Whether you lead a radiology department at a large health system, a micro hospital, or a free-standing ER, you have to manage a lot of moving parts to ensure efficient operations and high-quality clinical care. And, the biggest piece of your department puzzle is your people; you can’t function without them.
This has become an even sharper reality in the current healthcare market with organizations facing significant staffing shortages in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to an American Hospital Association data brief shared with Becker’s Hospital Review, hospital employment has declined by nearly 94,000 since February 2020, including a decrease of more than 8,000 between August and September 2021. Plus, an analysis from Premier found staff turnover caused by COVID pressures increased from 18% to 30% since the start of the pandemic for some hospital departments, including emergency, ICUs, and nursing.
You need a way to fill gaps quickly and effectively so you can keep your department running at an optimal level.
3 Reasons to Staff Radiology Technologists via Shared Services
One option to consider when staffing your radiology department with ultrasound technologists is an imaging shared services model. This approach allows you to partner with a third-party organization for operational and staffing support rather than incurring all costs and responsibilities internally.
This approach offers the following benefits for radiology directors:
1. Get Coverage Fast
When you pursue imaging shared services, you’ll have access to certified radiologic technologists who can step in and cover shifts when you need them. For example, if you have a staff member go on parental leave, rather than spending additional time and money hiring a temporary replacement, you can simply tap into a network of on-call technologists to fill the position on an as-needed basis, depending on imaging volumes.
At Roshal Health, our average turnaround time is 35 minutes, meaning we can typically complete scans at the same time interval as your in-house staff. We’ve got our deployment processes down to a science and guarantee an on-time arrival rate of 99%, or your service is free.
2. Realize Significant Cost Savings
Radiology directors face challenges with under- or over-staffing, due to the consistently inconsistent nature of imaging needs in emergency settings. Sometimes you require more ultrasound technologists than you have available, and other times, you have people on site and no scans to complete.
An imaging shared services model gives you the flexibility to staff according to your imaging volume, ensuring you don’t pay for technologists to be at your facility when you don’t need them there. Shared services provide volume-based efficiency; as your volume increases, so does your operational efficiency, ultimately resulting in significant cost savings for your department.
On average, healthcare organizations that use Roshal Health’s shared services achieve up to 40% in cost savings due to this increased efficiency.
3. Maintain Standards and Compliance
In addition to ensuring you have adequate staff to meet your organization’s imaging needs, you’re responsible for the radiology department’s adherence to quality standards and regulatory compliance. This entails staff credentialing, protocol observation, and equipment maintenance.
When you work with an imaging shared services partner, you can outsource all of these tasks to people with dedicated expertise and focused work in this area. This can give you greater confidence in how scans get completed and allow you to spend your time on strategic activities.
Roshal Health offers more than just staffing support; our end-to-end services also include:
- Compliance Monitoring: All of our ultrasound technologists have up-to-date credentials, and we manage your TJC/DNV compliance records.
- Process Standardization: We have developed standard processes around implementation, onboarding, and billing to increase efficiency and improve quality of care.
- Quality Reporting: We conduct proactive inspections, develop monthly KPI reports, and gather ongoing quality feedback from radiologists to ensure protocol adherence and quality assurance.
Partner with Roshal Health
Through a shared services partnership with Roshal Health, not only do you receive fast on-call coverage, significant cost savings, and standards and compliance maintenance, but we match you with certified technologists who really care.
The Roshal difference lies in compassion. Our people see more than just an image on a screen. They understand the bigger picture of your business and they recognize the complex emotions and experience your patients have as people.
If you want to learn more about how we can support your radiology department, contact our team today.
