As healthcare delivery models evolve, questions about facility needs, staff shift demands, salary access, and other issues arise, and digital platforms are attempting to harmonize this very complex combination of patient, professional, and institutional requirements.
Clipboard Health CEO and Founder Wei Deng discussed the difficulties for the J.P. Morgan Chase “Tech Voices” Series, as a nurse shortage, rampant burnout, and seismic developments in the healthcare environment create a delicate balancing act for everybody concerned.
Deng acknowledged that the epidemic brought these issues to light, but added that “there’s always been this issue, for decades” about nurses of various skill and certification levels seeking more authority over shifts. It is currently being exacerbated by changes in labor needs.
COVID-19 upended the long-standing practice of hospitals and facilities employing staffing agencies, leaving a space in the market for new ways to acquire and retain employees. This presents new problems.
The two forces are fundamentally opposed. Facilities want their own nurses to complete shifts as needed, whereas post-COVID nursing patients want to schedule and have financial flexibility.
When asked if nurses desire full-time work, Deng replied, “The quick answer is yes and no.” Nurses and other healthcare workers want enough work to make a living, 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.
