Staffing after EHR implementation and beyond

During the past ten years, many changes in clinical practice and administration are reflected in staffing. The widespread adoption of EHRs, the introduction of new clinical procedures, the implementation of digital technologies and additional data collection and reporting requirements have all contributed to the need for innovative staffing models.

Among administrators the most complex task is staffing. It is one of the most frequently benchmarked metrics due to the need to balance demands and cost.

MGMA Survey Findings:

Figure 1: 10 year change (2006-2016) in median support staff per full-time equivalent (FTE) in physician -owned multispecialty groups

Based on an MGMA survey, the clinical support staff increased by 20%, mainly from an increase in medical assistants. The front office support declined by 12.4% due to a decrease in transcribers, medical records and other supportive staff. Overall, this reflects an average increase of 5.6%.

During the transition to value-based care models, utilizing current staff can be cost effective at the beginning, but additional staff may be needed, particularly since new care models rely on effective care coordination and require a greater amount of data capture and analytics. Workflow assessments and staffing analyses provide administrators with the information needed to make the right decisions.

References

Gans, D. >. (March 2018). Staffing evolution: Responding to a new environment . MGMA Connection.