About The Project:
As the Affordable Care Act has transformed the healthcare industry as a whole, this has had major implications for skilled nursing facilities and how they are managing their hiring process. In light of new mandates and emerging hiring trends, many facilities such as hospitals, long-term care, and nursing homes have needed to utilize a variety of strategies in order to address the hiring challenges they’re facing.
While healthcare facilities routinely have an array of urgent needs, during Case Mix Index (CMI) seasons of April-July and November-February, nursing homes in particular experience major fluctuations in their staffing needs. Tandym Group’s Tandym Health team has been partnering with a variety of skilled nursing facilities over the years, in order to provide high-quality healthcare professionals to facilities that lack the manpower and resources to meet their hiring needs.
The Challenge:
Skilled nursing facilities must work within certain budget constraints while responding to periodic staffing needs. As a result, finding qualified therapists proved to be difficult due to:
High Volume: All nursing homes were required to have a balanced ratio of staff (e.g., PTs/PTAs, OTs/COTAs, Speech Therapists, etc.), but needed to do so under strict budget restrictions.
Seasoned Clinicians: Speed and efficiency in providing treatment to patients was a major factor in the nursing homes’ final evaluation of a candidate. Therefore, the clinicians were required to have previous experience working in a skilled nursing facility, in addition to having familiarity with education protocols, accurate diagnostic and treatment coding, and use of EMR systems.
Undesirable Locations: Rehab management companies often took over facilities in undesirable locations throughout NY, and as a result, therapists were typically reluctant to work in these locations because of their negative reputations.
The Results:
A Managing Director of Tandym Group’s Healthcare division, worked with their team to implement a number of action items in order to meet the needs of all of the nursing homes and rehab management companies we worked with.
‘Per Diem’ Data Tracking System: To staff the nursing homes with last-minute needs, the team designed and implemented a data tracking system that would allow them to add providers on a daily basis who were flexible and willing to commit to a specific nursing home with little to no advanced notice.
Promoted Travel Therapy Opportunities: Our Therapy division utilized targeted email marketing strategies to identify therapists who were willing to do short-term assignments in various locations.
Interviewed International Candidates: To take the financial burden off of the nursing homes, we worked with international candidates interested in working in the U.S. and added them to our payroll, which resulted in significant cost saving for clients.
Additional Clinician Support: Prior to new therapists starting, the Senior Director of Clinical Services served as an added resource and educated them on their facility and various documentation methods to ensure 90% productivity, which is typically required for nursing homes.
Customizable Staffing Solutions: For weekend and ‘off-hour’ shifts, we provided these nursing homes with a variety of part-time therapists who were willing to float to different locations/hours depending on their needs.
