Benjamin Franklin’s saying, “Lost time is never found again” is as applicable today as it was in the 1700s. One of the most important aspects of medical laboratory management is to deliver lab tests within a limited time as they shape approximately two-thirds of all medical decisions made by physicians. As the workforce of lab professionals continues to shrink due to retirement, an increase in demand for services and vacancy rates, real-time insights can play a crucial role in counteracting market forces affecting lab staffing shortages by enabling organizations to make data-driven decisions and take proactive measures to address staffing challenges. A few positive strategies labs can implement to proactively address these pain points are as follows.

Identify staffing trends
Real-time data analytics can help identify staffing patterns and trends, such as peak periods of demand or seasonal fluctuations in lab workloads. By understanding these trends, labs can plan ahead and ensure they have the right number of staff available during critical times, preventing shortages.

Predictive analytics for demand forecasting
Employing predictive analytics using artificial intelligence models, labs can forecast future staffing needs based on historical volume, timekeeping data and other relevant factors. This helps in aligning workforce capacity with expected demand and mitigating potential shortages in advance.

Staffing optimization
Real-time insights can assist in optimizing the allocation of staff resources. It reduces the reliance on sendouts by having the ability to monitor staffing levels, down to the department-level, to ensure the right team members are assigned to the appropriate tasks, thus meeting turnaround time benchmarks and maximizing productivity and efficiency in the lab.

Employee retention strategies
Lab managers can regularly monitor employee satisfaction and identify signs of potential dissatisfaction or burnout caused by understaffing. This allows them to implement targeted retention strategies to retain skilled staff, reducing the impact of high turnover rates.

Skills gap analysis and training opportunities
Identifying skills gaps within the lab workforce can help organizations invest in targeted training programs to upskill existing staff, reducing the reliance on external hiring during shortages.

Utilization of part-time or temporary staff
During periods of increased demand, organizations can use real-time insights to assess whether utilizing travel techs is a viable solution. This approach provides flexibility and responsiveness to cope with fluctuations in workload, but can add significant cost as travel technicians cost 1.5 times more on average than full-time lab technicians.

When lab departments are understaffed, delays in laboratory testing can negatively impact patient outcomes by delaying treatment as much as 43%. For patients awaiting critical results or potentially life saving treatment, any delay is impactful.

Once time is lost, you can never get it back. Real-time insights enable laboratories to be more proactive, strategic, and responsive in managing their staffing needs and mitigating the impact of market forces affecting labor shortages. By using data to guide decision-making, labs can foster a stable and productive workforce, even in the face of dynamic market conditions.

Source:
https://medcitynews.com/2023/11/how-real-time-insights-can-counteract-market-forces-affecting-lab-staffing-shortages/