Overcoming persistent challenges
Healthcare organizations are facing significant challenges in optimizing resource planning and allocation, particularly in managing labor and demand. The pandemic highlighted the importance of having the right staff in the right place at the right time, as unpredictable surges in patient volume and care delivery needs strained existing systems. Compounding these challenges are factors such as aging workers and patients, nursing shortages, and increasing complexity of care across all settings.
Evidence supports Centralized Staffing & Scheduling
To address these challenges, healthcare organizations are exploring centralized staffing and scheduling solutions. Centralized staffing operations (CSOs) provide systemwide resource visibility, enabling organizations to efficiently manage labor resources and meet patient care demands. A review of literature published in Nursing Administration Quarterly1 found that hospitals transitioning to centralized scheduling models experienced improved labor productivity, reduced overtime and contracted labor, more balanced staffing, and increased satisfaction and time savings for managers and staff.
Centralized staffing and scheduling models streamline processes, improve data accuracy, and reduce administrative burdens on operational leaders. They align staffing and scheduling with strategic initiatives, helping healthcare organizations succeed in financially volatile environments. These models also provide real-time visibility into staffing levels, workload distribution, and productivity metrics, enabling proactive adjustments to optimize efficiency.
Technology plays a crucial role
Workforce management solutions, like UKG Pro WFM, play a crucial role in these centralized models, offering features such as automated scheduling, self-service capabilities, and real-time monitoring. Its AI-powered scheduling and staffing tools can efficiently match available shifts with the best-fit caregivers, using predictive incentive pricing to optimize fill rates. Self-scheduling boosts employee satisfaction by allowing frontline workers to select shifts based on their preferences, contributing to a perception of more equitable resource allocation.
Healthcare organizations must have clear visibility into available labor resources to make data-driven decisions regarding worker allocation. Unplanned overtime, unused capacity hours, and reliance on temporary workers have made staffing and scheduling more costly and complex. Centralized staffing ensures appropriate resources are available to meet care demand, minimizing over- and under-staffing, and optimizing labor cost management.
UKG is the Clear Choice
Recently, UKG talked with several customers that have implemented centralized staffing and scheduling operations, are underway in their journey, or are about the initiate the effort. Examples and excerpts from healthcare systems like Bon Secours Mercy Health, Intermountain Health, Geisinger, and others illustrate successful implementation of centralized staffing models. These systems have seen improvements in efficiency, employee engagement, and reduced reliance on costly external agency staff. Check out the full white paper titled, Optimizing Healthcare Resource Planning and Allocation: A centralized approach to managing labor and demand.
Overall, centralized staffing and scheduling models offer significant benefits, including improved labor productivity, reduced administrative burdens, and enhanced employee satisfaction. By leveraging UKG solutions and aligning staffing with strategic initiatives, healthcare organizations can optimize resource planning and allocation to meet current and future workforce demands.
Take a moment to review other UKG Centralized Staffing and Scheduling resources: https://www.ukg.com/centralized-staffing-and-scheduling
Are you ready to embark on your centralized staffing and scheduling journey? Get in touch with UKG’s healthcare experts today!
