I’ve talked to countless healthcare executives, nurses and staffing managers, and they’ve continued to share with me the same concerns: there’s a desperate need to reimagine workforce management within the healthcare industry. At CareRev, we are always looking for new ways to address the critical staffing needs of health systems and hospitals in support of the wellbeing of healthcare professionals and their patients.
Hospitals require solutions that reduce administrative burden for staffing managers, lower labor costs, and ensure that their workforce is deployed effectively to provide the best care possible to patients.
Working side by side with partners like Bergen New Bridge Medical Center, we have been able to develop technology that demonstrates real impact.
Last year, CareRev announced our Internal Resource Pool Plus (IRP+) technology. It’s
a first-of-its-kind workforce management solution that addresses the ongoing workforce challenges hospitals across the country face day-to-day. IRP+ makes it possible for hospital staffing coordinators to maximize existing staff by prioritizing full-time, part-time, and per diem employees before resorting to costly staffing agencies and travel nurses – all within one fully integrated platform.
We set the stage for our IRP+ technology through our expanded partnership with Bergen New Bridge Medical Center last October. Before implementing IRP+, Bergen New Bridge Medical Center was experiencing significant limitations to its workforce operations – limitations that stemmed from outdated (and, unfortunately, common) approaches like manual scheduling and rigid shift rules. These approaches overwhelm nursing managers and prevent full-time and part-time nurses from choosing shifts that work best for their schedules.
To mitigate some of these challenges, we worked closely with nursing leaders at the medical center to build and implement the IRP+ technology. In the process, we’ve helped revitalize their workforce.
Enter IRP+: Bergen New Bridge Medical Center
Now, after just three months of using the IRP+ technology, Bergen New Bridge Medical Center has experienced a significant transformation to its workforce management strategy. The medical center has been able to reduce its reliance on the external workforce and staff members have gained newfound flexibility. Staffing managers are no longer tied to hand-written staffing sheets or trapped in a relentless cycle of back-and-forth texts and phone calls. With our platform approach, they have gained a holistic view of their staff and can move forward with an optimized workforce.
In just 90 days of using IRP+, Bergen New Bridge Medical Center experienced:
- 86% increase in shift fill rates within the first 72 hours of posting – a process that otherwise takes weeks to accomplish.
- 42% reduction in reliance on external labor.
- Nearly $240,000 in net savings due to filling shifts internally.
“It’s a great process. It will help our staffing coordinators to spend time where they need to spend time” Marianna Thaler, director of nursing at Bergen New Bridge Medical Center, told us. “There’s a major increase in staff who now pick up shifts. This helps improve workflow efficiency and the patient experience.”
With CareRev’s technology alleviating administrative burden and costly quick fixes to gaps in staff, healthcare professionals are able to focus on what’s most important: ensuring that patients are receiving high quality care.
At CareRev, we couldn’t be more excited by these preliminary results of IRP+. We’re looking forward to bringing this enhanced level of flexibility to more of our health system and hospital partners.
