Hospices in Dallas and other areas in Texas are experiencing chronic staff shortages. This is a difficulty that is also manifesting itself in many other parts of the country. Recent studies have shown that hospices spend anywhere from $30,000 to $40,000 annually while assigning six to 10 people to handle essential quality and compliance programs.
Hospices are struggling to stay in compliance
The result of these staffing shortages has been frequent skirting or even outright violation of hospice law. Over 90 percent of the respondents in a recent industry poll reported that they would prefer to stay in compliance with state and federal laws. However, they have sometimes been unable to do so because of a lack of time and staff.
The result has been a wide range of issues in multiple areas. Some of the worst of these include:
- The need to prioritize compliance over patient care
- Difficulty collecting essential data
- Difficulty compiling performance data tracking plans
- Inability to properly manage workflows
- Difficulty managing compliance efficiency
Short staffing is a serious compliance issue
Compliance is an issue that comes with a great deal of complexity. Nearly 40 percent of the respondents in a recent survey have commented that they could not maintain healthy compliance levels due to a lack of staff. These shortages occur when oversight by the government is rising to a historic level.
Because of these chronic labor shortages, hospices must do more work with fewer resources. This leads to long work hours, heavier workloads, and job dissatisfaction. These are issues that need to be solved to maintain the expected levels of hospice care.