which is self-funded, allows the organization to have increased control over the quality of staff, enhanced cost management, alignment with culture and improved regulatory compliance.
The program started with nurses, then expanded to all clinical staff, clinics, and leadership positions. The only area not managed through this program is physician contracts.
The program has also helped nurse retention strategies and the creation of an internal float pool. The implementation of this model has resulted in improved efficiency, with a significant reduction in time to fill and time to start metrics.
The program has also generated revenue, which has been used to fund other programs and initiatives.
Key takeaways from the session:
- Implementing a centralized agency staffing office can improve control over costs and quality of staff.
"So when you can imagine when we're a 27-28 hospital system, it was done 27 to 28 different ways. And so now as we begin to standardize our information, not only does it help us make sure that we have clinical quality competence of the people coming in the door, but we have clarity on the cost." - Dr. Jacalyn Liebowitz - Data-driven decisions are essential for effective staffing management.
"This allows us to make data-driven decisions... So what does it mean for me at the market level? I'll say as a CFO, obviously we're always looking to be able to control our costs and better data helps us make better decisions." - Jeff Mock - A self-funded agency staffing office can generate revenue and fund other programs.
"The program is really designed to be self-funded... And so that's really where the revenue part comes in is where we are actually, I don't want to say shorting the invoice, but essentially holding back from that invoiced amount. And so that's then in turn used to internally fund the program, fund the technology, fund the workers." - Melissa Hosey - A combination of staffing strategies, including agency, float pool, and internal resources, is necessary for effective staffing management.
"How many of you have said…let’s get rid of all agency? That’s not realistic, and you can probably hit that for certain periods of time but when you think about your staffing, you have your base core of your full time staff, you have a component of part time staff, you have a component of contingency or float pool and then you have agency. Agency is going to fill that gap when you have an unexpected leave, have to quickly open a program or quickly close a program, it gives you that flexibility." - Dr. Jacalyn Liebowitz