Solutions Offered
I read an interesting article from Fast Company. The author, Matt McGinty, had a simple way to increase staffing at nursing homes. As CRO, Matt is leading and scaling IntelyCare’s growth by ensuring the success of its nursing professionals and healthcare facilities. Here are his suggestions:
DATA ANAYLTICS
To reduce staffing costs, nursing facilities need to reduce their payments to staffing agencies. Without the extra staff, however, nurses and others must work more and longer shifts which, predictably, will cause them to burn out sooner. Burnout is a primary reason nurses are leaving long-term care.
COMPETITIVE WAGES
Pay rates at nursing homes need to increase across the board. Pay has been too low for too long. Caregivers deserve a living wage. Competitive wages will help recruit and retain caregivers. The profitable industry should do better than minimum wage.
Pre-pandemic, CNAs were making $10-$14 per hour, which is below Target’s starting wage of $15 per hour. The fact that wages aren’t keeping pace with the rest of the labor market is ridiculous. Most CNAs are subsidized with government benefits despite working over 40 hours a week. Why should taxpayers subsidize a for-profit industry’s labor force?
SAFE STAFFING
Beginning July 2022, CMS will consider staffing turnover as part of the star rating. Turnover is a known quality indicator. Consistency and continuity help quality of care. Now, consistent and safe staffing will keep nursing homes in good standing with CMS to meet the federal government’s standard around staffing consistency and turnover.
Every nursing home wants staffing consistency and quality of care. Planned intelligently with the benefit of data science and AI, nursing homes can fill those beds, drive up their CMS rating, and generate more revenue.
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