With the economic downturn, hospitals are struggling more than ever to keep their doors open and stay in the black. Add to that the ambiguity of pending healthcare reform, concerns for providing safe and quality patient care and dealing with the care of uninsured patients – it’s clear that healthcare executives carry a huge load. However, labor resource utilization should be an integral part of a healthcare organization’s corporate planning. The current market conditions make it an ideal time to evaluate and implement a long-term human capital management strategy. Here’s how API Healthcare can help:

• Positively impact operating margins: With operating margins slim and getting slimmer, cost containment is a continuing priority. With labor accounting for up to 60% of operating costs, reducing labor costs by just one percent can have an enormous impact on the bottom line.
• Develop staffing plans that accommodate staffing legislation and mandatory staffing ratios: If staffing legislation hasn’t come to your state yet, you can bet it’s on the way. Your healthcare organization needs a clear, data-driven staffing plan that accommodates legislative demands and puts your organization on the forefront of staffing according to patient need.
• Deal with the pending nursing shortage: The nursing shortage has been temporarily tempered by the slumping economy. Many nurses that were considering retirement or working part-time returned to the workforce and are picking up more hours to boost their income. However, over the next 10-15 years, 55% of nurses will reach retirement age. Finding creative, cost-effective strategies for optimizing the staff you have available without creating burnout is a process that needs to start now so that your organization isn’t paralyzed by a severe shortage of qualified nursing resources in the coming years.
• Work towards achieving your EHR goals: Your human capital management efforts don’t have to compete with EHR projects. Instead, your organization’s strategy regarding the rollout of an EHR will impact how and when it makes sense to focus on human capital management investments. Hospitals that will soon receive incentive dollars can make that money work for them by investing in an API Healthcare solution with a proven ROI. Hospitals that are waiting to see how meaningful use and other criteria will be defined have time to implement one of API Healthcare’s solutions and position themselves to be ready to invest in an EHR – their labor cost savings can boost their operating margin and help fund the EHR. And, even hospitals that are just starting or are in the middle of the EHR implementation cannot stop looking for ways to maximize their human capital and cut labor costs.