A statewide staffing tool launched by the Indiana Hospital Association this year received interest both from members and other state hospital associations, but adoption by hospitals has been slow so far.
The staffing resource tool was developed alongside Matchwell, a company that focuses on matching local and per diem clinicians to healthcare facilities. Indiana Hospital Association members have direct access to the platform, which allows them to view available, vetted clinicians who are looking for shift or contract jobs, according to the release. From within the platform, providers can also access tools to manage their workforce additions.
Clinicians who want to join the Rolodex of professionals seeking contract or shift work can also add themselves to the list via the app.
The staffing solution is thought to be the first of its kind nationwide, according to the IHA.
"We were at a tipping point and needed to try something different," Adam Scott, senior director, field engagement for the Indiana Hospital Association, told Becker's.
"In under 90 days, we have had about 30% of registered nurses in the state added to the platform," Rob Crowe, CEO and founder of Matchwell, added.
Supporting statewide needs now & into the future
The IHA announced the tool's launch to members in February via a webinar, which created a lot of interest. After its introduction to a group of 50 attendees, 20 member hospitals followed up to learn more, Mr. Scott said.
Making it a statewide platform was intentional, in part due to COVID-19 pandemic challenges shining a spotlight on the disconnect that often exists between hospitals, clinicians, and public health entities.
"This is an emergency preparedness tool," Mr. Crowe explained. "If we can get all the clinicians across the state into one database, it gives IHA the option to volunteer the state's resources, whether these are hospital association members or other entities partnering with the hospital association, it now has a single button to press to engage and deploy clinicians across the state based on geography, and get clinicians with the right experience intro the right place to respond. It will become useful if we find ourselves in another pandemic or another emergency. It's an underlying benefit of having one platform at that statewide level."
While there has been interest from members of the hospital association, adoption and implementation have been slower to start.
Greene County General Hospital in Linton, Ind., is one of the early adopters, and has already successfully placed someone using the new tool.
"We have had one successful placement through Matchwell so far, for an ICU RN," Robin Rose, director of human resources at Greene County General Hospital, told Becker's. "I have utilized their online platform multiple times to review postings and candidates."
The tool is easy to use, she said, and provides "a service to help address the issue of staffing shortages in a way that can be mutually beneficial for all parties involved and support healthcare within the state of Indiana," she added.
So far, she said there have been few issues and no concerns.
"Because the platform is new, there are not a lot of candidates signed up in our region. I am optimistic that it will grow over time," Ms. Rose said. "Right now, they are mainly focusing on positions such as RNs, radiology techs etc., but over time, it would be great to see it expand to other positions."
Not only does the IHA's staffing resource allow hospital members to access a larger pool of clinicians in their area who can pick up work as needed, the platform also makes it easy for hospitals to hire the clinicians they use directly onto the hospital's payroll or use an integrated W2 payroll service.
What's next
Growing the adoption of the resource is one of the hospital association's next goals, along with adding different types of positions and eventually physicians to the staffing resource database.
"Over the next few years, our primary focus is engaging the majority of our hospital members across the state to take advantage of this platform." Mr. Scott said.
Several hospital associations in other states have already reached out with interest, Mr. Crowe and Mr. Scott confirmed.
"We've had multiple state hospital associations reach out to us. We've been sharing our experiences with them," Mr. Scott said. "Conversations are active now, and we're encouraging some of our peer State Hospital Associations to make sure they find the right partner for a statewide platform. That's what helped us."
Just from its little use of the platform already, Ms. Rose told Becker's other states would likely benefit too.
"Having a statewide staffing tool is a great way to partner with other statewide organizations to address staffing needs," Ms. Rose said. "It is more cost-effective and can promote supporting clinicians within your own state."
Mr. Crowe confirmed that the future scope of the tool's capabilities may also expand to non-clinical hospital roles because "after all, non-clinical does not mean non-critical to patient care."