Nov 1, 2009
By: Meredith Bryan, Stefanie Nolen
Healthcare Traveler
Delta Flex Travelers recently surveyed healthcare facilities and providers across the nation regarding their views on supplemental staffing. Facility respondents consisted of those who hold hiring positions, including members of executive leadership, department leadership, and human resources departments. Provider respondents consisted of those in rehabilitation, allied, and midlevel specialties—some with healthcare travel experience, some without. Both groups answered their own set of four questions. The results contradict some common misconceptions, revealing what aspects of supplemental staffing are truly most important between them.
Assignment locations
One of the benefits of becoming a healthcare traveler is having the flexibility to experience new locations and practice settings on a regular basis. The majority of the healthcare providers responding to our survey stated that, when choosing a travel assignment location, it's not important to be in a metropolitan area. In fact, more than 85 percent of providers with travel experience and 68 percent of those with no travel experience confirmed they do not prefer to be in a metro location. This feedback is favorable for smaller-market communities that have been hit hardest by the healthcare-provider shortage.
The travel experience
When asked what aspects of traveling had the greatest influence on the overall travel experience, 52 percent of both experienced and non-experienced travelers ranked a smooth transition to a new assignment atop their list. In addition, facilities that are traveler-friendly ranked second-highest in importance among experienced travelers. These data support the significance of a traveler's first few weeks at a facility. Creating a smooth transition into a new assignment is affected by first impressions, full-time staff acceptance of a temporary worker, and worksite culture.
The largest discrepancies between experienced and inexperienced travelers can be found in many of the services that experienced providers have come to expect from supplemental staffing agencies. For instance, these travelers noted the importance of cleanliness of housing upon move-in, availability of their recruiter, and accuracy of payroll.
Having a retirement savings plan garnered the lowest response of all. Possible reasons include lack of importance to a group that primarily tends to be younger in age, or a shift in mind-set around financial planning that allows for more flexibility in compensation during the current harsh economic times.
Finally, providers were asked to weigh compensation against the overall travel experience. The vast majority of respondents stated that compensation is of equal importance with the overall experience. Only 13.5 percent of experienced travelers and 4 percent of non-experienced travelers ranked compensation as more important than the overall travel experience, challenging the common perception that travelers are primarily motivated by money.
Is making a profit the most important issue to healthcare facilities, or can this be a challenged perception, as well?
Importance of patient care
Patient care topped the list of concerns when facilities are understaffed, with more than 75 percent of those who took the survey giving that answer. Budget and financial performance was a distant third on the list of concerns, with less than 6.1 percent of respondents ranking this as a top concern when understaffed. Executive and department leadership answered almost identically to the question and listed patient care atop their list of concerns, even over their own staff morale. This viewpoint provides a basis for the use of supplemental staffing agencies when permanent personnel are unable to provide coverage.
Working with agencies
Healthcare facilities were asked what has the greatest effect on the overall experience in working with supplemental staffing, and the top three answers were quality of candidates, availability of the candidates, and price. Experience of the provider ranked a distant fourth in the survey. This supports the notion that facilities are finding value in using less-experienced healthcare professionals. Respondents seem willing to trade years of experience for younger, more passionate healthcare providers with the most recent training.
Cost vs. quality of provider
Finally, when healthcare leaders were asked about the importance of cost vs. quality of providers, all responded that cost is of equal importance to the quality of provider, or that cost is not as important as the overall quality of the provider. None of the respondents said that is more important than the overall quality of the provider.