A year has passed since the start of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), which claimed millions of lives and brought the world to a standstill. The number of deaths caused by Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has crossed the 3 million mark. The virus which surfaced in a Chinese seafood and poultry market in December 2019 has been ravaging human lives and economies worldwide. Even though vaccines are being rolled out on every continent, the second wave pandemic has been spreading at a fast pace with increased intensity.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, healthcare systems in many countries have come under immense pressure and have been stretched beyond their capacity. As critical resources become rapidly overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients, regular medical services have come to a standstill in affected areas. Responding to the public health emergency and dealing with it effectively demands optimum utilization of health resources. The failure to deliver during this rapidly changing context exposes the critical gaps in our healthcare systems.
As the pandemic struck, it was an eye-opening moment for us as we realized the limitations of an analogue health care system. It is clear that our health systems need technological solutions to manage the crisis effectively and have a long-lasting impact on the health and wellbeing of populations.
When the pandemic swept across the world, it was all-hands-on-deck for every healthcare organization. However, the major challenge was to manage the workforce proactively and cope with the unpredictable environment. In this context, many healthcare institutions have identified the need to implement technological solutions for improving their workforce management, performance levels and competency. In fact, many healthcare organizations have integrated their resources into workforce management software solutions to become more flexible and streamline the way they work.
If you are still on the fence regarding the benefits of employing workforce management software in healthcare systems, then let us explain a few benefits.
Ensuring the health and safety of your employees
In times of uncertainty, healthcare organizations need to look out for the safety and well-being of their workers. According to Wake Up to the Facts About Fatigue eBook, nurses identified excessive workloads (60%), inability to take lunch and dinner breaks during a shift (42%), and inability to take any breaks during a shift (41%) as the largest causes of their fatigue and burnout. Having a sound workforce management system to automate rota, manage leaves of absence, update schedules and post-emergency alerts helps to improve the workplace experience.
Modern workforce management software solutions, like JMS One, provide healthcare organizations all the required tools to manage their permanent, bank and agency staff meticulously. With JMS One, effective schedules can be generated automatically which helps to improve the work/life balance. The software’s modules easily compile total workload, verify staffing levels, and create balanced, inclusive patient assignments for review and approval.
Improved patient experience
Having an automated approach to workforce management helps healthcare organizations to ensure the right people with the right skills are in the right place at the right time. This supports an organization’s ability to respond to emergencies without compromising quality.
When you implement workforce management software like JMS One, the work allocation is completely automated, which reduces the risk of human error and ensures an orderly approach in addressing dynamic needs effectively. All these features point towards quality care and a positive patient experience.
Minimizes compliance risks
Healthcare is a highly regulated industry governed by several legal responsibilities and regulations. Hospitals, care homes, clinics and every other healthcare organization must remain in compliance with local and national level regulations. Maintaining compliance records manually is not only time-consuming but also troublesome. Moreover, even a single error could cost you severe fines and penalties.
With a workforce management solution, it is easier to train your healthcare staff and comply with legalities, individual employment contracts and organizational policies. For instance, JMS One features user-driven training and compliance management, that allows healthcare institutions to customize training and compliance requirements based on staff roles and responsibilities.
What’s Next?
While we can't exactly be sure what 2021 will bring, we can assume the biggest challenge would be workforce shortages, primarily caused by a huge surge of COVID-19 patients. Hospitals, medical practices, nursing homes, care homes and rehab centers need to implement an intelligent workforce management system to streamline their processes, increase productivity and reduce costs through improved management, scheduling and tracking of human resources.
During these troubled times, let us recall an expression quoted by former British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill - ‘Never let a good crisis go to waste'. It is time to learn from the things that went wrong and discover new measures that would help make us more resilient to similar challenges in the long run. We may now have the opportunity to reform the healthcare system not only to minimize the pain and suffering now but also to build a better future for all.
At JMS One, our goal is to help healthcare organizations navigate through these unprecedented times and face the future with confidence. Please contact us with any questions you may have.
And with this blog post, we would like to give a big shout-out to all the frontline healthcare workers who are putting our health before theirs. We thank each one of you for your dedication and help.
