SSM Health, a Catholic, nonprofit healthcare system based in St. Louis, has partnered with ShiftMed, a national platform that provides software technology to about 350,000 clinicians in 40 states. The on-demand marketplace allows healthcare providers to have a branded solution for their own workers, integrate with different systems and offer pay-as-you-go solutions.
SSM Health has seen improvements in turnover rate and engagement scores since adopting on-demand staffing. The company has also saved $85 million annually over COVID highs. The model also allows for flexibility in testing new care models and shift types.
Key takeaways
1. On-demand workers can be a valuable source of talent for healthcare organizations.
“We have all of these resources that are highly competent. … But we weren’t able to actually have them meet the demand that we were looking for because we were locked into some of those [previous] agreements,” Mr. Lovell said.
2. On-demand solutions can help reduce reliance on external agency staffing.
“We need to proactively cancel contracts and match them up one to one with on-demand workers to be able to do this well,” Mr. Lovell said.
3. On-demand platforms offer flexibility and testing opportunities for different care models and shift types.
“A lot of the on-demand workers actually value that ultimate flexibility that comes through being an on-demand resource,” Mr. Lovell said. “So we’re able to actually test out these different shifts, different shift types, starts, hours, roles, responsibilities, etc.”
4. On-demand platforms can provide cost savings and improve fill rates for healthcare organizations.
“We’re posting 25,000 shifts per quarter,” Mr. Walrath said. “We have fill rates over 85%. … [And] SSM has been able to achieve an $85 million annual savings over COVID highs.”
