More healthcare employers hiring temporary medical professionals in wake of recession A recent employment survey conducted by the staffing industry’s leading job board suggests that temporary workers are back in vogue. Twenty-nine percent of companies’ surveyed from February to March said they hired temporary workers in the first quarter of 2011 and 26 percent said they would in the second quarter, reports Staffing Industry Analysts, a firm specializing in workforce management trends. Though the uptick in employment is great news for healthcare staffing agencies, healthcare employers must find an effective means of managing temporary and contract labor, or the inefficient on boarding and off boarding of employees will result in wasted staffing dollars and diminished patient care delivery. The survey, which included 2,800 hiring managers and 5,600 workers across a broad spectrum of industries and company sizes, also showed 28 percent of respondents hiring permanent employees in the first quarter – the biggest increase in three years. "With healthcare reform knocking on everyone’s door, telling hospitals and healthcare employers to ramp up patient safety efforts and increase care quality, a workforce management solution such as the Candidate Direct Marketplace enables administrators to manage both temporary and [+]

You may be familiar with Hospital & Healthcare Networks “Most Wired” survey. It measures the adoption of information technologies by healthcare providers aimed at improving patient care and safety. Now in its twelfth year, the survey has been redesigned to better gauge a provider’s commitment in using analytics and reporting to achieve "meaningful use." Put simply, meaningful use translates to efficiency: the efficient use and sharing of patient care information via electronic health records (EHRs) to enhance outcomes. Though some healthcare employers feel pressured by reform advocates to adopt EHRs prematurely, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, David Blumenthal, M.D., thinks many hospitals and independent practitioners have been waiting too long. "Can we make these changes expeditiously enough?" Blumenthal said in an interview with H&HN. The good news is hospitals and independent healthcare employers are indeed making changes. The H&HN survey proves it over time. In 2006-2010, the number of physicians participating in a closed-loop medication system rose more than 15 percent, greatly diminishing the risk of 'right patient wrong medication.' Over the five-year period 2005-2010, the number of hospitals using barcodes or RFID (radiofrequency identification) technologies to track medications increased a whopping 33 [+]

Bridging gaps in patient care can save lives, experts say. Healthcare employers are deploying web-based workforce management solutions such as vendor management to fill open positions. Vendor Management doubled in 2008-2010 and demand for the technology is expected to continue. BOCA RATON, FL April, 2011 - A nurse staffing report published in the New England Journal of Medicine March 17 demonstrates the importance flexible nurse staffing has on positive patient outcomes. The three-year study, entitled "Nurse Staffing and Inpatient Hospital Mortality" tracked nurse staffing levels across 43 hospital units at a tertiary Magnet facility. Findings showed that when nurses were accurately matched with patient needs shift-by-shift, risk of mortality decreased. "This study demonstrates that hospitals must implement staffing systems that are flexible enough to meet the individual needs of each patient for every shift, every unit and every day, said ANA President Karen A. Daley, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN. "It shows that nurse staffing should not be viewed as a cost to be minimized, but as a critical factor in producing quality patient outcomes - ultimately saving lives." Healthcare providers can achieve [+]