In a tight health care labor market, your ability to maintain continuity of patient care with manageable staffing levels may be compromised. Coronis can help. We can evaluate your facility’s requirements and bring in the cost-effective talent you need in an efficient and scalable way.
What the Numbers Show
Hospitals are at the center of a national staffing shortage due to a combination of high COVID-19 patient volume and staff departures during the pandemic. Still, there is little national data available to quantify the shortages' impact on patient care.
The first indication came in the form of a CDC report indicating that healthcare-associated infections would increase significantly in 2020 following years of steady decline. The researchers attributed the increase to pandemic-related challenges, such as staffing shortages and high patient volumes, which made it difficult for hospitals to follow standard infection control practices.
For example, the Joint Commission received 569 reports of sentinel events in the first six months of 2021, up from 437 in the first six months of 2020. However, meaningful conclusions about the events' frequency and long-term trends cannot be drawn from the dataset. The Joint Commission estimates that fewer than 2% of all sentinel events are reported to the organization.
The Safety Impact of Labor Shortages
Nurses, physicians, and other health care professionals are leaders in patient safety. They’re the people who interact with patients daily—advocating for patient safety and making decisions and taking actions to promote safety.
There’s no doubt that workforce shortages in healthcare facilities can negatively impact patient safety. Research has found that labor shortages in hospitals exist across a broad range of occupations and specialties—from registered nurses and licensed practical nurses to respiratory therapists and paramedics.
Improving the Revenue Cycle
Many healthcare organizations have adopted lean principles to lower costs, decrease waste, and improve the quality of care.
Tightening up revenue cycle management (RCM) is a crucial part of many lean initiatives. Improving the revenue cycle is not just a cost-cutting measure; it has the added benefit of increasing revenue to secure additional staff and resources.
Revenue cycle management allows health care organizations to concentrate on improving efficiency so they can spend more money on attracting and retaining top talent.
When you outsource routine RCM functions such as registration, billing, collections, denial management, coding, and insurance eligibility verification to Coronis, you can focus on hiring only medical and clinical staff, rather than administrative staff as well. With fewer employees to manage, you can focus on your facility’s clinical needs rather than on financial pressures and performance, which your RCM partner can handle.
Outsourcing May Be Your Best Friend
No matter your line of work, competition is tough. This is especially true in the healthcare field. The system is already stressed, and with an aging population and a limited number of medical practitioners, the job market is becoming increasingly tight with higher demand and fewer resources.
This means that you may need to think outside the box regarding hiring practices. A viable alternative is to outsource certain functions if you feel that you can’t keep up with the growing workload or can’t keep up with the quality of care that patients deserve from your facility.
Outsourcing has become increasingly common in the healthcare industry. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), most organizations decide to outsource work when they need help managing temporary or long-term workforce needs.
This can be particularly beneficial during busy periods or if a company is experiencing staffing problems—such as those currently plaguing healthcare organizations everywhere. It also allows facilities to focus on patient care delivery rather than on administrative functions.
By providing a range of services that can help alleviate stress for employees and increase overall productivity at your facility, outsourcing can address specific areas of concern.
These services may include:
Outsourcing these administrative functions may be a valuable strategy, enabling your facility to focus on its core operations and maintain patient safety in this tight labor market.
Partner With Coronis Health To Help Maintain Your Facility’s Quality of Care
Coronis is committed to supporting the frontline caregivers who work hard every day, every shift, to keep patients safe.
Healthy finances lay the foundation for quality care. Our goal is to maximize your profits and reduce your administrative costs so you can continue providing quality care for your patients.
To receive your free financial checkup or to learn more about how we can help your facility in this demanding environment during these stressful times, contact Coronis Health today.