From Time The Nursing Visit Begins To The Sync At The End, What Is Costing You More Money In Nursing Operations?
August 14, 2021
How Do You Measure Efficiency?
Nursing efficiency is tough. It is easy to say 5-6 visits across the board, but it doesn't account for all the things that can happen in the day-to-day of a nurse doing patient care. There are certainly things you can account for like visit weights for admissions or recerts, but other things are more difficult to gauge. We have seen other visits weighted in agencies such as high-tech or IV visits. However, how can you give the same weight to a 30 minute Rocephin infusion as you do the nurse who is teaching a family member how to do TPN? They aren't even in the same ballpark. Visit counts are still the standard by which agencies track efficiency, but many times the tracking system can be outdated. So, let's look at ways to determine if your process is a good one, or if there are things you can do to make all staff more efficient.
Considerations In Your Operational Process For Nursing:
Here are some of the items for you to consider an ultimately see if you can tweak in your agency:
- Scheduling: As in any agency, things can come up with patients that change schedules, but ultimately your clinical staff should be able to gather items for the visits on the schedule as soon as they arrive in your office. So many clinical staff are technically clocked in but waiting large amounts of times for schedules to be done. So, does your scheduler need to come in sooner? Is report being given routinely so schedules can be changed before the next day whenever possible? We see many cases where the scheduler doesn't begin scheduling until clinical staff is already there.
- EMR: Streamline you EMR. It is not uncommon for agencies to look into their documentation practices and realize they can shave 15 minutes off each visit just because of how much unnecessary documentation is being done. We see lots of interventions chosen by staff that say the same thing. So, often times nurses are still duplicating a lot and assessment information is being done routinely for patients who don't need that assessment item addressed.
- Mileage:
This seems like a simple thing, but it more complex. If you take a deep dive into your process, then you may see a lot of extra time for clinical staff is put into extra miles. This is important when you consider those who self- schedule. Are you paying multiple trips to a certain geographical area because it is most convenient for the clinician? Meanwhile, you could have seen all the patients in that area in one day? It is something to consider whether nurses self-schedule or someone schedules for them.
- Admission Process: Whether we consider nursing staff or therapy, clinical staff are your most expensive resource. So, the admission process needs to flow so the clinician isn't waiting for things in other's charge in order to complete the admission. This is a problem is so many agencies.
Now, we realize that there are true efficiency issues that have to be addressed when it comes to the individual clinicians. However, there can be a lot on the operational end that would make the process better and more efficient for the nursing staff. It will also help with employee satisfaction if your processes are streamlined. At Kenyon Homecare Consulting
, we can help you with your operational goals. Call us today at 206-721-5091 or contact us online
and we can help you do a complete organizational assessment to include your clinical, financial, marketing, and planning processes.
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Today, this article will look at little different than out typical articles. We all know the costs of losing employees and trying to hire and train new ones. It is exhausting and expensive. So, we think about our wages and benefit packages all the time. What can we do differently that makes people stay? We can’t change the job and we don’t want to keep people that don’t like the work itself. So, how do we acknowledge employees in a way that is valuable to them and that our businesses can afford to do? 5 Things To Consider About Employee Recognition At Your Christmas Party: 1. Years of Service: These can be based on milestone work anniversaries (5, 10, 15 yrs, etc.). If a person has been at your agency 11 years, you pull them up and acknowledge them in the group of employees who have been there at least 10 years up until the time they hit the 15 years landmark. This way longevity is recognized yearly. 2. Special Employee awards: Now, this may be difficult if your staff is very small, but acknowledge the employee who has gone the extra mile in the job they do. Tell the story. The employee needs to know when the employer is proud of the work that has been done. Consider a plaque or certificate. Don’t minimize the value of the employee having them to display. 3. Acknowledge all employees in the mix: Because we are a clinical industry, the administrative staff is often overlooked on day-to-day operations. Ultimately, don’t miss the chance to acknowledge the employee who was able to catch billing errors or collect on a large account. Staff doesn’t like to hear about money, but those types of collections keep Christmas bonuses in place! So, make sure the other staff knows the accomplishments of the finance department or the office manager that every caller loves to speak to. Don't ever forget the IT staff that is on call more than any clinical person in your agency! 4. Letters from the administration: Add a personal note to your staff either collectively or individually depending on the size of your agency. If you are larger, there are employees you don’t often see or get to talk to on a regular basis, so take the time so send a note with that Christmas bonus. 5. Consider the Christmas bonus: Listen, some of you can afford to do substantial monetary bonuses and that is fantastic. However, if you are not in that position, consider something in its place. Maybe small gas cards go with the letter from administration. With the cost of groceries, consider something that helps with the costs of daily living for employees. Big box gift cards in your area will always be used. You may do a lot of these things on a yearly basis to employees. All this being said, it doesn’t mean there aren’t reasons for acknowledgement throughout the year. However, your annual Christmas party is a good way to do it collectively. Between your annual party, write the individual cards to employees when you hear a patient interaction worthy of praise. Or, maybe you buy a gas card for the employee who has picked up extra shifts and always shows up on time. Ultimately, employees will feel valued. You will not regret the time, effort, and energy put into these efforts. Merry Christmas! If you want help with recruitment and retention strategies for your agency, please call Kenyon Homecare Consulting at 206-721-5091 or contact us online today.