This infographic illustrates the difference that working with an MSP can make in clear terms and diagrams. Take a closer look by clicking on the accompanying image.
While traditional contingent staffing can be effective, using too many agencies can put a strain on human resources, hiring managers, and supply chain leaders. Partnering with the right MSP can help fill jobs faster while reducing administrative burden.
Medical Solutions Market Demand_10.21.2024.pdf
Travel Nurse Roles Up 13% Over Past Four Weeks Oct. 8, 2024 - There has been a 13% increase in travel nurse roles over the past four weeks, signaling a market normalization, according to Scott Armstrong, VP of client sales and growth at
Medical Solutions. This growth is driven by hospitals' new fiscal year budgets, seasonal staffing needs, and preparations for an expected severe flu season. Despite the improvements, there remains a significant shortage of clinicians, with travel nursing continuing to be one of the fastest ways for hospitals to address staffing challenges.
To explore the full article and dive deeper into the trends shaping healthcare staffing,
click here.
Industry Insight Article
Dive into the unique world of Allied Health, a field full of distinct challenges and opportunities.
Medical Solutions examines current trends, sharing practical strategies, and forecasting future outlooks, they empower hospital executives to optimize staffing, enhance patient care, and stay competitive in the ever-evolving healthcare landscape. Stay ahead and thrive with the
latest industry knowledge.
Thought LeadershipMedical Solutions' 2023 Voices of Care survey reveals a critical concern for healthcare organizations, with only 42.8% of nurses feeling fairly compensated—a notable decline from the previous year. These insights highlight the need for tailored recruitment and retention strategies to address nurses' compensation and support needs, ensuring a robust and satisfied workforce.
Click here to delve deeper into the key findings and actionable insights.
Nurturing a Human-First Approach in Health Care: Strategies for Overwhelmed Workforces
Health care leaders are prioritizing their most valuable asset – their staff – in the wake of pandemic burnout. From proactive wellness programs to innovative communication strategies, learn five essential steps to fostering a resilient and compassionate workplace culture. Dive into actionable insights from industry experts and pave the way for a human-first approach that drives both employee satisfaction and patient care. Ready to revolutionize your healthcare facility's culture?
Click here to read the full article from Medical Solutions to learn more.
How to Create a Solid Foundation for Value-Based Care
As value-based care becomes more of an important strategy for health care facilities,
Medical Solutions explores simple steps to provide your workplace with ideas for strengthening the roots within your organization. This 2-3 minute article will lay out proven strategies to prioritize patients, optimize teams, and drive positive outcomes.
Click here to learn more about how to implement value-based care.
Elevating Care, Cutting Costs: The Long Term Value of Temp to Perm Conversions
Health care facilities have been facing a dual challenge in delivering exceptional patient care while maintaining cost-effectiveness. An innovative solution gaining traction is the strategic transition from temporary to permanent nursing staff, offering benefits such as: significant cost savings, continuity of care, increased staff loyalty, cohesion, and more. In this
HealthLeaders article,
Medical Solutions discusses more about the long-term value of temp to perm conversions.
Medical Solutions Webinar Series
These recorded webinars are available for IHA members:
Key Takeaways:
- Describe the importance of developing a workforce strategic plan
- Discuss key performance indicators important for a workforce strategic plan
- Identify the tactics possible in a strategic plan
- Evaluate the key stakeholders in developing the workforce strategic plan
Introducing the Indiana Resource Pool
The Indiana Resource Pool, powered by the Indiana Hospital Association and Matchwell, is the first of its kind in the country. You're invited to join us as we help connect IHA members with an alternative to the traditional agency model to access and engage a local, flexible workforce. Watch for the official announcement next week to learn more.
2024 Health Care Workforce Trends You Can't Afford to Ignore
There are five critical trends in health care staffing anticipated for 2024, emphasizing the need for strategic solutions to combat workforce challenges. Health care leaders are urged to proactively navigate these trends to maintain quality care while addressing the evolving needs of the health care landscape in the coming year.
Medical Solutions explores and explains these key trends in depth in this recent
article with Beckers.
Lessons From Leadership: How to Build a People-First, Values-Based Culture That Drives Performance
Medical Solutions' Chief Human Resources Officer, Dana Coonce, explores the pivotal role Human Resources plays in adapting to remote work, aligning organizational structures with business strategies, and fostering a people-centric approach. Coonce expresses excitement about efficiency-enhancing platforms while highlighting a personal passion for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging initiatives at Medical Solutions.
To read further into this Q&A article click here.
The Health Care Talent Ecosystem: How Holistic Staffing Strengthens Hospital + Health System Finances, Operations, & Goals
Medical Solutions' Chief Commercial Officer, Chase Farmer, sat down with Becker's to discuss how hospitals and health systems are turning to a talent ecosystem approach to tackle ongoing healthcare staffing challenges. This quick read explains further about how this approach combines various services, strategies, and technology in order to enhance talent management, offering better insights into staffing needs, long-term support, and cost control.
Take a look by clicking here.
The Role of Virtual Nursing in Elevating Health Care Delivery
Virtual nursing technology has become increasingly significant, allowing nurses to practice remotely and efficiently, complementing the work of bedside nurses. It supports health systems by reducing workload and helping nurses transition into less physically demanding roles, reducing burnout and turnover. Medical Solutions' Chief Nursing Officer, Patti Artley, shares why virtual nursing is pivotal in empowering nurses while also elevating the overall quality and safety of patient care. Read more in a recent Modern Healthcare article:
The role of virtual nursing in elevating healthcare delivery
Check out this Medical Solutions
case study where we helped a client achieve their staffing goals while also cutting down on administrative burdens. By creating a customized solution for the facility we were able to improve efficiencies and help control costs by providing the right candidate, at the right time, for the right price.
Transition Programs
Effective transition planning is crucial for health care organizations to maintain smooth operations and ensure continuity of care. It involves anticipating and managing changes in the health care workforce to minimize disruptions to patient care and maintain operational excellence. Partnering with a health care talent ecosystem provider, such as
Medical Solutions can help organizations identify qualified healthcare professionals to fill temporary or permanent positions, minimizing downtime and ensuring a seamless transition. Interested in learning more?
Read our full article and see if your facility could benefit from transition planning.
To gain insight into the practical application of a transition program for ICU nurses and the outcomes it yields,
click here.
Voices of Care
The
Voices of Care survey reveals the transitions nurses experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic and how these changes have affected various aspects of healthcare. The focus of this article is on core nursing staff (permanent nurses) and their characteristics, attitudes, and behaviors compared to travel and per diem staff.
The survey, conducted by Medical Solutions, found that core nursing staff choose permanency for the following reasons:
- Being with family
- A consistent income
- Working with the same team
- Patient care
- Appropriate staffing levels
- Healthy work-life balance
Recently, SIA spoke with Medical Solutions' CNO Patti Artley about the survey findings to get her insight on how healthcare facilities can care for their core staff. Learn what surprised Patti the most from the survey findings in the
SIA article.
Holistic Workforce Solutions of the Future
As the health care industry faces the challenges of nursing shortages, an evolving multigenerational workforce, and the growing importance of mental health, organizations are adopting new strategies to meet the demands of the future.
Patti Artley, CNO of Medical Solutions, discusses with HealthLeaders how health care institutions need to move beyond traditional staffing models and embrace holistic workforce partnerships that prioritize flexible scheduling, crisis staffing, mental health support, culture, and technology.
Pioneering the Health Care Talent Ecosystem
Medical Solutions' CEO Craig Meier discusses the future of healthcare staffing – what exactly is a healthcare talent ecosystem, how does it work, and how does it meet the unique needs of healthcare organizations? He touches on how a healthcare talent ecosystem gives organizations control by offering innovative workforce solutions to help lower their dependency on traditional travelers, gives them the resources to attract and retain talent internally, and provides technology that allows them to be more efficient and strategic, which then delivers them savings.
Read more about Meier's insight in this Q&A interview with Modern Healthcare.
Introducing Matchwell
IHA is pleased to introduce members to a new resource to maximize the power of your local workforce. Matchwell is designed to engage more clinicians that live within driving distance of your facilities to make staffing easier.
Understanding and Addressing Today's Nursing Challenges
To address challenges facing nurses today, we must first try to understand them. Medical Solutions' CNO Patti Artley recently sat down with Becker's Hospital Review to offer expert insight into these complex challenges facing nurses today, and the proven strategies health leaders must adopt to initiate lasting change.
Click here to access the full article.
Flexible Work Scheduling
This month, Medical Solutions dives into the benefits of flexible work scheduling. Nursing care teams have felt the strain of workforce shortages for a while. Exacerbated by high churn, time-consuming tasks, and lack of proper breaks or lunches, a flexible scheduling program can offer much-needed relief and support for our care teams.
Is Flexible Work Scheduling a good fit for your facility? What steps are needed to begin?
Building the Pipeline
This month, Medical Solutions digs into the importance of educating and engaging future nurses as early as high school in order to help build the healthcare workforce for generations to come. The PDF attached highlights college and high school partnerships and non-nursing scholarships/pay to learn opportunities, both of which can ensure workforce longevity. Take a few minutes to read over the two programs you can explore and implement, the processes, and the expected outcomes to grow your facility's pipeline.
Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone to Take New Risks
In today's health care climate, it's become increasingly important for leaders to be less risk-averse. It’s no secret that healthcare is evolving, and therefore, success is going to be defined differently.
Effective patient care requires creative leadership.
In this 11-minute podcast, hear from Patti Artley, Chief Nursing Officer at Medical Solutions, as she discusses what she feels clinicians really need from leadership, and how leaders can accept uncertainty to best support staff and embrace the possibilities to reimagine how care is provided post-pandemic.
The makeup of the people in the workforce is changing in an unprecedented way. The arrival of Gen Z creates a five-generation workforce and presents both challenges and opportunities.
To correctly connect this generation to their colleagues, we need to be mindful of who this generation is.
That means understanding what they want from their work, what type of opportunities and settings are most attractive to them, and how they can help change the healthcare landscape for the better.
Read more.
As Tripledemic Pressure Increases, Find Workforce Relief with Medical Solutions
The ongoing tripledemic of RSV, COVID-19, and the seasonal flu has placed many facilities in crisis mode – straining hospital capacity, exacerbating labor shortages, and applying pressure to health systems across the nation.
As you feel the strain, we’re here to help -
- Managed Services Provider: Our MSP can help your facility promptly find, hire, and manage top clinical talent to fill crucial labor gaps.
- Nursing & Allied Health: Our multi-point screening process quickly vets and places experienced, ready-to-work clinicians of all specialties, including PICU, Respiratory Therapy, ER, and more.
Medical Solutions - Tripledemic.pdf
Webinar: Business Adaptation as a Result of the Pandemic
The pandemic upended the healthcare staffing industry and forced radical shifts, staff shortages are ongoing and 53% of healthcare professionals do not feel optimistic about the future of healthcare. To keep pace with the rate of change, staffing providers and health systems alike have had to adapt to meet the ever-evolving needs of clinicians and patients.
Podcast: The Marriage of Technology and Human-First Approach Delivers Results
Medical Solutions' Chief Operating Officer, Joel Tremblay was interviewed in a HealthLeaders podcast titled,
Why Choosing the Right Workforce Partner Matters: Medical Solutions Uses the Human Approach & Technology for Results.
The
interview
is
about
the importance of choosing a total workforce solutions partner that has access to both people
and technology, emphasizing the human element and the benefits of having real people involved in the hiring process.
You can read
more about the podcast
here.
If you would prefer to read an article on this content,
HealthLeaders also wrote a
Q&A article to compliment the podcast.
New Whitepaper – Beyond Burnout: Addressing the Mental Health Crisis in Healthcare
What happens when a significant percentage of the caregiving population is suffering? Who cares for the caregiver? Those questions drive the latest
whitepaper from Medical Solutions.
Nurses and other clinicians who endured the pandemic were left with the consequences of trauma – anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Without support to address mental health issues, they may struggle to care for patients, leave the profession, or worse, harm themselves.
Our new whitepaper, Beyond Burnout: Addressing the Mental Health Crisis in Healthcare, explores this tough topic and its implications on staffing and patient care. Using current research, the paper:
-
Examines the extent of the mental health crisis among healthcare staff.
-
Explores the impact it can have on staffing levels and how a worsening labor shortage could impact patient care.
-
Provides guidance on how leaders can support the mental health of their staff to create a more emotionally healthy and resilient workforce.
How to Create an RFP to Find the Right Workforce Solutions Partner
Your health system, hospital, or post-acute facility has decided to get outside help with staffing, but where do you start? The labor market remains tight, and the industry is full of companies that vary significantly in scale and capability. Many systems and facilities are turning to the request-for-proposal (RFP) process to improve clarity on what they want and better understand which partner best fits their needs.
An RFP is an open request for bids and proposals, meant to foster healthy competition, but the responses are only as good as the questions you ask. If you’re not familiar with what questions to include for a comprehensive request for healthcare workforce solutions, read on for guidance and tips for creating a successful RFP.
10 Tips for a Smoother Labor Dispute
As we all know, labor disputes can be very “sticky situations” and generally should be avoided if possible. However, sometimes negotiations break down, and they become unavoidable.
Medical Solutions’ array of total workforce solutions for hospitals and facilities helps you manage through these “sticky situations.” Over the years, we’ve learned how to avoid unnecessary complications and help keep your facility’s operations running smoothly throughout the job action. Not sure where to start?
Here are our top 10 tips for a successful hospital labor dispute.
Matchwell Acquisition
The Matchwell Acquisition expands Medical Solutions' current portfolio of service offerings into the per diem and local.
Read the press release.
Self-Care for Healthcare Leaders and HR Professionals: More Efficient Hiring and Onboarding
The pandemic has taken its toll on everyone. Leaders and HR professionals involved in healthcare hiring have endured a stress-induced headache for more than a year, as a tight labor market turned into an urgent and persistent shortage.
So, what's the prescription for this headache? Start with some serious self-care. But it can’t just be pain relievers, rest, or a spa day. The right self-care starts with finding a partner to lighten the hiring load and reduce stress. Consider the benefits of a total workforce solution.
Read more.
If you’re curious about how Medical Solutions can help you expedite hiring and relieve HR stress and pressure, then you owe it to yourself to start a conversation with our team of experts. It’s the right self-care for hiring leaders.
Post-Acute Leaders: What Keeps You Up at Night?
The COVID-19 pandemic created shockwaves in every part of the healthcare industry. Post-acute facilities, and in particular skilled nursing facilities (SNF), absorbed a massive impact, as they have both an especially vulnerable patient population in residential facilities and a critical labor shortage.
It will impact the industry for years to come, and as the pandemic wanes and transitions into an endemic, significant challenges remain. What fears are keeping post-acute facility leaders awake at night? Staffing, leadership roles, audits and disorganization top the list. While each is difficult, solutions can be found and created.
Read more.
If your post-acute facility faces any or all of these challenges and needs a strategic staffing partner with industry-leading expertise, reach out to Medical Solutions to start a conversation. Having a proven and trusted partner in the industry may allow you to get a better night’s sleep.
Market Mindfulness Means We Focus on You
Being someone’s partner means you should be a priority. For some companies, that’s not the case. They expend energy in pursuit of new clients rather than solving the problems their clients face.
At Medical Solutions, we practice market mindfulness to keep the focus on your healthcare staffing needs. Learn how in this
video or read more
here.
Our total workforce solution combines a human-first approach with data analytics to help you tackle both urgent and strategic challenges.
Ready to be a priority? Connect with our team to learn more about how Medical Solutions can address your staffing needs.
Converting Traveling Clinicians to Permanent Staff
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and throughout the last two years, many full-time staff nurses and clinicians made the change to traveling assignments, often working with agencies to find the right hospital and situation. Beyond their professional and personal interest in urgently helping patients, there were significant incentives to travel. Today, that supply/demand curve has changed. More nurses are seeking full-time staff positions. For hospitals and health systems, one solution could be to convert their existing travelers into permanent staff positions.
Curious to learn more about how the right partner can help you with both your short-term and long-term strategic hiring plans? Reach out to our team of experts and start a conversation about your healthcare staffing needs.
Talent Priorities in a Post-Pandemic Workforce
It’s a difficult truth to hear. At any given time, a percentage of your workforce will decide to leave, contributing to the growing 25.9% rate of national hospital turnover. Contingent and permanent clinicians are making career-defining choices all the time. As we settle in the aftershock of the pandemic, their shifting priorities are redefining what roles could look like in a post-pandemic workforce. As the healthcare workforce continues to evolve, how are you keeping up with your talent?
If your facility is considering the use of travel nurses and clinicians to meet evolving workforce trends, reach out to
Medical Solutions to start a conversation about how we can support your specific staffing needs.
Managing a Multigenerational Workforce
Age-diversity among clinical workforce settings is at historic levels. Why? Because up to five generations are working simultaneously. Gen X (born 1965-1980) and Millennials (born 1981-1996) make up the largest percentage of the active nurse force, while many Boomers (1946-1964), and some Traditionalists (1928-1945), have reasons to work years beyond the typical retirement age. At the same time, Gen Z is already starting to make a noticeable presence in clinical units today.
Each generation brings different skill sets, priorities, and communication styles that affect teamwork and the delivery of quality patient care. Because of this, clinical leadership plays a crucial role in harnessing the best of each generational skill set to create strong, diverse teams and build adaptable unit cultures that can flourish in our current climate of rapid change.
