D.3: Demand-orientated flexible personnel capacity management in hospitals
Context and goals
Contact: PD Dr Florian Liberatore (ZHAW)
Needs-based personnel budgeting and planning is one of the keys to reducing the shortage of healthcare professionals in hospitals. When staff resources are scarce, they must be budgeted and shifts staffed in such a way that they enable medical care to be provided in line with demand and prevent over- or understaffing. However, the current reality is often different. The current staffing budget and staffing requirement planning in hospitals starts with the financial objectives of the management (based on average values), is often static, is based on beds and is reactive to other factors that could increase staffing requirements. The planning process is often paper- or Excel-based, without a link to data from the hospital's primary systems, and takes up a considerable amount of time for the nursing staff. What is missing are IT-based solutions that (1) enable real-time and/or near-time staff scheduling, (2) are orientated towards performance planning, and (3) are integrated into the hospital's existing PDP systems. The necessary parameters (e.g. fluctuations in capacity utilisation) for the optimal design of personnel pools as a flexible personnel resource are missing for personnel deployment planning based on this.
The aim of sub-project D.3 is to develop an evidence-based impact and forecasting model that maps the relationship between service planning and staffing requirements in nursing care and can be used for needs-based personnel budget planning and for predicting, planning and optimising personnel deployment planning in hospitals.
Planned results
The model to be developed will form the basis for two new upgrade solutions of Polypoint's PEP: (1) A tool for tracking and processing the volatility in demand and staff deployment (2) A predictive tool for staff planning, geared towards service planning, which takes into account central levers of staffing requirements (heads, length of stay) that can be mapped from routine data. Careanesth intends to use the findings of the project to expand its own consulting and support services for staff pools in hospitals with an advanced pool configuration tool that optimises pool planning and systems based on the forecast data from Polypoint's Upgrade Analytics Solution.
Contribution to overall innovation
The planned linking of the PEP as one of the primary systems of a hospital with other primary systems and the dynamic utilisation for personnel planning and control will represent a further pillar in the development of a smart hospital system. The capacity control systems to be developed will be capable of learning and adapting to new impact relationships and resource requirements through other Smart Hospital Systems. The system offers the prerequisite for greater resource stability in the hospital system in order to better integrate further smart hospital innovations.
Vetterli Roth & Partners AG
Vetterli Roth & Partners AG specialises in advising clinics / hospitals / research institutions in the European environment. The focus of the work is on innovation in the core processes and the connecting Integral Capacity Management (ICM). With the right strategy, the appropriate processes, digital solutions and buildings, the employees are prototyping the sustainable future together with their customers every day. The dual mission of creating the best solution for clients and their customers and at the same time providing an inspiring environment for employees on a daily basis provides the framework for Vetterli Roth & Partners' corporate responsibility.
