As healthcare administrators are forced to do more with less, having a strategy in place for economically staffing your facility with the best talent available is more important than ever.  Economic challenges have made finding the most qualified applicants even tougher as the nursing shortage continues, while hospitals struggle with providing quality care in the midst of hiring freezes and budget limitations.

So how can a provider manage during such difficult times?

The key to success is to develop a strategy that takes you beyond your immediate needs. If you’ve always handled staffing internally, looking at a staffing agency as a partner could assist you in making your hiring processes more efficient and cost-effective. If you are already being assisted by a staffing agency, it may be time to and determine whether or not they are still meeting the specialized needs of a healthcare provider such as yourself.  Additional advice on solutions providers include:   

1.      Evaluate Traveler Nurses and Allied Health Professional Options – These professionals can benefit hospitals by preferring to work short- and long-term assignments. This solution can also help you build a pool of qualified candidates, allowing for temp-to-perm hiring options or even permanent placement if a position becomes available and the professional has proven himself/herself.

2.      Include Interim Management in Your Plan – Don’t focus on entry or professional levels only; remember that management positions can be just as difficult to place. Ask if your staffing partner can also temporarily fill key management positions so that you do not hire the wrong person in haste and can find qualified individuals until a person who meets all of your criteria can be hired.

3.      Review Vendor Management Systems (VMS) – This technology and the suppliers who offer it can automate the entire process of working with outside staffing suppliers with on-line scheduling, credential tracking, time keeping, and reporting. If you don’t have additional time or extra team members to manage your staffing agencies and potentially overwhelming accounting and HR-related paperwork, this can be a viable option. Paying a single, consolidated invoice for all supplier services can also create efficiencies to benefit your organization.

4.      Discover Strategic Cost Management – Some firms specialize in the consultation and analytics of staffing mixes. By providing you with an analysis of how to address your needs in the short and long term, they can help your organization capture savings through attrition, reduced overtime and agency hours, skill mix adjustments, volume absorption, and career redirection.

5.      Utilize Workflow Optimization Tools – These solutions can not only help a hospital with the alignment of resources by priority positions, they can result in increased productivity through department focus.  Additional benefits include streamlined costs and the identification areas for savings identified as well as a plan to achieve those savings.

Considering any or all of these solutions and moving beyond status quo staffing options can help healthcare providers weather the ebb and flow of staffing, in addition to saving money and creating efficiencies.  

Misty Poynter is director of executive services for MedAssets’ Supply Chain Services.