How to Maintain Patient Care Coordination During a Staffing Shortage
Delivering quality, cost-effective care to patients managing multiple chronic conditions like diabetes and depression depends on seamless collaboration among healthcare professionals. However, ongoing staffing shortages in many facilities make it increasingly difficult for patients to access timely, comprehensive care. So, how can your health system improve patient care coordination when staff is stretched thin?
Many facilities rely on travel or contract labor to fill staffing gaps and maintain care continuity. However, this expensive short-term fix makes it difficult for interdisciplinary healthcare teams to work seamlessly toward shared goals and the best possible patient outcomes. After all, travel workers are often unfamiliar with facility protocols and community needs, leading to mistakes, inefficiencies, and patient dissatisfaction. The constant turnover of travel and contract labor burdens internal staff with extra training and support, contributing to frustration, burnout, and lowered morale.
Adopting a collaborative care model that integrates internal staff with a local on-demand labor pool is a more practical approach to patient care coordination. This strategy helps form flexible, interdisciplinary healthcare teams capable of quickly adapting to fluctuating patient volumes and needs. It's also a sustainable, cost-effective practice that promotes teamwork, reduces burnout, and streamlines workflows.
On-Demand Labor Pool Advantages
An on-demand labor pool often consists of experienced, credentialed nurses and allied health professionals from your community who value job flexibility without the constraints of a traditional PRN role. For example, veteran nurses who aren't ready to retire but prefer the freedom to choose when, where, and how often they work, or nurse moms who need shifts that fit their family's schedule.
By utilizing local ShiftMed on-demand healthcare professionals, your health system can:
1. Minimize Legal Risks
By utilizing on-demand W-2 employees through ShiftMed, your health system can dramatically reduce legal risks while achieving greater operational efficiency and regulatory compliance. As their employer of record, ShiftMed assumes full responsibility for payroll, benefits, and tax compliance, freeing your organization from the administrative burden and legal complexities of managing 1099 independent contractors.
2. Maintain Care Consistency
ShiftMed healthcare professionals seamlessly integrate into your existing team and work culture to ensure care consistency across the board. They complete the same onboarding, orientation shifts, and LMS training as your internal staff, making them fully prepared to coordinate patient care. By utilizing the same time clock, scheduling, and HRIS systems, ShiftMed professionals operate within your workflows, maintaining efficiency and continuity. Additionally, their compensation is aligned with your pay structure, fostering equity and consistency across your workforce.
3. Access Specialized Talent
ShiftMed empowers your health system to quickly access professionals with specialized skills tailored to meet your patients' unique needs. Whether you require registered nurses or physician assistants with certifications in areas like behavioral health, cardiology, or oncology, ShiftMed provides seamless access to niche expertise that may not be readily available in-house. This flexibility enables you to rapidly build interdisciplinary healthcare teams that deliver holistic care, addressing physical, emotional, and social health needs.
4. Fast Shift Fulfillment
Travel workers require an average lead time of 33 days, while ShiftMed on-demand professionals can be ready to fill shifts in 36 hours or less. This rapid response ensures your health system can address staffing needs immediately, minimizing disruptions to patient care and reducing the strain on your internal team during critical periods. By significantly accelerating shift fulfillment, you can maintain operational efficiency and bring more consistency to patient care coordination.
5. Labor Cost Savings
Travel nurses can cost your health system up to $300 more per shift than on-demand nurses, driving up labor expenses significantly. With ShiftMed's on-demand workforce, you reduce costs and eliminate the constraints of contracts or fixed-term commitments. This flexibility allows you to scale staffing to meet real-time needs without overextending your budget, ensuring financial efficiency while maintaining the quality of care your patients expect.
Care Coordination Technology
ShiftMed goes beyond providing direct access to local, credentialed healthcare professionals ready to provide clinical support on demand. Our advanced workforce management platform empowers health systems to achieve seamless patient care coordination while optimizing workforce levels in real time.
By leveraging the ShiftMed workforce management platform, health systems can:
Proactively Align Staffing with Patient Needs: ShiftMed technology ensures the right professionals are matched to the right roles, accounting for patient care requirements, staff availability, and skill sets.
Respond to Patient Volume Surges in Real Time: Unexpected increases in patient demand can disrupt care delivery. ShiftMed technology enables facilities to quickly fill open positions and mobilize resources to meet patient needs without compromising care standards.
Enhance Workflow Efficiency: Coordinated scheduling and streamlined communication reduce gaps in coverage, minimize administrative burden, and enable staff to focus on delivering exceptional care.
Support Collaborative Care Teams: The platform facilitates better coordination among staff, ensuring that healthcare professionals can work together effectively to provide holistic, patient-centered care.
Accountability in Patient Care Coordination
Critical questions about patient care coordination and team leadership arise when healthcare professionals form care teams. These questions include key considerations such as establishing clear care direction, delegating and supervising medical tasks effectively, defining accountability and liability, and ensuring patients are comfortable with the team-based approach to their care.
Addressing these questions can help your health system identify strategies to enhance success and reduce risk when implementing a collaborative care model.
Are all roles and responsibilities within the team clearly defined?
Does each team member understand their role and the roles of others?
How will healthcare decisions be made and who will ultimately be accountable?
Is there a process to monitor how well the team works together?
What healthcare outcomes is the team aiming to achieve?
Is the patient always at the center of the team's approach to care?
Are there clear policies and procedures to guide the team's function?
Does the team have enough resources to achieve the desired outcomes?
Who will coordinate care, manage the team, and ensure smooth communication among teams?
Conclusion
Maintaining effective patient care coordination during staffing shortages requires innovative solutions that prioritize flexibility, efficiency, and consistency. By adopting a collaborative care model that integrates local on-demand healthcare professionals, health systems can ensure timely, high-quality care without overburdening internal staff.
Ready to enhance patient care coordination and overcome healthcare staffing challenges? Schedule a free workforce consultation with us today!