How Hospitals Can Cure the Staffing Crisis

Healthcare executives face an uphill struggle to reduce costs, grow revenues within a shifting payment landscape and ensure that patients receive quality, life-saving care. A tough assignment, especially when a critical shortage of workers sabotages those efforts.

The situation demands senior executives' attention—labor costs are expanding through a combination of bonus pay, overtime and temporary agency fees to fill shifts. High vacancy rates in spite of spending on search-firm fees, recruitment advertising and referral bonuses complicate the situation. Strategies for increasing revenue and satisfying physicians via new projects bump up against not being able to staff them. Further, with organizations' and consumers' efforts at driving improved performance and quality of care, it is critical that hospitals retain quality staff.

Jill Schwieters, Executive Vice President and leader of the healthcare group at Pinstripe, Inc. is the author of this article. To read the entire article, visit the direct link on the Managed Healthcare Executive website.