Like many other hospitals and health systems, Northwell Health — New York’s largest private health system and employer — is facing challenges from persistent staff shortages, high labor costs and a reliance on contract labor at its 22 hospitals.
To help address these issues, Northwell Health successfully implemented an internal resource pool called FlexStaff to fill temporary positions using internal talent whenever possible.
PROBLEM
However, one challenge was the lack of an integrated system that could provide a complete picture of all temporary labor usage for both FlexStaff’s internal resource pool and the resources of the contract staffing company. Reliance on separate systems and manual processes led to inefficiencies and increased administrative burdens that made it difficult to effectively manage labor costs.
“Northwell leadership was interested in integrating internal resources with the temporary contract staffing company’s labor management on a unified workforce platform to streamline the sourcing and deployment of all temporary resources in one seamless workflow,” said Carolyn Doyle, system vice president at Northwell Health and chief operating officer of Northwell Health FlexStaff.
“We also needed centralized management tools that could provide visibility across the entire contingent workforce, allowing Northwell to use resources most cost-effectively and efficiently manage credentialing and performance tracking,” she added.
PROPOSE
Prolucent proposed a comprehensive flexible workforce platform with a provider-independent managed service provider and modern vendor management system that would transform Northwell’s temporary staffing model across the enterprise.
“One standout feature is the company’s vendor neutrality in fulfilling the agency’s staffing contract,” Doyle explains. “Unlike other vendor solutions that are tied to a specific agency, Prolucent’s platform will allow us to source talent from multiple agencies, ensuring we get the best rates and the most transparent pricing.
“In addition, the platform will integrate seamlessly with FlexStaff, ensuring Northwell can deploy a unified system to more effectively manage our entire flexible workforce,” she added.
The proposal emphasizes streamlining candidate sourcing, onboarding, compliance, and certification management through a centralized system. Automated workflows will ensure Northwell prioritizes its internal FlexStaff resources first, turning to external staffing agencies when necessary. Advanced analytics and reporting tools promise real-time visibility into workforce data trends, allowing Northwell to make informed, data-driven decisions.
Facing the Challenge
Implementing Prolucent’s flexible workforce platform was a collaborative effort across multiple teams at Northwell Health.
“Our HRIT team, along with FlexStaff management, are the primary users of this technology,” Doyle notes. “The platform is integrated with FlexStaff’s proprietary web application to ensure smooth data flow and automate certain labor management processes.
“Integration with the existing solution helped shorten implementation time by using a simplified data transfer process,” she continued. “Close collaboration between technology teams ensured a successful implementation.”
Users can manage everything from candidate sourcing and credentialing to recruitment and compliance management. Using a centralized platform, users can track every vacancy across the entire healthcare system in real time, helping them make faster and more informed hiring decisions.
Automated workflows ensure internal FlexStaff resources are always prioritized before considering external options.
“The advanced analytics and reporting tools have been a game changer,” Doyle said. “Our teams can now track real-time trends in workforce data, competitive hiring data, and compensation to optimize recruiting strategies. The platform also streamlines the invoicing and payment process, reducing administrative tasks and increasing efficiency.”
RESULT
The vendor provided the technology and tools Northwell needed to manage all orders and employee groups, fulfillment, compliance, billing and reporting to enable flexible workforce management across a unified platform.
“We were able to significantly streamline Northwell Health’s approach to managing temporary workforce,” Doyle reports. “For the first time, the health system now has a unified, enterprise-wide platform to view and manage all open temporary positions, helping to maximize efficiency and save on labor costs.
“In addition, automated certification and compliance processes have ensured that all healthcare professionals meet required standards, reducing the risk of non-compliance and improving the quality of care,” she continued. “We are also able to better manage risks associated with agency relationships by tracking agency performance and compliance requirements.”
The platform’s advanced analytics and reporting capabilities provided Northwell with real-time insights into workforce trends, utilization rates, hiring rates, time-to-hire, candidate quality, customer satisfaction, and labor costs.
“With standardized dashboards and automated reporting, we can now make more informed hiring decisions quickly,” she said. “This data-driven approach not only helps us manage labor costs more effectively, but also improves our resource allocation strategies.”
ADVICE FOR OTHERS
“When evaluating flexible workforce platform technology, selecting a vendor-neutral MSP should be a top priority so healthcare organizations can source external talent from a diverse group of staffing companies at competitive and transparent rates,” Doyle advises. “Vendor neutrality will also avoid dependence on a single staffing company and provide more flexibility and diversity to adapt to changing labor market conditions.
“Also, choose a platform with robust analytics and reporting capabilities,” she concludes. “Real-time data insights are invaluable for making data-driven decisions, tracking workforce trends, and optimizing labor costs. Standardized dashboards and automated reporting can transform your approach to workforce management, making it more strategic and proactive.”
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Healthcare IT News is a publication of HIMSS Media.
