HWL Insights

In the dynamic realm of healthcare workforce solutions, the tug-of-war between a mission-driven approach and a metric-oriented mindset often takes center stage. Balancing the human-centric ethos of healthcare with the demands of efficiency and performance metrics presents a challenge for managers and administrators, both internally at health systems and externally with agency or other partners. Understanding the nuances between these two mindsets is crucial for creating an effective workforce strategy that prioritizes both the mission of care and operational excellence.

A leading healthcare system headquartered in the Southeast, with a network of hospitals and a variety of ancillary health services, was facing a decision to continue with the status quo or insource control of their human capital and workforce solutions.

Healthcare organizations of all types of focus on addressing their staffing challenges in many ways, and one area that is of growing focus is physician and provider internal resource pools (IRP), often more generally referred to as “float pools”.

Over the last several months, much has been discussed about the state of staffing, how certain segments are contracting significantly, and the overall shifting landscape. The one major area of expansion though is the physician and provider space. From the latest by SIA, we are seeing continued locum tenens growth with 27% in 2022, 12% in 2023, and a projected incremental growth in 2024 of an additional 7%.

Managed service providers (MSP) have quickly become a mainstay in the U.S. healthcare space, with around 71% of all healthcare organizations utilizing them in some capacity. The benefits that an MSP provides have proven numerous, ranging from streamlining talent acquisition to decreasing procurement costs and beyond.

For better or worse, the world of locum tenens staffing is changing more rapidly than ever before.  

Utilizing multiple locum agencies with individual contacts for each specialty can easily become overwhelming and impossible to manage. Due in part to a lack of advancement and modernization in locum tenens staffing over the last decade, many organizations are now seeking new ways to streamline the process. 

The Situation

Banner Health, regarded and recognized as a top health system in the country for the clinical quality consistently provided to patients in its hospitals, is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. The non-profit health system operates 30 hospitals, including three academic medical centers and other related health entities and services in six states. With over 52,000 employees and 5,000 providers, Banner Health is Arizona's largest private health system and the third largest employer in the Northern Colorado front-range area. 

The world of locum tenens is changing at a pace that most, if not all of us, probably have not seen in our careers. We are seeing many statements or surveys that show that upwards of 40-50%+ of all physicians and providers are doing or open to locums/moonlighting work, 30-40%+ are moving to a locums lifestyle for a work life balance or to supplement their income, and that certain specialties are seeing spikes in utilization so are creating crisis level coverage issues driving department/unit closures or diversion of services.

In the past decades, the healthcare industry as a whole has seen unprecedented labor shortages, which were greatly exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. With record rates of burnout, the Great Resignation, and other factors seemingly outside of the industry's control, healthcare facilities have turned toward locum tenens to fill the gaps. 

It's no secret that healthcare organizations have had the need for quick, efficient staffing solutions, even before the pandemic started. While coronavirus certainly put extra strain on these systems as well — between the "Great Resignation", unprecedented rates of burnout, and more — healthcare organizations have been struggling to attract and retain the talent that they need to provide quality patient care and improve patient outcomes, including in pediatrics. In fact, nationally, around 80% of pediatric hospital beds were occupied as of late October 2022.

THE SITUATION 

As the Director of Physician Recruitment at one of the largest health systems in Greater Baltimore, Devyn Kern has a lot  on her plate. The ongoing physician shortage makes her job at LifeBridge Health increasingly difficult, and the steady flow  of physician job requisitions on her desk takes every ounce of her attention. When temporary needs arise, this too falls to  Devyn and her department of two, but with no bandwidth to address the needs and no process to follow, the task is often  delegated to hiring managers, who contact any number of locum staffing agencies for assistance.  

Are you paying market rates for Locums? Or are you overpaying? If you are negotiating rates with agencies individually and without the benefit of a competitive process you are most likely overpaying. The reality is that most health systems do not do a great job ensuring that they are competitive in the marketplace and not being overcharged for fees and conversions.

Determining market equilibrium pricing can be complex, but it doesn't have to be. Healthcare Workforce Logistics (HWL) is uniquely positioned to act as an honest broker for our clients. Unlike an agency-managed MSP program, we offer the ability to have one set rate with all vendors, tiered rate structures, or individual rates with each agency. We also monitor and assess agencies’ performance on an on-going basis and continuously monitor market pricing to achieve cost reductions on locums, nursing, and allied health professionals. 

Nursing and allied health professional wages vary not only among states and cities but also among clinical specialties, certifications, roles, and practice environments. Coupled with the laborious task of managing multiple contract labor agencies, it can be a frustrating recruitment process. The crux of the matter is how do you acquire top temporary talent seamlessly and without overpaying? And how do you uncover if your organization is overpaying in the first place?

Locum tenens healthcare providers can be lifesavers for organizations who need additional providers, even though they come with a higher price tag than fully employed providers. Given an aging population and an aging physician workforce, the need for Locums is expected to continue to climb.

HWL is offering healthcare delivery organizations a rapid response staffing program designed to meet the urgent staffing needs that may be driven by increased demand for healthcare professionals and shortages of core staff due to the COVID-19 pandemic.   

The Situation 

America's healthcare system has its foot stuck on a train track and the evening express is hurtling down the track.