Friday, March 31, 2023

Maximizing your healthcare staffing partnership

The severity of the healthcare workforce problem has been top-of-mind for industry leaders the past several years, as the gap between open jobs and available candidates continues to widen. A study by McKinsey projects a shortage of between 200,000 to 450,000 nurses for direct patient care by 2025.


While contract workers have always served a role in the healthcare field, they have become more prevalent to fill these gaps. In fact, the number of temp jobs added in January was almost 26,000, according to Staffing Industry Analysts. Many of those jobs were in the healthcare sector, which also added over 58,000 total jobs in January.

The trouble is finding qualified professionals to fill all these new positions, which can be lifelines for hospitals and health systems to mitigate staffing shortages and protect their bottom lines. That is if they have the right healthcare staffing partner and know how to maximize that partnership. Here are a few ways:


1. Work with a staffing partner to build a customized approach


One of the keys to a successful collaboration is making sure your staffing partner has a clear understanding of the unique needs of your organization. Healthcare professionals pride themselves in delivering first-class, personalized care, and they should expect the same level of commitment from their staffing partners.

A great staffing partner will do more than just fill positions. They carefully screen and identify healthcare professionals who possess the skills, work ethic and personality traits that fit your business. That way you can be confident that you have the right person for the job who also represents the values of the organization.

They can even coordinate unique and flexible arrangements, such as contracts to cover planned vacancies, like parental leaves, or bringing in a specialist for a specific case. Whatever your organization needs, a staffing partner can work with you to find the best solution.


2. Utilize your partner’s extensive network and knowledge


Frontline healthcare professionals and support staff have been quitting in droves in recent years. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for those employees to provide little or no notice they are leaving – and when that happens it has the potential to negatively impact patient care.

Healthcare organizations must move swiftly to fill that vacancy. Staffing partners have a deep knowledge of the industry that they work in and maintain extensive lists of viable and qualified candidates. Having a large pool of candidates allows staffing partners to quickly fill a position because they likely have someone at the ready to meet the needs of an organization.

Staffing partners also have a pulse on the industry and the needs of the labor market. They know what skills the candidate needs to be successful at an organization, and they can vet the candidate to confirm they are the right person to fill a role at your hospital – all in a relatively short amount of time.


3. Choose a partner with a proven track record


Our industry has long known that working in the healthcare profession can be stressful. In its recently published 2023 Healthcare Experience Trends Report, Qualtrics found that the healthcare sector ranked last for employee satisfaction, racking up low scores for metrics such as engagement, intent-to-stay and employee experience versus expectations.

When choosing a staffing partner, look into how long their contract professionals usually stay in a placement. If that metric is relatively high, it is a clear sign that the staffing partner excels at placing workers who are professionally and mentally equipped for the job. Those are exactly the kind of dedicated, motivated pros you want on your team and who can contribute to your organization’s strong company culture.


4. Find a partner that covers salary, benefits and labor compliance


One of the more important roles that a staffing partner plays is paying all salaries/wages and managing benefits for the temporary or contract professionals who are placed with your organization. Your partner will be responsible for all payments, including salaries, wages, retirement plan contributions and payroll taxes. They will also handle any paperwork and employee communications, as well as manage state and federal labor law compliance.


5. Let your partner save you valuable time and resources


Staffing partners can take away some of the burden of recruiting, engaging and hiring candidates, which can be a time-consuming process. Health organizations can benefit from the staffing partner’s outreach technologies and their expert recruitment and engagement tactics – ultimately saving you time and resources.

Overall, staffing partners work to help your organization adapt to any staffing challenges that arise, especially as the healthcare industry continues to face workforce strains for the foreseeable future. These are a few steps that you can take to quickly fill the gaps and maximize the benefits of teaming with a staffing partner – so you can focus on serving patients.


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Thursday, March 30, 2023

Getting started with direct care

If you are considering opening a direct care practice, the first step is to establish a vision. If you’ve always fantasized about having your own practice, you may immediately know exactly what your dream practice looks like. But if not, try this mental exercise.


Imagine your ideal practice setting


Start by considering your ideal work setting. Close your eyes and imagine walking through your office—what do you see? Is the space big or small? Are there marble floors and water features, a clean and sterile-appearing environment, or is the setting more homey and shabby chic? Is your practice bustling with patients and staff, or is it calm and tranquil? Maybe you want your office to be child-friendly or you envision yourself bringing your dog to work. Try to think of any little thing that would bring joy to your workday and jot down your thoughts in your bullet journal.

Think about your ideal workday
Now imagine your ideal workday. If you are a morning person, maybe you would prefer to see patients at 7 AM and end the day early. Or perhaps you value time at home with the kids in the morning (or sleeping in!) and would prefer to get a later start.Do you like to work through lunch and see as many patients consecutively as possible, or does it feel more comfortable to pace yourself, taking several scheduled breaks throughout the day?Maybe you imagine working a three or four-day week to have more free time.Again, write down your thoughts on what the ‘perfect’ workday or week looks like to you.

Keep in mind that you are just beginning to develop your vision, and your wants and needs will evolve over time. That’s OK! One of the best things about opening a practice is that you are free to experiment and if you don’t like the way things are going, you have the power to change them.


Consider your values and mission


Now that you have some ideas about what your ideal practice could look like, let’s home in on your values and mission. Take some time to really think about what motivates and excites you about being a doctor. Is it important that you care for a certain type of patient, or manage a particular disease process? Do you feel driven to be on the cusp of the latest innovations in technology? Are you passionate about social justice, research, or preventive care? Keep a list of these intrinsic motivators as they occur to you.

Some doctors may struggle with establishing a guiding mission, especially if they have spent years being misused by the system. If you fit into this category, a great way to plan your future is to look to your past. Start by thinking about the first time you realized you wanted to be a doctor, and what inspired you. Fast-forward a bit and see yourself writing your personal statement for your medical school application.What did you write? Think back to the moment you got your acceptance letter to medical school. What was the future you envisioned?


Create a mission statement


Over the years, a variety of factors may have derailed your vision, but you can find your way back. A great way to start is by creating a mission statement.It also helps to write down your values and ideas about services and office hours that you would like to offer.Remember, you can always change these down the road. Here are mine, and feel free to borrow from them if they resonate with you.

Mission: To provide high-quality, evidence-based direct primary care at affordable rates by eliminating third-party payers and minimizing overhead expenses.

I chose this mission because I am passionate about primary care. Studies show that managing chronic disease and providing cancer screening saves lives. The direct care model allows me to offer this care affordably and gives me the time I need to develop true relationships with my patients.

Values:Provide quality medical care that empowers patients to improve their physical and mental well-being. Be accessible to patients while allowing for physician work-life balance. No gimmicks.

For optimal results, physicians and patients must work as a team. Our job is to educate and provide tools, but only the patient can take the steps needed to improve their health. I also remind myself here that if I don’t take care of myself, I can’t care for anyone else. Finally, as a cash-based doctor serving budget-conscious patients, I feel it is essential that I maintain trust with my patients by offering evidence-based treatments and avoiding nonscientific practices, no matter how lucrative or popular.

Services:Primary care by appointment only.Telephone access and internet-based consultations when appropriate.Provide lab draws and reduced-price laboratory fees.Minor procedures such as biopsies, ingrown nails offered.Gynecologic/ pap tests.Reduced cost in-house psychologist, dietician, and massage therapist.

I know that I function best on a schedule. Patients who walk-in with acute issues (especially minor, self-limiting conditions) derail my office flow, so I discourage the practice. Instead, I reserve a few slots per day for same-day issues. I enjoy doing procedures, so I learned to draw my own blood samples, a service my patients value. And as a huge advocate of mental health care, I incorporated low-cost psychotherapy into my practice practically from day one. Seeing the need for additional services, I added an affordable dietician and massage therapist exclusively for my patients.


Office Hours: Monday: 11 AM-5 PM, Tuesday-Thursday: 9 AM-2 PM.


When I first opened my practice, I saw patients from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM, Monday to Thursday, and used Fridays for ‘admin’ time to run the business (and errands). Once my practice was full, I changed to seeing patients only on Tuesdays through Thursdays, and eventually, I moved my start time to 9 AM, which allows me more time in the morning to get organized and to complete ten minutes of meditation—something that I’ve been working for years to incorporate as a habit.

Because you are in control, your schedule can evolve to accommodate your needs and wants. For example, last year I started a pandemic backyard vegetable garden but found myself frustrated that by the time I got home it was too dark to check on it. It may sound silly but watering the plants and picking salad greens makes me ridiculously happy. Getting home earlier also motivates me to exercise in the evenings, which I know I need to do for my health. So, after consulting with my office manager, we cut my afternoon hours on Tuesday through Thursday and added back clinic hours on Mondays.

Now that you have started to visualize your dream practice, are you starting to get a little bit excited? You should be because you can make it happen!Over the next few articles, I’ll show you the steps to make your dream become reality.


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Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Reignite your passion for medicine

When you think about practicing medicine in today’s environment, do you feel as if you are caught in a systemic perfect storm?


Let’s face it; practicing medicine is hard. After all, you’re faced with bureaucratic tasks, long work hours, technology, stagnant or declining compensation and reimbursement, lack of autonomy, government regulations, escalating operating expenses and other challenges. It’s no wonder so many physicians are burned out.

Nearly half of all physicians report some level of professional burnout. They cite their job as the top reason for burnout, followed by their finances. Family medicine and internal medicine physicians are in the bottom four of all reported specialties when ranking level of happiness.

Although the numbers may not surprise you, what many physicians don’t realize is the effect this burnout is having. Burnout leads to exasperation, less patient engagement, frustration, unfriendliness, reduced motivation, errors, isolation and other problems.

“Physicians have been forced into a non-sustainable business model with not enough time per patient. We all know time is the essence of quality when it comes to care. Concierge type practices offer the patient ample time with their physician which generally leads to fewer ER visits, fewer sub-specialist visits and fewer hospitalizations which, in turn, can substantially reduce total healthcare costs,” says Stephen C. Schimpf, MD, author of Fixing the Primary Care Crisis and former CEO of the University of Maryland Medical Center.


Thrive with a concierge care program


A concierge care program will fuel your professional passion by allowing you the time you need to spend with every patient – enhance the one-on-one relationship, listen intently, understand their concerns and address all of their questions. It will also allow you to have a better understanding of all the factors affecting their health, to be more proactive with their care by focusing more on prevention and wellness and; to thoroughly explain their treatment options.


Ultimately, studies indicate more time allows you to improve patient care and achieve better outcomes.

Concierge care also addresses many of the top ways, as reported in a Medscape study, physicians see as reducing burnout, including:Increased compensation. This alleviates a great deal of stress. With a full concierge practice, all patients in a physician’s panel are enrolled in their concierge membership program. Membership revenue alone can range from $250k to $700k per year.
More manageable patient load. A full concierge practice usually reduces a patient panel to 20-30 percent of their traditional panel. For a primary care physician, this typically means having a concierge panel of only 250 – 600 patients.
Manageable work schedule. As a result of a reduced patient panel, physicians normally see only 8–12 patients per day in a concierge care model versus 20 or more patients per day in a traditional practice model.
Autonomy. Concierge medicine allows a physician to maintain their independence in a sustainable practice model. Thus, they are not forced to compromise the care of their patients due to the forces of unreasonable mandates. That, in turn, allows you to practice the way you believe is in the best interest of your patients.

“One such model is a customizable concierge care program which is an antidote for physician burnout, it provides the time needed for every patient and allows the physician to be independent in a sustainable practice,” Schimpf says.

Physicians can avoid, reduce or overcome burnout and thrive with a concierge medicine model of care. But in order to do so, you must first commit to making the changes necessary to adapt to today’s care environment.


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