How Works drove a 79% increase in Deaconess' incentivized shift pick up
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case study

How Deaconess Health System Reduced Incentive Spend and Increased Shift Pickup with Works

DEACONESS HEALTH SYSTEM

ABOUT DEACONESS

  • 20+ Hospitals
  • 40+ Clinics
  • $1.8B Net Patient Revenue
  • 1,200 Staffed Beds

DEACONESS’ CHALLENGES

  • Siloed Labor Pools
  • Unsustainable Labor Cost Increases
  • Manual Staffing Processes
  • Misaligned Incentives

DEACONESS’ GOALS

  • Reduce Skyrocketing Incentive Cost
  • Decrease Dependency On External Labor
  • Rightsize Rates And Increase Shift Pickup
  • Improve Nurse Morale And Retention

SOLUTIONS IMPLEMENTED

  • Centralized Workforce Management Platform
  • Automated Staffing And Scheduling Processes
  • AI-Powered Dynamic Shift And Incentive Pricing
  • User-Friendly Nurse-Facing Scheduling App

Indiana-based Deaconess Health System needed a solution to control escalating labor costs and optimize their nurse staffing strategy. The organization wanted to reduce reliance on external labor, get a handle on premium spend, and improve nurse morale and retention. Siloed labor pools, manual shift rate management, and skyrocketing incentive expectations all contributed to unsustainable staffing costs.

Leaders at Deaconess knew they needed to rethink their approach, and began researching digital workforce management solutions they could leverage to support a more sustainable nurse staffing strategy. They found Works, an AI-powered platform that would allow them to manage nurse staffing through a single, transparent system–rightsizing shift rates, empowering nurses to pickup shifts that worked for them, and automating manual staffing processes.

Deaconess strategically piloted Works within their ICU resource team, a smaller team, to test results. After the implementation period, they saw marked improvement in nurse premium spend, shift pick-up, and staffing efficiency. Today, Deaconess is rolling out Works throughout their system, prioritizing units with the most vacancies and incentive use.

This case study showcases how Works enables Deaconess to streamline workforce management, control nurse staffing costs, and improve nurse satisfaction, ultimately positioning the organization for sustainable growth and operational efficiency.

WHAT Deaconess HAS TO SAY

Works was a way for us to be smart about contingent labor, implement dynamic pricing, and control costs. The platform allowed us to manage shift pricing across the board in a systematic way versus us trying to manually manage it shift by shift, contract by contract.

MELINDA LEBOFSKY

SHRM, Senior VP,
Chief HR Officer

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Expand on demand capacity across your health system using your existing staff with Works.
Request a demo here or email [email protected] and get started in as little as two weeks.

The Need:

Rightsize Shift Pricing and Encourage Shift Pick-Up

Post-pandemic, Deaconess sought a creative solution to control staffing costs and reduce dependence on external labor to maintain safe staffing levels. They relied on external agency staff and an internal agency (where they employed staff at a higher contracted rate) to fill shifts. They wanted to encourage their internal core staff to pick up more shifts, but their old incentive system motivated internal nurses to delay shift pick-up to secure higher rates. Across all labor pools, costs were rising.

We reached a point where we had to say, what’s our strategy going to be? We wanted to phase out our external agency and convert our internal agency to permanent staff. We wanted to stop feeling held hostage by rates and encourage internal staff to pick up shifts.
Katie Burnett, MBA, PHR, SHRM-CP, Director of HR Administration said.

Deaconess had tried to manage incentives themselves, but the process was highly manual. They juggled every contractor’s rate, contract length, and terms on an individual basis. Using Works, Deaconess saw an opportunity to streamline and systemize shift rate and nurse scheduling decisions.

The SOLUTION:

A Digital Workforce Management Platform

Works’ reputation for engaged customer service, user-friendly nurse-facing app, and proven track record of reducing contingent labor costs and automating manual processes attracted Deaconess. They chose to strategically pilot Works to integrate their entire nurse workforce into one pool for total, transparent, on-demand workforce management.

Works gives nurses visibility into available shifts and intelligently calculates incentives based on areas of highest need and likelihood of shift pickup. The platform not only automates manual contract management, credentialing, and recruiting tasks, but it also empowers internal nurses to own their schedules and select shifts that work best for them on the Works mobile app.

"Works has allowed us to manage staff appropriately and even the playing field. We still want to treat our nurses well and do the right thing for them, and reward them for picking up shifts, but we want to do it in a sustainable and manageable manner.” Burnett said.

READY TO GET STARTED?

Works connects to the systems you already use, including biweekly payroll data, daily shift scheduling data, and more. Request a demo here or email [email protected] and get started in as little as two weeks.

Key wins

Reduced Burden on Nurse Managers

Managers are not losing sleep filling shifts and navigating manual processes.

Optimized Shift Pricing

Works’ algorithm learns easier vs. harder to fill shifts and adjusts incentives accordingly.

MORE NURSE FLEXIBILITY

Easy nurse-facing app empowers nurses to own their schedule and select shifts.

How Works Helped Deaconess Achieve these Wins

Process Automation

Works moved arduous paper staffing and scheduling processes to automated digital workflows, giving managers time back. After implementing Works, managers are no longer under pressure recruiting for open shifts at 5am. The Works app handles that.

WHAT Deaconess HAS TO SAY

This system encourages staff to pick up shifts earlier because the prices are higher earlier and our nurse leaders don’t have to worry about missing time with their family to cover open shifts. That has been a major game changer.

Katie Burnett

MBA, PHR, SHRM-CP,
Director of HR Administration
Dynamic Shift Pricing

Works’ intelligent shift pricing drives staff to pick up open shifts while reducing premium spend. This AI-powered dynamic pricing feature learns employee shift-claiming mannerisms and which shifts are least likely to be claimed. The longer it runs, the smarter it gets. The end result is improved incentive dollar allocation and increased fill rate in areas of greatest need.

WHAT Deaconess HAS TO SAY

“I’ve implemented other technologies and this one is by far the most user friendly. Nurses can see open shifts versus going through their manager to sign up, so they can pick up shifts much quicker than they used to. And, the way the dollars tier, it drives people to pick up harder to fill shifts. It has really helped filter people to our greatest need.”

Emilee Elpers

BSN, RN, CMSRN, CNML,
Department Manager

User-Friendly Nurse- Facing App:

Deaconess’ scheduling system did not offer rate transparency or personalized shift notifications. Works easy-to-use mobile app integrates with that system and changes that. In Works, clinicians can easily set their preferences (day shift vs. night shift, shift length, days available, etc.) and be notified about shifts that match their settings. The app empowers nurses to browse open shifts and claim the shifts that fit best with their desired work-life balance.

Results

14%
REDUCTION IN PREMIUM SPEND

with AI-powered dynamic pricing that optimized shift rates and incentives

16.2%
BOOST IN PURCHASING POWER

with labor cost savings that helped Deaconess’ dollars stretch further

79%
MORE INCENTIVIZED HOURS WORKED

with smart incentives that improved shift pick up while reducing overall costs

READY TO GET a consultation?

Our team can explore your current workforce landscape and discover how you can scale your workforce with Works.
Request a demo or email [email protected] and get started in as little as two weeks.