$2.1 Million in Overtime Savings
71%
WakeMed Raleigh: FTE Overtime Reduction over 8 months
48%
WakeMed Cary: FTE Overtime Reduction over 7 months
76%
WakeMed Raleigh: FTE Overtime Reduction over 3 months
Quick View
Prior to adopting ShiftWizard, the nursing staff scheduling process at WakeMed was paper-intensive, error-prone, and unit-centered as opposed to patient-centered. It also lacked standardization.
WakeMed upgraded to ShiftWizard’s workforce management solution in 2013, beginning with their inpatient nursing departments before implementing system-wide. Over the two-year period, WakeMed calculated $2.1 million in saving attributed to the benefits ShiftWizard provided.
Hospital at a Glance
WakeMed Health & Hospitals
Raleigh, North Carolina
900 + staffedbeds
Making the Shift
WakeMed had a problem on their hands with staffing processes that caused inefficiencies and unnecessary expenditures. The staff scheduling process at WakeMed was paper-intensive and unit-centered as opposed to patient-centered. It also lacked standardization.
WakeMed’s Chief Nursing Officer approached ShiftWizard in search of a solution. A product demo followed and “upon detailed review of ShiftWizard, it was apparent that the product was a good fit for us due to its ease of use, very specific features and broad scope of application across all clinical disciplines,” according to Pam Cayton, Director of Staffing Resources for WakeMed.
While ShiftWizard was initially deployed for WakeMed’s inpatient nursing departments, Surgical Services, and Adult and Children’s Emergency Services, it has since expanded to meet workforce management needs throughout the organization, such as:
- Outpatient surgical services
- Outpatient rehab
- Respiratory therapy
- Acute rehabilitation
- Imaging
- Laboratory
- Pharmacy
- Call center
- Food and nutrition services
- Other 24/7 operations and shift-based departments
Controlling Hospital Labor Costs
Labor costs typically represent the largest percentage of a hospital’s operating expenses, and each incremental improvement in the labor-to-revenue ratio goes straight to the bottom line. WakeMed is no exception.
In 2013, WakeMed conducted an internal study to determine the effectiveness of using ShiftWizard to help reduce overtime either by reallocating staff members within their divisions or using staffing resource nurses to replace staff who would be in an overtime situation. The study was directly overseen by WakeMed’s clinical administrators and included nursing staff at two hospital locations as well as the acute rehabilitation hospital.
“The study came about in response to feedback from employees who were concerned about not being able to work their assigned number of shifts, while others were working extra shifts in overtime,” explained Sabrina Tyndall, Director of System Nursing Operations and Adult Medicine at WakeMed’s Raleigh campus.
“The goal was to use ShiftWizard to proactively identify employees who had scheduled an extra shift and had the potential to accrue overtime so we could replace them with others who weren’t at capacity.”
Sabrina Tyndall, Director of System Nursing Operations and Adult Medicine at WakeMed’s Raleigh campus.
This initial study served as a benchmark for the following year. Over the two-year period, WakeMed calculated $2.1 million in FTE overtime reductions using ShiftWizard as a tool while fine-tuning staffing allocation practices with patients at the center of these decisions.
This equates to a reduction of $2,200 per bed using ShiftWizard!
WakeMed Raleigh Nursing Division Report FY 2013/2014
“After two years, it was clear that ShiftWizard provided us with the ability to track projected overtime and reallocate staff accordingly. As a result, we have been able to positively impact our labor costs.”
Pam Cayton, Director of Staffing Resources, WakeMed Health & Hospitals
Managing Staff Across Location
“WakeMed shares staff across its entire system, including three hospital campuses, three stand-alone emergency departments, and physician practices. The ability to have centralized oversight and communication across multiple departments, locations, and facilities is very important, and the ShiftWizard interface provides us with that ability.” – Cindy Boily, SVP and Chief Nursing Officer
Enabling Productivity
“With a couple of clicks, our charge nurses can go into ShiftWizard’s productivity tab to look at the upcoming shift as well as real-time census and associated resources. They can easily see what is scheduled and what is needed to provide the right resources for the projected patient load while avoiding the use of contingency staff, if possible.” – Pam Cayton, Director of Staffing Resources
Improving Patient Care
“It is important to understand that staffing decisions are based on more than just numbers,” said Tyndall. “If the additional staff is required to ensure the best possible patient care, the notes feature in ShiftWizard makes it easy to document exactly why additional staff was needed.” – Sabrina Tyndall, Director of System Nursing Ops
Collaborative Innovation
“Working with ShiftWizard has been a collaborative experience that has provided value to our organization. Customer feedback is important, and [ShiftWizard is] committed to continually improving their product with that feedback in mind.”– Sabrina Tyndall, Director of System Nursing Ops
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