The Indian healthcare industry is bracing up to implement and put in place forecasting models based on historic patient data with planning tools based on real-time patient inflow and availability-based scheduling to counter the impact of health-related absenteeism, said Sumeet Doshi, country manager, India, Ultimate Kronos Group.
Covid-19 saw healthcare providers put up with the constrains of human resources more often than not understaffed and fatigued but managing the workforce as a continuous challenge. Such workforce challenges have been consistent across the world because the pandemic has been unprecedented in its scale and impact, he added.
Globally, healthcare providers opted for supplementary workforce like outsourced agency workers, contract workers and even interns and volunteers. All of these different categories require visibility for proper planning and deployment of resources.
Even the nature of healthcare worldwide and in India has witnessed dramatic changes. There are satellite testing camps, remote medical assistance, emergency response units which require a right view of workforce data and optimal planning that is critical to ensure uninterrupted patient care, Doshi told Pharmabiz.
“Healthcare in India has been slow to adopt workforce technology. Silo systems and manual processes exist, making workforce visibility difficult. Only with the right view of workforce data and optimal planning, can risk mitigation, operational efficiencies and business continuity happen easily and the healthcare providers are increasingly aware of this,” noted Doshi.
Augmenting workforce through volunteers, interns and through the support of government agencies are a way-out for the short-term. Therefore, it is critical to put in place measures to manage the workforce better in the long-term and deal with unforeseen circumstances.
This pandemic has shown the importance of having the right resources in the right setting. Automated scheduling, manpower allocation and centralised staffing have allowed hospitals globally, to manage resources effectively ensuring people with the right skills are scheduled at the right place and time, he said.
It is here many of our human capital management solutions have been deployed across healthcare providers to help plan and schedule capabilities to deliver enhanced patient care. In the case of a sudden surge in patient inflow, advanced workforce management features can indicate staff requirement on call beyond those on the roster. Hence technology and analytics are crucial to aid medical centres map their manpower especially during such a public health crisis.
Technology adoption for workforce management is seen to pick up in India too. The insights and visibility offered by a centrally integrated workforce management solution like automated scheduling, forecasting, self-scheduling via mobiles enable allow employees to volunteer for open shifts across the healthcare units, said Doshi.
The acceleration of technology adoption can make the healthcare providers resilient. There is need to forecast and plan for long horizons and react quickly. Visibility to data and the ability to plan and execute on a real-time basis is where workforce management plays a vital role. There are a slew of powerful self-service solutions. From collecting punch data when the device is online or offline to pushing notifications to keep managers informed enables shift swaps which will be part of the new normal going forward, he stated.
