Easing the Nursing Shortage Burden With Wins on Quality, Cost, Scale

Jill Warren

Already challenged with cost, care, and administrative pressures, health care organizations are now staring down a daunting talent supply-and-demand gap. This shortage will negatively affect affordability and access to care for consumers and bears profitability risks for providers, payers, and other health care stakeholders.

According to results of a comprehensive National Council of State Boards of Nursing and National Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers study, about 800 000 nurses say they intend to leave the workforce by 2027. With the pressing factors like nurse retirement and burnout coupled with financial strains, health care payers and providers have a pressing need for not just qualified nurse resources—but supporting operational excellence and recruitment and training innovation—to optimize clinical expertise.

Today’s experts in smart health care services, which integrate advanced technologies, are among the best equipped to provide health care organizations with well-refined workforce management agility strategies to recruit, hire, train, and retain the right talent across multiple geographies.

Here we highlight the balance of cost and quality health care services experts bring:

1. Enhanced quality and satisfaction scores for clients, customers, and employees

In addition to ensuring employee satisfaction of clinical resources at payers and providers, it’s an increasingly higher bar for achieving member and patient satisfaction. Undoubtedly, clinical expertise is a key fulcrum point at bottlenecks like prior authorization. Outsourcing experts have the support at volume and the much-needed foundational tech and operational capabilities. This next-gen technology focus can include prior authorization efficiencies like intake automation for clinical reviews that leverage NLP/generative AI technology to apply coding and clinical criteria to review medical records to provide nurses targeted support in crucial areas like case approval or pend to an MD for further review. In addition to tech hub expertise and creative solutions, health care services partners with both payer and provider expertise can identify synergies across the lifecycle—to optimize quality with precision focus at the crucial touchpoints.

Support of a proven partner, case example: The key mission focus is a motivated and dedicated employee who understands their individual contribution is larger than it seems. Internal campaigns around access to care, first contact resolution, and best outcome treatment keeps the staff grounded and focused. Partner leadership leverages business excellence and clinical acumen standards, and future preparedness and crisis help services. When quality clinical resources come first—as with efforts supported by clinical review, technology enablement, and process decoupling, the results are high CSAT, NPS, and Star ratings. This results in growth and success for all included.

2. Significantly decreased costs with rightshoring

Rightshoring of nursing support can drive up to 30% cost savings with labor arbitrage focused on efficiencies and collaboration. With delivery centers and clinical resources strategically placed to align with unique staffing and labor cost requirements, and proven work-at-home programs, the right health care services experts also have the flexibility to adjust to the changing needs of clients to right-size staff to meet volume fluctuations. These partners can often offer multiple delivery location options onshore, nearshore, or offshore, as well as blended shore options to optimize staff availability and specific process expertise.

The right partner will map processes to decouple and streamline, to drive key efficiencies. Today’s experts can leverage nurses with extensive process mapping expertise. These team members are also well versed in the ever-changing regulations and compliance that guide the backbone of real-time decisioning. Further, these health care services leaders have the experience and best practice sharing to achieve performance based on commitment to a health organization client’s culture and excellence expectations.

Support of a proven partner, case example: It’s only been recently that remote work is the new normal. The right service partners understand that rightshoring is on par with rightskilling. Beyond lift and shift, these partners drive optimized savings while still optimizing quality operational support. These partners can achieve those essential win-wins and provide the 30% cost savings while achieving enhanced Star Ratings and NPS.

3. Optimized recruitment and retention with right-fit profiling for scalable resources

Winning the competition for nursing talent means harnessing the power of right-fit recruitment. Engaged and inspired employees translate to better results. Health care services partners bring essential diversification and strengthening of today’s nursing student body. This can translate to:

• Cultivating an inclusive environment;
• Recruiting and admitting a diverse group of students; and
• Providing support and addressing barriers throughout their academic career and into practice.

Right-fit recruitment aligns to scalable, talented resources and at volume. The right partner will have the global reach and the connected recruitment, universal training, and an internal academy.

Support of a proven partner, case example: The winning formula is a mix of recruitment from strategic geographies and employee training and engagement. One example is academic training programs that offer career ladder advancement and US RN training and opportunities. Health care organizations that support employees often build tenure and develop leaders from within.

Looking Ahead

This current environment and the near-future shortage impact will test even the strongest health care organizations. Hiring and retaining the best talent has never been more crucial to the financial health of health care providers. The right health care services partner can deliver strong and consistent results to achieve success with the winning talent required.

Jill Warren is senior vice President of Clinical Operations and Global Clinical Governance at Sagility, a leading technology-enabled health care services provider.