What the Latest in Business and Academia Can Teach Healthcare Providers
It's now common knowledge the healthcare workforce has taken a major hit since the COVID-19 pandemic, and its return to pre-pandemic levels is slow-going, if not a hope of the past. Moving forward, leaders in healthcare organizations of all sizes need to understand how things have fundamentally changed and look for new ways to attract, retain, and train the workforce of the future.
Two approaches are dominating the discussion. First, technology must be adopted that enhances the quality of life for employees, so they spend less time doing administrative tasks and more time doing what they joined this industry to do-care for people.
Secondly, companies need to create environments that support employees with more than lightweight perks. Workplaces need to open more doors, spend more time listening to employees at every level, and better support professional development with internal programs.
Step 1: Replace Monotony with Automation
The administrative burden on clinicians and healthcare staff is significant. In a variety of reports, nurses report spending 50% of their time on documentation, and 50% of physicians report burnout driven by excessive administrative duties.
Among nursing unit managers in Australia, hiring administrative assistants was associated with significant improvements in the culture of the organization, staffing satisfaction and retention, and well-being of nursing unit managers. Clinical staff in many countries across healthcare attribute the 'paperwork burden' to feeling dissatisfied in their roles, and report it is a significant factor in their inability to spend more time with their patients.
Contemporary healthcare facilities need to be adopting technology that automates the mundane and monotonous.
Freeing up time for staff means they can spend more time with their patients or core job functions that support care. After all, care delivery is fundamental to the success of any healthcare provider.
One important thing to consider when adopting any new technology is how well it can be integrated into your current ecosystem. Managers must consider the degree of training required and test any new platform-preferably with people from different verticals-paying close attention to any friction points and how intuitive its user interface is.
A poorly designed piece of technology can create bottlenecks in productivity and further stress your staff, whose time has become increasingly precious.
The NHS wrote off $16 billion in the mid-2000s after a failed EHR roll out.
MIT Economics, The Impact of New Technology on the Healthcare Workforce, 2020In a majority of use cases, technology that automates mundane, repetitive tasks-especially in clinical settings-can provide tremendous relief for staff in our industry. Beyond reducing workloads, well-executed automation decreases errors by standardizing processes. Robots never tire, and neither does intelligent code performing a set of defined tasks no one signed up to do when they joined your organization.
Step 2: Create Value for Your Workforce
Perhaps more important than any tool in battling turnover and attracting much-needed talent is a sincerely welcoming atmosphere and an organizational structure that allows individuals to be heard and supported, and actively looks to solve pain points they routinely face.
This may appear a lofty ideal for clinical directors and COOs focused on the large-scale recovery of healthcare facilities, but staff satisfaction and engagement are inseparable from operational success.
How supported staff positively impact workforce strength and retention
Purpose drives engagement
Connecting an organization's purpose to a person's work has been shown to improve their happiness and engagement. Conversely, employees surveyed who felt they had less purpose in work also reported feeling less energetic and satisfied. At work, that correlated with less engagement, connection, and excitement.
Achieving this is not as simple as plastering your organization's mission statement up on walls in a break room. Instead, give managers the tools they need to engage with their teams and speak earnestly about the purpose of the company. In healthcare, this would look like communicating to everyone-from front desk to clinical staff-the importance of their role in the organization.
70% of employees say their sense of purpose is driven by their work.
Managers should make time to meet with their staff to understand what makes them tick and give them opportunities to take on tasks outside of their core duties they find satisfying and make the most of their individual skills and interests.
Ownership promotes satisfaction
Regardless of the industry, cultivating a sense of ownership within teams and across the workforce is closely tied to improved engagement and satisfaction. Achieving this involves:
- Creating an environment where employees can work to their greatest potential, and
- Giving employees opportunities to suggest solutions for the problems they face most often
Opening the floor to staff who see the impact of top-down decisions gives managers the opportunity to get feedback from the ground level. Simultaneously, people participating in decisions that directly impact their daily work are far more likely to be engaged and feel more connected to their workplace.
In healthcare, that means employees are given a platform to suggest ways they can deliver care more efficiently or spend more time with their patients. By combatting feelings of ambivalence-often caused by excessive workloads and unempathetic leaders-the overall functioning and efficiency of a hospital, pharmacy, or specialty practice can improve.
Career advancement programs do more than empower
Giving employees opportunities to advance their careers has become an increasingly common tool for improving retention in healthcare. Offering employees an option to improve their earning power and professional responsibilities can bring incalculable good to an individual, their families, and the wider community.
In today's industry, giving employees opportunities to advance their education and gain advanced credentials creates an onramp for new employees to realize greater career satisfaction and gain greater purpose. A person who has advanced from a technician role to a licensed clinician through a tuition aid program provided by their employer is far more likely to refer new hires and amplify the mission of the organization.
Proven Expertise and Technology for Healthcare Organizations
In today's competitive landscape, healthcare systems, long-term care providers, and specialty practices need to take advantage of proven partners and technology that support and enhance their operations. At Thirdwave RX, our advanced automation and expertise in pharmacy, healthcare, and technology operations have helped us save providers millions through an innovative rebate administration solution.
If you're a 340B covered entity, Thirdwave can help you achieve your lowest net cost through a range of proven advisory and technology services.
SRX is a unified drug cost management solution for long-term care pharmacies and facilities. We achieve unrivaled drug cost savings by combining our proprietary technology with expert advisors. SRX's solutions automate drug rebates, optimize pharmacy management practices, increase managed care exclusion reimbursements, and provide cost-effective employee prescription benefits. SRX guarantees quarterly rebates are paid on time, every time, with no out-of-pocket cost.
Download InfographicThirdwave RX is a rebate administration solution that helps healthcare providers achieve their lowest net drug cost. Our team of healthcare, pharmacy, and financial professionals solve critical challenges in the healthcare ecosystem. With a proprietary technology stack and proven automation, Thirdwave offers the most innovative rebate product and services on the market.
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