insights
How Environmental Services Can Save Thousands – Part 1
In today’s healthcare world of ACO’s, Value Based healthcare and LEAN management system the EVS department has a real strategic opportunity to contribute EVS staffing expertise that may save your medical center or facility thousands.
The first of three possible staffing opportunities in Environmental Services Departments is Census Based Staffing.
Census Based Staffing is the process of adjusting your labor hours in real time as the inpatient census fluctuates on each unit. The definition may sound simple, yet the practice is actually not so simple. Four characteristics of a successful census based staffing plan include:
- Capture Vacant Rooms- A good census based staffing system subtracts appropriate labor time for vacant rooms that will not need daily cleaning. So if an EVS Aide is normally assigned 20 daily cleanings rooms at 20 minutes each when their unit is full then on a day when there are 6 vacant rooms, then 120 minutes is subtracted from the work assignment and either used to complete discharges, service other areas or complete periodic project work. The plan for these staffing adjustments can occur each morning using the midnight census.
- Notice Pending Discharges- A good census based staffing system includes a methodology to confirm pending discharges early in the morning so that those patients who are projected to be discharged receive only a warm greeting and “room policing” vs. the full daily cleaning. This can save up to 75% of the projected daily service time for pending discharges. So, for example, if a patient unit is expecting 3 discharges, and the employee needs 25% of the service time to check the room before the discharge occurs, the employee assignment would be reduced by one hour and fifteen minutes if daily cleans requires 20 minutes each. Those 75 minutes can be used to service about 2 discharges later in the day. Additionally, if a day shift supervisor is alerted that the pending discharges for the day may exceed the discharge capacity, they can arrange additional support for the PM shift.
- Adapt Team Based Staffing – “Team based staffing” occurs when the entire day shift views the process of serving occupied patient rooms as a “team project” to be accomplished by a specified time of the day by everyone on the team regardless of where the occupied rooms are located. This mentally helps supervisors because Aides become used to moving off their “assigned unit” when needed to help service busier units, complete discharge rooms or perform project work elsewhere when their normal unit is not busy. EVS leaders who successfully build this culture of adaptability also build a solid team environment as each staff member appreciates that they will receive help when needed and they will give help when they are able.
Include Productivity Documentation- A good census based staffing system documents productivity for each staff member as well as the productivity by nursing unit so that the department can recognize and duplicate the practices of the best performing staff members and units as well as take corrective action to remove any productivity barriers. If multiple staff members, i.e. a full time Aide and the relief Aides working on a particular unit all have low productivity, the issues may be related to room stripping processes or the amount of equipment used in the patient rooms. Of course the productivity results must be balanced with quality expectations so that established quality outcomes are always met.
Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3 of this article!
For more information on software systems to help you with Census Based Staffing, Invasive Care Case Response Productivity or Collections Services Management visit www.smartfacilitysoftware.com
Cindy E. Paget has worked in healthcare since 1986, providing leadership development and consulting for Environmental Services and Human Resources. Cindy is a member of AHE, is both CHESP and SPHR certified and serves as a convention speaker and writer for healthcare leadership learning events. Cindy holds a dual degree BS in Business Administration/Information Systems and an MA in Organizational Leadership and lives in Sequim, WA.