Although modern healthcare systems have brought many advantages like improved health outcomes, reduced health costs, and increased patient satisfaction, they have also caused staffing challenges in healthcare facilities. For instance, patient demands have increased, causing doctors, nurses, and physicians to experience burnout.
Despite experiencing staff shortages, healthcare organizations are expected to provide quality care, generate income to sustain operations, deal with fluctuating patient volume, and improve operational efficiency. This article explores the flexible staffing strategies that these institutions can implement to make this process easier.
Hiring Locum Tenens
Many healthcare organizations today hire different categories of employees, including temporary workers. For instance, they are seeking locum employer solutions to access talented and skilled healthcare professionals for short-term positions. Locum tenens helps to fill staffing gaps when other workers take leave of absence or go on vacation, and when a healthcare institution is experiencing a workforce shortage.
The leading staffing agencies and workforce management platforms have databases with competent candidates for various assignments. Some internal HR departments also include locum arrangements in their operations. The agency helps select and recruit qualified locum professionals to fill staffing gaps in different organizations.
The staffing agency has to conduct background checks to verify the workers’ licenses and board certificates. After credentialing, these agencies place the locums in respective healthcare facilities based on their specialty and the opportunities available. In some cases, the locums choose the location they prefer to work.
Many healthcare organizations partner with locum agencies because they facilitate rapid staffing, whereby they can induct qualified healthcare providers without the long and expensive hiring processes.
Hiring locum providers also promotes flexibility in the healthcare industry by responding to issues that could affect health service delivery, such as unexpected employee absence or high patient volumes. Locum providers also prevent burnout and allow workers to comfortably take maternity leave and sick leave.
Job Sharing and Part-Time Opportunities
Many healthcare organizations today are adopting the job-sharing model, where two or more healthcare practitioners share the responsibilities and duties of one full-time role. This arrangement enables the participants to have flexible working schedules without compromising health care. Health professionals can work for fewer hours and take a break, which reduces burnout.
Another advantage of the job-sharing and part-time staffing strategy is that it improves the work-life balance since the employees can enjoy their hobbies and spend more time with their loved ones when they are not working. This balance improves job satisfaction, increases motivation, and boosts the nurses, doctors, or physicians’ productivity.
Like any other modern staffing strategy, job sharing and a part-time working approach require effective planning to succeed. For this reason, healthcare organizations should select employees who are skilled and suitable for the role in question. They should then train them with the support of the locum agency to ensure they deliver the intended services.
The health facility’s HR system should be adjusted to accommodate the shared roles. Today, companies are using AI-powered tools to track time, plan shifts, and match them with employees, depending on their availability. Such technology and many locum assignments support staffing flexibility.
On-Call Staffing
Unlike job sharing, where healthcare practitioners are assigned specific roles and are required to report to work at a particular time, on-call staffing involves hiring healthcare professionals only when necessary. The practitioners do not have a fixed working schedule because they cover seasonal labor shortages or last-minute absences.
Many healthcare organizations in today’s economy implement on-call staffing because it eliminates the high cost of filling full-time positions. It also allows them to work with skilled and experienced healthcare practitioners who prefer flexible work arrangements.
For this staffing approach to work effectively, hospitals, healthcare centers, and clinics should have an updated list of on-call workers. Both parties should also clearly communicate their expectations to ensure they work together smoothly.
Although on-call staff do not have a fixed working schedule, healthcare facilities can implement predictive analytics to forecast when they might need these services. These institutions can predict the days, months, or seasons when patient numbers are unusually high through examining historical and real-time data.
This information can help healthcare facilities determine when they are more likely to hire on-call workers. This increases cohesion and helps to reduce overstaffing and understaffing. So, healthcare facilities should consider integrating their healthcare, HR, and data analytics systems to identify staffing gaps and implement on-call staffing successfully.
Float Pools
Modern clinics, hospitals, and other healthcare facilities are cross-training healthcare professionals to increase operational efficiency and improve patient care. They deploy these professionals to different departments, depending on how busy the facility is and the availability of labor.
This flexible staffing strategy minimizes staff burnout because the healthcare practitioners receive an even workload. It also enables an institution to work with people who are already familiar with its culture and departments.
For float pools to work effectively, the management should organize regular staff training. It should offer bonuses and other incentives to encourage nurses, doctors, and physicians to participate in the orientation. Predictive scheduling tools can increase effectiveness by allowing supervisors and team leaders to deploy the float workers efficiently.
Gig Staffing
The increasing popularity of flexible work arrangements has contributed to the adoption of the gig economy. This strategy allows healthcare practitioners to complete specific tasks or short-term roles in different facilities. For instance, a qualified surgeon can be hired to conduct surgeries in several hospitals.
More healthcare facilities are adopting this staffing approach because it is more cost-effective than hiring full-time employees. It also enables them to fill gaps quickly, especially when the demand for quality healthcare services is high. Embracing the gig economy is an effective way of building a professional and dynamic team.
Many clinicians, surgeons, and doctors prefer this modern staffing approach because it allows them to choose where and when to work. This flexibility reduces burnout, boosts their morale, and promotes quality care.
For the gig-style staffing to work effectively, healthcare institutions should hire qualified healthcare providers and conduct background checks to prove their credibility. This ensures only trained professionals take an active role in examining or treating patients.
As explained, healthcare organizations can gain tangible results from flexible staffing models. These models ensure competent workers are present at the appropriate time and location to care for patients. However, the management must make sure the institution has enough technology and plan well for these staffing strategies to work effectively.