Workforce shortage, especially in anesthesia, is a rapidly growing issue in healthcare management. It is essential to address the shortage of physician anesthesiologists and CRNAs, and find a reliable solution to not only fill the staffing gap but also ensure continuity of care, meet scheduled procedures and surgeries, and maintain clinical excellence during a staffing shortage.
Workforce disruptions can stem from several factors that can lead to revenue loss and even reputation damage. This is where locum tenens anesthesia comes in. This guide will help you develop a resilient staffing contingency plan to achieve clinical excellence, optimize costs and resources, and address coverage gaps.
Why Is There a Shortage of Anesthesiologists?
There is a shortage of anesthesiologists in the United States, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Some temporary solutions might fill the gap, but the issue is noticeable and requires a more reliable solution to address the problem. Retirements, changes in practice, and increased demand for services (which is predicted to rise further every year for a decade) are some factors contributing to the shortage of anesthesiologists. Stress in the profession, provider burnout, inadequate numbers of training programs, and poor retention rates are also undisputed factors.
Common Workforce Disruptions in Anesthesia
A medical surge is currently occurring in the industry due to the backlog of needed surgeries built up during COVID, as well as to an aging population with more comorbidities in the US. The disruptions in available anesthesia providers are due to retirements, leaves, an aging workforce, burnout, and a lack of providers entering the career field. Due to increased demand and decreased supply, as well as evolving procedural needs resulting from things such as improved practices, healthcare staffing is becoming increasingly fragile. And the condition is worsening. Such issues are leading hospitals to seek assistance from CRNAs and Anesthesia staffing agencies to meet their staffing needs.
Why Contingency Planning Matters in Anesthesia
Having a strong staffing contingency plan is not only crucial but also an increasingly important part of how healthcare systems now manage workforce disruption. An increasing number of healthcare facilities are filling the gap with locum anesthesia coverage to prevent delayed revenue loss, canceled procedures, and compromised patients.
Anesthesia is the backbone of several surgeries. Continuity of anesthesia coverage is crucial to maintaining a facility’s surgical services. A well-developed contingency plan enables hospitals, private practitioners, and clinics to mitigate disruptions, manage provider shortages, and maintain a seamless workforce. The backup plan allows you to manage surgical case volumes, meet the deadlines and patient safety standards, prevent provider burnout, and maintain flexibility in staffing. Locum anesthesia coverage is becoming increasingly popular and a normal part of staffing contingency planning. If you are not currently using locum anesthesia providers, you are most likely struggling to meet your anesthesia staffing requirements.
CRNA Locums as a Strategic Solution
Utilizing CRNAs and Physician anesthesiologists for locums is the right approach to maintain surgical services and staffing. Hospitals or ASCs may struggle to find and hire full-time professionals during staffing shortages. Securing the right professionals can take months. However, anesthesia locum companies offer quick access to experienced CRNAs and physician anesthesiologists within a few days who are ready to work. Several anesthesia staffing companies are connecting professionals with ready-to-work CRNAs and physician anesthesiologists who meet the patient safety standards and help maintain flexibility.
Anesthesia locum companies eliminate the need to allocate resources, time, and budget to internal resources for recruiting temporary help, providing facilities with highly trained, adaptable, and ready-to-work anesthesia providers. They work with temporary and short-term contracts, saving time and cost. The flexibility in locum tenens anesthesia staffing is a key factor for employers who want to scale their business and adjust according to their requirements and budget.
Employer Benefits of Locum Anesthesia Staffing
The facilities can experience several benefits from partnering with anesthesia staffing companies.
- Continuity of services: Hiring CRNA locums and physician anesthesiologist locums allows continuity in surgical services without disrupting operations. Hiring professionals from a reputable locum tenens staffing agency will provide you with access to top-tier professionals who understand frameworks and have experience working in various surgical settings.
- Cost-effectiveness: Locum anesthesia allows you to prevent financial losses while allowing the time needed to hire new staff. Plus, short-term and precise agreements significantly reduce your overall cost. Quick availability allows you to prevent cancellations of operations that might happen during unexpected workspace disruptions.
- Flexibility and scalability: Facilities can adapt to increased surgical volumes or unexpected events with short-term and temporary contracts. You can scale your facility staffing according to your available resources by quickly hiring a professional on a locum tenens contract as needed.
- Workforce stability: Burnout and stress are common in anesthesia providers. Hiring CRNA locums will enable you to manage your full-time anesthesia staff effectively by buffering them from heavy workloads, allowing for leaves of absence for family, vacation, and sick leave, while ensuring continuity in services for your facility.
Benefits for CRNAs and Physician Anesthesiologists
Locum tenens CRNA jobs offer several benefits for contract-based professionals, including:
- Avoid Burnout: Long-term contracts or full-time jobs can be frustrating and even lead to burnout for providers. However, locum anesthesia providers work on a temporary basis, allowing them to frequently take leaves of absence between contracts.
- Travel opportunities: They often receive work opportunities from various places, allowing them to explore and travel to different destinations.
- Experience and portfolio: CRNA locums usually work in a variety of settings, from small clinics to busy hospitals. As a result, they receive significant professional experience in multiple practice settings.
Why Choose 1MAC Anesthesia for Locum Tenens?
1MAC Anesthesia works like a healthcare workforce solutions partner, connecting certified anesthesiologists and CRNAs with healthcare systems, hospitals, and ASCs. 1MAC helps speed up your anesthesia staffing planning by connecting you with top-tier CRNAs who have proven backgrounds and work seamlessly in various settings.
Our comprehensive locum tenens anesthesia services provide facilities with ready-to-employ CRNAs and physician anesthesiologists to match surgical volumes and ensure continuity in services without mismanagement.
Start Building an Effective Anesthesia Staffing Contingency Plan
We highly recommend creating an effective anesthesia staffing contingency plan. Studies indicate that a shortage of CRNAs and physician anesthesiologists is expected to persist into the future. Therefore, preparing your healthcare system or facility will ensure continuity of services and stability in the workforce, while saving resources and reducing overall costs.
- Access current condition: To build a contingency plan, it is crucial to analyze your current condition, average surgical needs, available providers and resources, and budget.
- Partner with a staffing agency: Partnering with 1MAC Anesthesia as a facility in advance will ensure workforce stability. So, you can get access to highly qualified professionals ready at their full pace to work in case of any disruption or increase in surgical volumes.
- Deploy flexible staffing: Hiring anesthesia locums to work with permanent staff will help you adapt to quickly changing needs and meet the impending future shortage of anesthesia staff.
- Regularly revisit the plan: Keep your staff contingency plan updated and according to your facility’s requirements. You can also consult with us to get personalized staffing contingency plans for your healthcare facility and its unique requirements.
Conclusions
Healthcare workforce management is becoming more and more difficult over time. For anesthesia departments, there are many studies predicting a shortage of certified and registered anesthesiologists in the near future. That is why locum anesthesia coverage is becoming a crucial component of anesthesia staffing plans. 1MAC Anesthesia works exclusively with CRNAs, physician anesthesiologists, as well as upcoming anesthesia graduates, and allows facilities to connect with top-notch anesthesia professionals. Schedule a demo today to future-proof your anesthesia staffing and ensure continuity of surgical services and patient care.
