Hospice providers are leveraging technology to build greater efficiency into their workflows and, in turn, aid with recruitment and retention.
Providers have increasingly sought methods for streamlining clinical teams’ administrative tasks, for instance, including time spent on documentation. This lean toward efficiency reflects larger trends in the industry as the labor pool dwindles. Without more boots to put on the ground, providers are seeking ways to get more productivity from the ones they already have in place.
“A lot of the time it lands in terms of job satisfaction. If the administrative burden is preventing you from actually doing what you were trained to do, it becomes an issue,” Tim Smokoff, general manager for home and hospice for MatrixCare, said in a recent Hospice News ELEVATE podcast episode. “You don’t enjoy going to work. You’re not able to directly engage with the patient as much. If we can use technology and tools to drive greater efficiency and to allow the clinician to focus more directly on patient care and the things that they do well, they’ll have better job satisfaction at the end of the day.”
This kind of approach would likely resonate with hospice workers, research has demonstrated.
Hospice employees value efficiency very highly, as it affords them the ability to concentrate on “what matters most,” as well as a sense of fulfillment, according to a 2022 study by Transcend Strategy Group.
In a nutshell, hospice workers want more time to focus on their patients and spend less on administrative tasks, according to the Transcend report. Staff want an employer who will supply them with the tools and processes they need to do their work efficiently and effectively, the research found.
A frequent goal is reducing the amount of time spent on documentation. Though complete and accurate documentation is essential to regulatory compliance, patient safety and securing payment, the sheer amount of it can be taxing for staff.
Hospice nurses pointed to this issue as their No. 1 concern about their jobs in a recent survey by The Amity Group. Among the dissatisfiers is the encroachment of documentation into clinicians’ personal lives. More than 90% of survey respondents indicated that they spend time at home completing these tasks outside of their work hours.
Reducing this encroachment on their personal lives could go a long way towards reducing turnover, according to Smokoff.
“When you’re looking for your next opportunity, you’re looking for a place that allows you to do your best work. And a lot of times that has to do with having the tools and the services and the capabilities to do your job,” Smokoff said. “I think in that particular case, having modern systems like MatrixCare in place, where you’re not spending your time hunting for information and can really focus on doing the job, you’re going to enjoy the job better.
This article is sponsored by MatrixCare. MatrixCare is the country’s largest post-acute care technology provider and the only electronic health record (EHR) provider in the industry to focus on the entire continuum of care. We deliver innovative solutions to help you reimagine the way you provide care. To discover how MatrixCare supports hospice care providers, visit https://www.matrixcare.com/hospice-software/.
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