Healthcare Working Smarter Blog

3 Ways to Reduce Agency Nursing Usage

12/03/2019admin

Low unemployment rates and an aging population are just a couple circumstances lending to the nursing shortage felt across the U.S. Provider organizations are grappling with what they can do to keep up with patient demand when they feel staff are constantly undersupplied. This climate of scarcity has been a...

Workforce Optimization is more than Cost Savings and Efficiencies; It’s Got Heart

11/20/2019admin

Here at Avantas, we love what we do. We love partnering with healthcare organizations to optimize their workforce and help them reach their ideal state. Their goals are our goals. But it’s so much more than that. It takes grit and endurance to be a nurse. It takes the mind...

Staffing for Patient Safety

10/15/2019admin

Reducing adverse patient events, such as infections or falls, is a critical focus point for hospitals and health systems. Not only does reducing medical errors have positive outcomes for patients, it is also important from a financial perspective, as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has begun to...

Predictive Analytics: Somewhere Between a Black Hole and a Unicorn

09/25/2019admin

It was a historic moment for physicists and humankind when the first image of a black hole was captured by researchers from the Event Horizon Telescope. The image of the phenomenon dubbed as the “point of no return” where nothing, not even light, can escape was the result of a...

Burnout a Growing Concern for the Healthcare Workforce. How Can Employers Help?

08/26/2019admin

Burnout has officially become a recognized health concern by the World Health Organization (WHO). This type of extreme stress or fatigue can lead to everything from respiratory problems to gastrointestinal issues. Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion, increased mental distance from one’s job or feelings of negativism or cynicism to...

5 Quick Tips Nurse Leaders Need to Know About Workforce Optimization

07/09/2019admin

Over the course of a career, the transition from a bedside nurse to a leadership role, or even the chief nursing officer demands shifts in focus. In addition to keeping abreast of the latest clinical and procedural advancements, a nurse executive also needs to be fluent in workforce operations. Nursing...

Breaking the Bad Habit of High Open Shift Incentives in the 11th Hour

06/20/2019admin

Last-minute incentives don’t work. It’s a bad habit that many hospitals and health systems have enabled for far too long. And nurses have learned to play the game. It makes sense: why would a nurse sign up for an open shift early if they know a higher incentive will be...

Why Being Customer-Centric is the Only Best Practice that Matters

05/06/2019admin

There is an endless stream of solutions to make your organization leaner, smarter, and faster. There’s always someone trying to sell you the latest tech to keep you competing against the big players. Top industry thought leaders (authentic and devised) are quick to offer their best practices to get your...

Building Levees of Trust: A Powerful Lesson from Nebraska’s Flood

04/11/2019admin

In March of 2019, Nebraska experienced the most widespread and devastating flooding of the past half-century. Communities were helpless as levees and dams broke along the Niobrara, Missouri, Platte and Elkhorn Rivers. Our beautiful rivers became destructive forces of nature that marooned cities, destroyed homes and farmland, eradicated interstate systems...

4 No Drama Ways to Lead Change

03/21/2019Jackie Larson

Don’t fix it if it isn’t broken. How many of us have heard this in our lifetime? This ideology stunts growth and innovation by keeping people attached to inefficient processes. It invokes fear of change and uncertainty of what a different future may hold. Humans are, by nature, creatures of...