Phoebe Putney + HWL
How One Organization Leveraged Technology to Meet the COVID-19 Staffing Surge
About Phoebe Putney Health System
Phoebe Putney Health System is a not-for-profit network of more than 4,500 physicians, nurses, professional staff, and volunteers. With four hospitals, a network of primary care and specialty clinics, urgent care centers, and emergency services, the Phoebe Putney Health System serves Albany, Georgia and the surrounding towns of Dougherty County in Southwest Georgia.
The Situation
Cough. Fever. Shortness of breath.
The wave of patients reporting similar symptoms throughout the Phoebe Putney Health System was odd but initially not alarming–that is, until word came on March 10th that a patient who was transferred to Atlanta three days earlier had tested positive for COVID-19.
It seemed unfathomable that a virus originating across the globe could have found its way to Albany, Georgia, a city of 75,000 people located three hours south of Atlanta. But the “how” and “why” were questions to be pondered by government officials and big-city journalists. The most pressing question at Phoebe Putney, the health system serving Albany and the surrounding towns, was, “How do we take care of all these patients?”
In the days following the first diagnosis, all 14 medical ICU beds at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital were filled with COVID patients. They converted 12 cardiac ICU beds, then 12 surgical ICU beds–all filled in a matter of days. The next step in the battle was to open COVID units at Phoebe North, a hospital that had ample clinical space that was unused or being used as office space.
But making space for patients was just one concern–first and foremost was finding providers to care for them, and the usual staffing methods were not working.
“We were able to relieve staffing pressures by delivering a large volume of healthcare providers within a week of distributing staffing needs to our network of qualified agencies.” – Jonathan W. Ward, President of HWL
Phoebe Putney was able to access an innovative and cost-effective solution that HWL created for the entire state of Georgia. HWL’s COVID19 Rapid Response Program provided access to a large network of more than 100 participating agencies, representing the vast majority of the available pool of Locums and temporary nurses and allied professionals nationwide.
In a March 23rd New York Times article about the outbreak in Albany, Scott Steiner, the chief executive of Phoebe Putney Health System, emphasized the stakes: “You get to the point where you say, ‘If I don’t have the staff, I can’t care for the patients.’”
And the patients keep coming.
Key Challenges
Unprecedented volume of patients = Increased demand for providers
COVID-positive staff create unexpected staff vacancies
Immediate timeline
“HWL made the process easy and efficient for us. That enabled us to focus on recruiting the best talent for the client. Because of their vendor neutral approach we were able to compete on a level playing field with all of the agencies and didn’t have to worry about poaching of our providers.”
Vickie Anenberg, COO Supplemental
The Goal
Quickly and effectively meet the urgent staffing needs driven by increased demand and shortages of core staff due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Solution
As the situation in Albany worsened, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp announced the state’s partnership with HWL and its parent company, Jackson Healthcare.
The partnership was designed to deploy clinical staff during any patient surge throughout the state. At Phoebe, HWL was responsible for sourcing all staff required to deliver patient care for COVID-19 patients, including all nurses, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, advanced practitioners, physicians, and non-clinical personnel.
The number of contracted staffing agency vendors grew to over 100 in the first few weeks. HWL leveraged the nation’s vast network of staffing agencies to deliver the most qualified staff quickly and efficiently.
“There’s no doubt, having the HWL technology platform makes everything so much easier at the hospital,” explains Karen Little, the HWL Account Manager for the locums program. “At any time, Phoebe Putney’s staffing specialists can go into one central system, submit needs, review CVs, and click a button to accept a provider and begin the credentialing process so they can get to the hospital as soon as possible. The HWL VMS system works 24 hours a day, seven days a week to find providers.”
“Phoebe was able to increase our capacity to care for COVID-19 patients substantially and quickly only because of HWL’s focused and immediate attention. We were amazed at their ability – in a short timeframe – to deliver the hundreds of physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals necessary to stand up multiple new COVID-19 units. They came through, allowing us to provide the care our community needed in a time of crisis.”
Joe Austin, President and CEO, Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital
The Results
99% fill rate on orders since HWL Program Launch
Improved time to present candidate to less than 1 day
Significantly improved time to fill
Decreased locum spending by more than 50%
Improved quality of locums staff
Total transparency into locum usage and spending
Using the HWL technology platform and contracted suppliers, the initial request for 230 nurses was met in twenty days. For the re-opening of Phoebe’s North Campus, they needed another 129 nurses, at least 6 FTE physicians (approximately 55 locums), and dozens of non-clinical staff.
HWL is known nationally for quickly delivering high-quality healthcare professionals through the nation’s largest network of staffing agencies. While a typical HWL rollout would take 6-8 weeks, the successful COVID-19 Rapid Response Surge Staffing Program deployed at Phoebe was possible because of HWL’s extensive experience using next-generation technology to staff hospitals and health systems across the country and its existing relationships with over 100 staffing vendors.
HWL’s superior solution helped Phoebe Putney and its dedicated healthcare professionals save the lives of their COVID-19 patients by delivering 100% of the supplemental physician, nursing, and allied health professionals needed. As importantly, HWL’s vendor-neutral, open-market approach created competition among agencies, generating significant savings versus initial cost estimates. Whether your healthcare organization’s staffing challenges result from the pandemic crisis, re-opening facilities once elective surgeries return, or optimizing the utilization and cost associated with agency labor, HWL’s program management services and VMS technology are designed to deliver high-quality healthcare professionals at competitive market rates.
“There’s no doubt, having the HWL technology platform makes everything so much easier at the hospital,” explains Karen Little, the HWL Account Manager for the locums program. “At any time, Phoebe Putney’s staffing specialists can go into one central system, submit needs, review CVs, and click a button to accept a provider and begin the credentialing process so they can get to the hospital as soon as possible. The HWL VMS system works 24 hours a day, seven days a week to find providers.”