Many healthcare operations leaders take a cautious approach to bringing on new technology. After all, bringing on a new technology platform means getting buy-in from all levels in the organization, training curves, new processes, and unexpected road bumps—sometimes without the guarantee that the new technology will integrate with all of their existing systems or bring that true single source view they’re looking for.
That’s why when Baptist Health started looking for ways to streamline and optimize their workforce management, they didn’t start by looking at vendor management system (VMS) technology alone. They looked for a managed services provider (MSP) who could:
| Meet them where they were. |
Bring decades of industry expertise to the table. | Help them scale with innovative technology. |
See how Baptist Health approached building a first-generation workforce solution by watching the video below or reading on.
Addressing Concerns of a First-Generation Program in a Healthcare Organization
Rupinder Kaur, Baptist Health Executive Director of Physician and AP Recruitment, joined us to explore what made her team make the decision to choose Venn for their intelligent workforce optimization partner.
According to Kaur, part of it was assurance by Venn that the program would be a success. “Some of the fears that I had going into an MSP/VMS solution as a first generation for my organization, I felt that my team and I would be pioneering it; so, we don't want to get it wrong. We don't want to create a problem where the solution backfires on the organization and it hinders the ability to fill,” says Kaur.
“At the end of the day, we want to make sure patients have the continuity of care, and that it doesn't stop. The way Venn worked with us was to help us over-communicate and be overly transparent with next steps in the process, be partners in building the process that cater to Baptist needs, but also allow us to be open and vocal as things came up so we can work through those solutions together.”
From discussions with Bev Colan, President of Venn, that reassurance and collaboration is at the core of what Venn offers. “The workforce optimization role has evolved from order-taker to trusted advisor,” says Colan, in a previous article.
Level-Setting the New Relationship and Expectations
For Baptist, certain benchmarks needed to be met to ensure the program was a success in the eyes of leaders and key stakeholders.
“There was no comprehensive report. We couldn’t pick up reports by market or by a specific job that was billed. In order to be able to take a step back and look at the big picture, there was a lot of manual reporting that needed to take place. So, we needed to have an automated report that was more comprehensive,” Kaur says.
In addition, Kaur points out that having a single point of contact within the organization and the industry was important. They need that single point of contact to ensure their pain points were addressed. “Lack of transparency around rates was an issue,” Kaur responds, when asked about those key pain points. “Every agency was setting its own rates for each specialty. For each position that was open there were things that could have worked better for the benefit of Baptist. So those were some of the concerns that led us to looking at a solution.”
The Keys to Success of a First-Generation Workforce Optimization Program
Communication
“I liked the communication that Venn had, which was open to crawl, walk, run,” Kaur says. “Baptist was ready for a trusted partner, but maybe not as robust as some of the other players in the industry. We really needed someone that could do a customized approach for Baptist—slow down if we needed to slow down, fast forward if we needed to fast forward. And then really just work at our pace.”
Like any great partnership, communication is the biggest key to success. According to Kaur, that was a huge differentiator when evaluating partners. Kaur says “I think the communication has been great through all the experiences. We needed to have someone that's not just trusted by my team, but also by our senior leadership team within the organization and communication is a big part of that. So those are some of the reasons that Venn just seemed very aligned with Baptist.”
Specialization
Not every vendor management system is built equally—and very few are purpose-built for locums.
“There was really one thing that really stood out between Venn and some of the other competitors, and it was that Venn’s very focused on a locums provider solution, where some of the other solutions either were driven by nursing or more nursing-heavy, which is not currently in need for my team. It’s nice to have that singular focused to fill the need at Baptist Health,” says Kaur.
Collaboration
Kaur refers to Venn’s integration with their team and their preferred agencies as seamless.
“Venn went to two of the top agencies that we work with very closely historically to take an independent assessment of our process to get an understanding in advance of the planning phase, then went into planning and implementation strategy, and then they over communicated that strategy with us, including a timeline; so, when go-live day arrived, we were actually ready to go, and we knew exactly what to expect. That over communication, transparency, and setting those milestones really came in handy to the success of seamless integration of Venn with Baptist.”
Streamlining and Standardization
“Venn helped us streamline overtime and holiday rates and standardize that. In addition, we also streamlined orientation, which is a huge win,” Kaur reports. “For the providers that would be coming on site, as well as our operations leaders that are facilitating those orientations, having things like an expense and travel policy in place is a nice way to have transparency around that, and then we're excited to lean on the scheduling component and explore that further.
“Another improvement with Venn has been getting industry knowledge and market data and intel, so it can help us with standardization of rates. And, also, best practices.”
The Technology Behind the Program
Venn partners with Kimedics, our chosen platform that was purpose-built for locums, to provide top-notch visibility for:
| Onboarding and credential tracking | Clinician scheduling |
Rate management |
Analytical reporting |
As for Baptist Health’s experience, Kaur says “Kimedics has been a great tool. The best way for me to describe it is upgrading a flip phone to a smartphone. The ability to have the data and the resources in the dashboard has incredibly shrunk the gap between reporting, transparency, and rates, and we're excited to look at scheduling.”
Final Advice from Baptist about Implementing a Workforce Optimization Program
Kaur recommends “If you compare Venn to different industry leaders or different industry partners, keep in mind: what is it that you want out of this partnership? Is it a customized solution? Is it cost savings?
“Pick your top three things or top four things and see how much of a fit Venn is and be very open about that.”
As for selecting Venn? “I think if you're in a relationship-driven industry and want a relationship driven solution that's going to be nimble, that's going to be listening to you for your needs and then generating ideas and thought processes with you, Venn is a great partner to consider,” finishes Kaur.
Want to learn more about how to successfully implement a first-generation workforce optimization program for your healthcare operations or how to better streamline your current workforce optimization efforts? Schedule a conversation with one of our experts.