Questions about facility needs, staff shift demands, salary access, and other issues arise as healthcare delivery models evolve, and digital platforms are attempting to harmonize this very complex combination of patient, professional, and institutional requirements.
For the J.P. Morgan Chase “Tech Voices” Series, Clipboard Health CEO and Founder Wei Deng discussed the challenges, as a nurse shortage, rampant burnout, and seismic changes in the healthcare environment create a delicate balancing act for everyone involved.
Deng acknowledged that the epidemic brought these issues to light, but added that “there has always been this issue, for decades” of nurses of varying skill and certification levels seeking more authority over shifts. It is currently exacerbated by changes in labor requirements.
COVID-19 upended the long-standing practice of hospitals and facilities using staffing agencies, creating a market opportunity for new methods of acquiring and retaining employees. This creates new issues.
The two forces are fundamentally antagonistic. Facilities prefer to use their own nurses to cover shifts as needed, whereas post-COVID nursing patients prefer scheduling and financial flexibility.
Deng responded, “The quick answer is yes and no,” when asked if nurses want full-time work. Nurses and other healthcare workers want enough work to support themselves, but “they don’t necessarily want people telling them what hours to work.”
Platforms such as Clipboard Health are focusing their innovation efforts on bridging this gap.
“We’re developing tools to assist them in not only supplementing staff with outside help but also in retaining full-time employees and hiring full-time employees.” “A lot of facilities have expressed interest in that,” Deng said.
