Want to know how to cut agency use without cutting census? With more nursing professionals trading full-time roles for flexibility than ever before, Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF) must meet nurses where they’re at if they want to improve staffing levels without turning to staffing agencies.
In a recent discussion at Skilled Nursing News’ Rethink event, IntelyCare’s Chief Revenue Officer, Matt McGinty examined how SNFs can build a flexible float pool and manage it with the right technology to stay fully staffed with nurses that they hire, and ultimately eliminate the use of agency.
Staffing Challenges are Crippling the Long-Term Care Industry
The industry is expected to lose close to $20B in revenue this year due to lower occupancy from understaffing. State and federal staffing mandates are further complicating things as reimbursement is not coming up with the increased legislation. And of course, the higher nursing pay rates that have come with the pandemic are trending toward becoming the new normal.
These hiring challenges are not getting any easier for facilities. 45% of the long-term care nursing workforce is now looking to move permanently to a flexible role. Things like work-life balance, emotional demands, and schedule flexibility have become increasingly important to nurses and nursing assistants over the last two years.
- 26% of nursing professionals are considering leaving the profession
- There has been a 15% increase in hours worked across the nursing workforce due to understaffing
- 59% of nursing professionals who left their jobs cited understaffing
- 99% of nursing professionals rank maintaining work-life balance as a top concern
Attracting and Retaining Nurses is Not All About Pay
So, how can long-term care increase staffing levels and revenue without an extreme dependence on staffing agencies?
We created the IntelyCare platform to recruit, credential, engage, and match nurses with facilities. In our unwavering commitment to helping long-term care, we’re now opening this platform to our client facilities to build and manage their own float pools. Using IntelyCare’s float pool management software, you can:
- Hire and retain more staff by offering flexible roles
- Reduce your dependency on agency and travel nursing
- Transform how quickly and easily you manage floating staff
- Increase census and staff while staying in budget
- Easily fill shifts with advanced matching and pricing algorithms
Since the onset of COVID-19, there has been a massive imbalance in how nurse staffing is used. An average facility is currently using 60% full-time staff and 40% agency staff. That means that you’re writing checks to pay for a massive portion of your workforce that you have no control over. By offering flexible staffing to nurses who want it and managing a float pool with the right technology, you can increase the control over your workforce to over 90% – and of course, significantly reduce your reliance on agency.
Sick of Getting Large Agency Bills?
What if we told you that IntelyCare is not an agency, but rather a technology company that can help you achieve your workforce goals? If you’re looking to get rid of agency, talk to IntelyCare about how we can help you build your flexible workforce, in-house. Together, we can improve your staffing levels, increase revenue, and reduce operating costs!