Acuity Based Staffing Tool

Softworks is committed to transforming healthcare workforce management, recognising that the quality of patient care depends on the well-being and effective deployment of fully-qualified staff.

Softworks continually strives to empower organisations like yours by transforming complex operational challenges into streamlined, strategic advantages.

In the complex and often unpredictable healthcare environment, traditional staffing methods often fail to meet the demands of modern medical facilities.

Softworks’ Acuity-Based Staffing Tool

Our Acuity-Based Staffing tool is part of a comprehensive Workforce Management (WFM) platform, designed to address the specific challenges faced by hospitals, nursing homes, and care providers.

We help you deliver the right care at the right time while maximising efficiency and staff satisfaction.

Deliver Substantial Workplace Benefits Automatically

Softworks specialises in automating the intricate work rules and pay policies already embedded within your organisation. This automation eliminates time-consuming manual tasks related to employee Time and Attendance, Absence, Flexitime, Skills & Training management, and more.

Our automations offer the strategic advantage the healthcare industry needs to navigate its current landscape of staff shortages, budgetary pressures, and the ever-increasing demand for high-quality care.

Our WFM solutions streamline HR processes, increase productivity, and reduce costs through improved management, scheduling/rostering, and utilisation of your invaluable employees. This comprehensive approach is essential for achieving optimal operational efficiency and a truly engaged workforce.

Acuity Based Staffing Tool: For a Smarter Workforce

The very essence of effective healthcare delivery hinges on having the right number of skilled staff in the right place at the right time.

Traditional staffing models regularly fall short in today’s demanding healthcare landscape because they’re often based simply on patient numbers or fixed ratios. These methods fail to account for the crucial variations in patient needs, leading to suboptimal care, overworked staff, and significant financial inefficiencies.

At Softworks, we believe in a smarter approach, one that our Acuity Based Staffing Tool embodies entirely.

The Core Concept of Acuity

Acuity-based staffing takes into account the intensity of care required by individual patients or residents. Rather than simply assigning resources based on patient numbers, our system bases nursing resources on patients’ actual needs – their level of dependency, intensity, complexity, and the specific tasks to be completed.

This ensures that high-dependency patients receive adequate resources, directly contributing to superior patient outcomes and enhanced safety. This is achieved through the systematic application of Patient Acuity Measurement tools.

For long-term care settings, this involves accurate Resident Acuity Assessment.

Accommodating Patients’ Individual Healthcare Needs

By shifting to an acuity-based approach, healthcare providers can ensure that care is always matched with patients’ dependency needs, leading to higher quality and safer patient care.

This is particularly critical when dealing with diverse patient populations and the increasing demand for specialised care in an aging society.

Our system allows you to track dependency levels across each unit using accredited tools or a custom approach, providing granular insights into where resources are most needed.

Benefits of the “Smarter” Approach

The transition to acuity-based staffing is a shift from reactive to proactive workforce planning.

Instead of scrambling to fill gaps or dealing with the fallout of understaffing, our tool empowers managers to anticipate needs and make informed decisions. This smarter approach drives significant cost reduction by creating more precise schedules based on actual patient data.

Our software reduces reliance on costly overtime and temporary agency staff, making substantial savings thatcan be reinvested directly into enhancing care services or supporting your staff. This demonstrates true Labour Optimisation.

Fostering a More Positive Workplace

The consequences of ineffective scheduling—overworked, stressed, and dissatisfied workers leading to burnout, absenteeism, and high turnover rates—are well-documented.

A poll by ConnectRN revealed that 50% of nurses considered leaving the profession, and 32% felt unsupported, highlighting the urgent need for solutions that improve staff well-being. Our system addresses this by matching the work required to the capacity and availability of a nurse, preventing overload and ensuring equitable work distribution.

This creates a happier, fairer, and more positive work environment, crucial for retaining valuable healthcare professionals amidst global workforce shortages.

Digitalization and Integration

Softworks’ Workforce Management system automates tasks traditionally handled manually, such as holiday requests/paid time off (PTO), timesheet approvals, and skills tracking.

By consolidating these activities into one central system, we save everyone time, improve information accuracy, and significantly increase employee engagement.

Our solutions capture comprehensive real-time information, offer insightful dashboards, and provide historical data reporting, allowing you to construct a full and accurate overview of your entire organisation.

Improve Patient Outcomes and Drive Savings

The digitalisation of healthcare workforce management revolutionises day-to-day functions, enhances patient outcomes, and drives cost savings.

The seamless integration of our Acuity-Based Staffing Tool with other Workforce Management modules, such as HR and payroll systems, provides a truly holistic solution.

This centralised data management enhances accuracy, reduces administrative burdens, and ensures data compliance with regulations like GDPR.

Key Features of Our Acuity-Based Staffing Tool

Our Acuity-Based Staffing Tool offers robust features that address the unique complexities of healthcare scheduling, from dynamic patient needs to diverse staff skill sets and stringent regulatory demands.

We provide a completely automated workforce management environment, helping you manage complex scheduling/rostering, drive efficiencies, cut costs, reduce absenteeism, and ensure regulatory compliance, all while simultaneously delivering exceptional patient care.

1. Core Acuity Assessment & optimised Schedule Generation

Acuity Assessment

At the heart of our solution, the system identifies the amount of nursing or care required for each patient or resident based on:

• Individual dependencies
• Intensity of symptoms
• Complexity of conditions
• Condition-specific tasks

This is the process of Patient Acuity Measurement or Resident Acuity Assessment.

Optimised Rostering

Our eRostering/Employee Scheduling solutions automatically create schedules that align your workforce with patient-centric demand.

The system takes into account the required skill mix and employee preferences,

generating optimal schedules at the touch of a button.

This ensures the right person, with the right skills, is in the right place, at the right time—using Rostering Software Integration to communicate with third-parties systems if needed.

Safe Staffing Levels & Skill-Mix Optimisation

The system uses acuity data to calculate necessary Care Hours Per Patient Day (CHPPD), which allows managers to set and monitor Safe Staffing Levels.

Furthermore, the system doesn’t just match total hours; it facilitates Skill-Mix Optimisation by ensuring the appropriate ratio of registered nurses (RNs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs), and certified nursing assistants (CNAs) are on duty.

2. Comprehensive Skills and Training Management

• Certification Tracking: Our Learning & Skills Tracking module helps you track employees’ skills, training, qualifications, and crucially, their expiry dates.
• Qualified Deployment: This ensures that only appropriately qualified personnel are assigned to each task, enhancing patient safety and care quality.
• Proactive Retraining: Automated alerts for soon-to-expire certifications, safeguarding your organisation from regulatory risks.

3. Empowering Employees with Self-Service (ESS) & Mobile Access

• Greater Control: Our ESS App, accessible on smartphones, tablets, or desktops, gives your healthcare professionals greater control over their working lives.
• Flexibility and Transparency: Employees can clock in/out (with GPS tracking), view their schedules 24/7, request leave, and even swap shifts. This transparency and autonomy boost job satisfaction and retention.

4. Real-time Visibility and Data-Driven Decision Making

• Instant Insights: Our comprehensive Reports and Dashboards provide an instant, clear picture of attendance trends, overtime, costs, absence patterns, and leave balances.
• Proactive Response: Real-time Demand Forecasting insights help your managers respond proactively to changing patient demands or unexpected staff shortages, optimising workforce costs and performance across all units.

5. Proactive Absence Management with AI-Powered Insights

• Centralised Tracking: Our Absence Management Software provides a centralised system to track absences by type, frequency, and patterns.
• Minimising Disruption: Automated workflows and alerts notify managers of unexplained absences or trigger return-to-work interviews, allowing for proactive intervention and minimising disruption.
• AI-Powered Forecasting: Analyses historical shift patterns and absence trends to forecast likely no-shows once schedules are created.
• Proactively adjust schedules, reallocate staff, and ensure adequate backup, minimising disruptions before they impact patient care. This strategy directly addresses Risk Management (related to understaffing).

6. Seamless Regulatory Compliance

Automated Tracking

The healthcare industry is heavily regulated, with stringent requirements around working hours, rest periods, and patient safety.

Our WFM software automatically tracks adherence to these laws, minimising the risk of costly fines and legal issues.

PBJ Reporting

For US nursing homes, our system supports Payroll-Based Journal (PBJ) reporting.

This helps ensure accurate and transparent staffing data submission to meet CMS requirements.

Fairness

Our system also incorporates customisable fairness rules for equitable shift distribution, reducing resentment and promoting a positive work environment.

The accurate Care Hours Per Patient Day (CHPPD) calculation serves as a key Quality of Care Indicator.

7. Filling Last-Minute Gaps

• Vacancy Alerter: Send triggers via email and text to available and qualified staff, allowing them to instantly apply for open shifts.
• Minimising Agency Reliance: This proactive approach ensures seamless operations and minimises reliance on costly agency staff.

From Patient Acuity to Optimal Staffing

The journey from traditional, often inefficient, staffing methods to a truly optimised, acuity-based model is transformative for any healthcare organisation.

At Softworks, we don’t just provide software; we provide a strategic partnership that enables this evolution, ensuring a direct and positive impact on patient outcomes, staff well-being, and your operational bottom line.

Strategic Impact and Risk Management

By shifting to an acuity-based approach, you can ensure that care is always matched with each patient’s dependency needs, leading to higher quality and safer patient care.

This sophisticated approach also drives significant cost reduction.

Reduced Agency Costs

By creating more precise schedules based on actual patient data, our software reduces reliance on costly overtime and temporary agency staff.

These savings are substantial and can be reinvested directly into enhancing care services or supporting your staff.

Quality of Care Indicators

The system enables monitoring of Quality of Care Indicators by linking staffing levels directly to acuity needs, rather than just headcount.

The resulting calculation of Care Hours Per Patient Day (CHPPD) is a key metric for demonstrating appropriate resource use and quality standards.

Risk Mitigation

The ability to establish and monitor Safe Staffing Levels based on patient needs is fundamental to Risk Management (related to understaffing).

By ensuring the required Skill-Mix Optimisation, the system mitigates the risks associated with inadequate care and regulatory non-compliance.

Staff Well-being and Retention

Our software fosters a more positive work environment and increases staff retention.

Equitable Workload

By matching work to a nurse’s skills, experience, capacity, and availability, our system prevents overload, distributes work more equitably, and reduces stress levels.

This proactive approach directly combats the burnout prevalent in the healthcare sector and supports retention efforts.

Empowerment

Our Employee Self-Service and Mobile App empowers employees with self-service options to:

• View schedules
• Request leave
• Check leave allowances
• Swap shifts

This further enhances their work-life balance and overall job satisfaction.

Agility and Integration

Our software offers real-time adjustments and flexibility, essential in the dynamic environment of healthcare.

Dynamic Staffing

Managers can identify the staffing levels of units or departments for instant visualisation of over- or understaffing, making necessary adjustments on the fly.

The ability to predict staffing requirements for subsequent shifts based on historical trends further enhances agility.

This dynamic adjustment is key to Real-time Demand Forecasting.

Seamless Integration

The seamless integration of our Acuity Based Staffing Tool with other Workforce Management modules, such as HR and payroll systems, provides a truly holistic solution.

This centralised data management:

• Enhances data accuracy
• Reduces administrative burdens
• Ensures data compliance with regulations like GDPR

The potential for EHR (Electronic Health Record) Integration further ensures that staffing decisions are informed by the most current clinical data.

Trust Softworks to Transform Your Business’s Scheduling

Softworks has over three decades of experience, deeply embedded in organisations all over the world, assisting companies to organise their working day in a way that makes them more productive and profitable.

Our solutions are trusted by a large number of hospitals and healthcare providers globally, tackling challenging problems like complex rostering/scheduling, regulatory compliance, and employee engagement.

We offer comprehensive project management, consulting, training, and support to ensure your success today and in the future.

Ready to Invest?

Ready to elevate your patient care, optimise your workforce, and empower your dedicated healthcare professionals?

Book a Demo today and let Softworks show you the transformative potential of our Acuity-Based Staffing Tool!