Therapy pool cuts costs, ensures continuity
Therapists fill in during vacations, illnesses
By hiring its own therapy staffing pool, Albert Einstein Healthcare Network in Philadelphia has saved money on contract staff and maintained continuity of care at its facilities.
Before setting up the Therapy Resource Ser vice, the network spent $130,000 a year on contract services at its MossRehab facility alone, according to Gary Crandall, MS, PT, director of campus therapy for the health care network. "We are in constant need for staff to fill in when therapists are on maternity leave, sick leave, or vacation," he says.
Last year, after the hospital started its physical therapist resource pool, the cost dropped to $34,000. Total savings at MossRehab came to $78,000. That represented the difference in the cost of the contract labor and the premium hourly rate paid to the pool therapists. For the first six months of this year, the cost for contract labor has been only $2,000.
"We decided to look at paying our own staff ing pool a premium rate with the goal of eliminating or minimizing the use of contractors," Crandall says.
In Philadelphia, providers typically pay $56 an hour for contract therapy. Einstein budgets its physical therapy resources pool at $36 an hour, including benefits and other costs, Crandall says. All of the pool therapists receive a premium hourly rate that is 10% to 15% above the prevailing wage in Philadelphia.
Four therapists in the pool of eight are guaranteed full-time hours and assigned on a daily basis to whichever facility needs their services. They get full benefits like other full-time employees, including health insurance and vacation time.
"The only difference in the full-time pool therapists and our other employees is that the pool therapists get a premium rate for moving from facility to facility," Crandall says.
The other four are on call and work only as needed. They receive the premium hourly rate but no benefits. All of the therapists in the pool report to a supervisor, who gets the requests for staff to fill a slot and assigns the therapists. The therapists maintain a time sheet, logging in the facility and the hours, so the costs can be allocated.
Resource pool therapists provide services as needed at MossRehab; Albert Einstein Medical Center, an acute care hospital; Willowcrest, a subacute facility; and Germantown Hospital. Germantown Hospital is about a mile from the main campus; the rest are on the main campus.
"Internally, it's working great. People don't mind going over to the other facilities. They'll go anywhere if they don't have to drive a long way," Gary says.
The facilities are happy to get therapy resources for significantly fewer dollars than contract staff. They also like having staff who know their way around so they don't have to constantly be trained, according to Julie Hyland, MSN, chief operating officer at MossRehab and associate vice president of Einstein.
Most of the therapy resource staff are former Einstein employees who had children and want to go back into the work force part-time.
To determine how the staff would be allocated, Gary looked at the staffing patterns at all the facilities. "When I looked at the fixed need, I knew I could fill four jobs every day. To determine the flexible needs, we looked at what we've done over the past year," he adds.
Einstein staff found their need for temporary therapists tends to match the local school system schedule. The needs are greatest in the summer and around the holidays.
[For more information, contact Gary Crandall at (215) 456-9131.]
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