Healthcare finance is in a more difficult place than ever before. And given the well-known challenge of staying fully staffed, and the role it plays in that difficulty, the benefits of partnering with a reliable healthcare staffing agency may seem obvious. But in addition to providing a steadier supply of workers, a health staffing partner can also help improve revenue efficiency in a number of other ways.
Here’s a quick rundown of the ways healthcare staffing can help improve revenue efficiency, along with some key takeaways for healthcare leaders looking to cut costs while improving care.
5 Ways to Improve Revenue Efficiency with a Healthcare Staffing Agency
#1: Achieving a smarter staffing strategy.
Meeting patient care goals requires more than just skilled clinical workers. It also means making the best possible use of them. A reliable healthcare staffing agency can help you not only source the clinicians you need, but also help you make the best choices in when and how to utilize them. That goes beyond daily and weekly scheduling to include the seasonal fluctuations that happen throughout the year.
By better understanding your facility’s specific utilization rates, and the demographics of the region in which you operate, you can make sure you’re sourcing the workers you need, when you need them — no more, and no less.
> Takeaway for leaders: Revenue efficiency depends on consistent, depending staffing. And partnering with a company with a nationwide base of operations and excellent industry reputation is a great way to ensure this critical element.
#2: Meeting the requirements of value-based care.
Value-based care has become the basis for reimbursement by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Therefore, it’s the de facto standard across the healthcare industry. And the stated goal of value-based care is to improve the quality of healthcare for Americans in three ways:
- to better care for individual patients,
- to better health for populations, and
- to lower overall costs.
Of course, the main advantage of partnering with a healthcare staffing agency is to help make sure you have the workers you need to provide excellent patient care at the lowest overall cost. On top of that, the metrics and reporting you get from a reliable partner can help you more effectively identify and manage patient populations, helping you achieve the trifecta of value-based care.
> Takeaway for leaders: Meeting the requirements of value-based care helps ensure financial stability and future growth by ensuring reimbursement. And partnering with a healthcare staffing agency — and even better, a healthcare managed services provider (MSP) — can help you do just that.
#3: Helping improve employee retention.
By offering access to a pool of travel nurses and other contingency workers across the United States, a healthcare staffing agency can help you give your regular staff get the work/life balance they need and deserve. That can help you avoid burnout and compassion fatigue, and achieve higher morale in general. It also means a better chance for higher employee retention.
And that’s a pretty big deal. Besides the obvious negative impact on the quality of patient care, a high turnover rate can be a huge revenue drain for providers. Study after study points to the high cost of nurse turnover. One in particular tagged the cost for organizations at tens of thousands of dollars per nurse — and that was well before Covid-19 struck and made the cost of recruitment even higher.
> Takeaway for leaders: Offering workers a better work/life balance by utilizing travel nurses, per diem nurses and other contingency staff in your schedule means avoiding some of these costs, and improving your long-term revenue outlook.
#4: Protecting your reputation.
Another factor that can affect turnover is reputation, both within the industry and the public in general. A bad reputation can have a number of negative effects. Patient satisfaction can suffer. It can also hurt efforts to recruit new talent, and negatively impact staff morale, which can lead to higher turnover. All of this can have disastrous effects on revenue.
A negative reputation can also hurt growth. At a time when patients have more choices than ever, it can mean losing precious ground to competitors. Like it or not, healthcare now operates in a highly digital marketplace. Data shows that about three out of every four Americans search online for their healthcare needs. And almost two in three are more likely to trust a provider that has more positive reviews.
> Takeaway for leaders: Reputation depends largely on patient satisfaction and quality of care. And for both of these factors, a reliable supply of workers can make all the difference. By partnering with a trustworthy healthcare staffing agency, organizations can help maintain their reputation and avoid loss of revenue.
#5: Covering every corner of the clinical workforce.
By partnering with a versatile, comprehensive healthcare staffing agency, you give yourself access to the nurses and therapists you need to maintain quality of care and a high industry standing. On top of that, you’ll get access to a full complement of healthcare professionals, including SLPs, tech, pharmacists, social workers, interim leaders, and more.
The result is more reliable operation at all times, in all departments, across your entire organization. And that means a greater ability to ensure quality of care and revenue stability, even during the most difficult times.
> Takeaway for leaders: When choosing a healthcare staffing agency, make sure to select a partner with one that offers a full range of clinical professionals, available in every corner of the United States.
Ready to achieve better revenue efficiency? We can help!
From healthcare staffing to full workforce solutions, you can trust CareerStaff Unlimited to deliver the services you need to ensure revenue efficiency. Our staffing services are Joint Commission certified and our healthcare professionals are a cut above the rest, and available in practically every specialty and setting. See for yourself — contact us here, or submit a staffing request now.