Bidding for your pay

garn2b · Aug 14, 2004

i read this in today's ajc business section and thought you all might be interested.

nursing shifts up for bid

riverdale hospital to use web to match rns and extra work

the atlanta journal-constitution

published on: 08/13/04

the hospital nursing shortage has come to the online auction block.

increasingly, hospitals are turning to an ebay-type bidding system to fill open shifts, where nurses work the vacant slot at a pay rate they set themselves.

billy smith ii/ajc

(enlarge)

connie thompson (left) of bidshift helps southern regional medical center nurse lynda scott list herself on the web site.

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how shift bidding can work: ebay in reverse * after initial scheduling of staff nurses, open shifts are posted online, with a maximum hourly rate the hospital will pay. * only nurses qualified to work that shift can bid on the available slot. * nurses then put in bids at the maximum rate or below it. * the qualified nurse at the lowest bid price wins the open shift. sources: sharp healthcare, spartanburg (s.c.) regional medical center

now this marriage of web scheduling and health care wages-known as shift bidding-is coming to georgia.

on monday, southern regional medical center in riverdale launches an online shift system from bidshift, a private san diego-based company. bidshift chief executive bruce springer, who lives in atlanta, says the company has set up shift bidding auctions in 14 hospitals nationally.

such bidding lets nurses make extra money. and proponents say the web-based scheduling innovation reduces hospitals' use of temporary-agency nurses. this helps them save money and promotes more consistency in patient care.

sharp healthcare, a san diego hospital system, runs a wage-bidding auction as an ebay in reverse. a maximum price is posted for an unfilled shift, and rns qualified for that shift then bid that wage or offer a lower one. the lowest bidder over a defined time period gets the shift.

sharp, which operates several hospitals, uses the auction not just for rns but also for nursing assistants, licensed practical nurses, and rehab and respiratory therapists.

sharp has sold 2,200 shifts since it started about two years ago and has realized savings from using fewer temp-agency nurses.

"the whole thing is to incentivize nurses to stay at sharp," says angela athis, director of its staffing resource network. "it also has helped us recruit some nurses into our system."

bidshift's springer notes the internet scheduling tool "is going into an industry that typically is not innovative with technology."

still, the web wage auction is an increasing trend since its debut about three years ago.

the hospital credited with pioneering a bidding system, st. peter's in albany, n.y., says it filled 43,400 hours by bidding in 2002, at an average of $37 per hour. compared with filling those shifts with agency nurses costing about $54 per hour, st. peter's saved $980,000, the hospital says.

denise flook, a nurse consultant for the georgia hospital association, says the scheduling software has been expensive in the past. "but as more companies have developed them, they've become more affordable for hospitals," flook says.

southern regional's bidshift start-up system will streamline the filling of vacant shifts. southern regional's system won't feature wage bidding, at least at the start. but it may be the first georgia hospital to adopt such a web-based tool for scheduling, according to the georgia hospital association.

currently, nurses at the facility sign up for shifts on a first-come, first-served basis. now an rn will be able to go onto the web at home to sign up for slots not yet taken, some at an incentive pay rate.

the bidshift system will pay for itself if 376-bed southern regional lowers its use of temp nurses by 6 percent, says maria kulma, vice president of patient care services. the riverdale hospital has a 10 percent to 15 percent vacancy rate for rns, and about 8 percent of its nurse staffing comes from temp agencies.

temp nurses cost about $50 an hour, while staff nurses may average about half that, kulma adds. and a temp-agency nurse can decrease productivity because they may not know a hospital's routines, she says.

nurses signing up for bidshift at southern regional appeared pleased by the new system, which also will include nursing-tech shifts.

"i think it's going to be really good," says sheri taylor, a full-time rn in the neonatal intensive care unit who lives in senoia. "i will be able to use the internet at home and sign up."

lynda scott of jonesboro, a part-time nurse, says she thinks bidshift will help her add extra hours. under the current setup, she says she doesn't know what shifts are available on floors other than her regular orthopedic/neurology unit.

the american nurses association has concerns about nurses working too many hours under the shift bidding arrangement.

"in general, this continues to be a way in which hospitals are not dealing with their staffing problems," says cheryl peterson, senior policy analyst at the ana. "clearly, there are nurses out there willing to be working. why are they not under full employment?

"you have nurses bidding against each other," she adds. "it sends an interesting [message] to the patient: 'i've got the lowest bidder.' "

yet according to neale callow, a san diego nurse who works at sharp, price bidding works smoothly. callow works as a "per diem" nurse at a base pay of $32.25 an hour, and much of the time, he can work an auctioned shift at about $43 or $45 an hour.

the bidding isn't fierce, callow says.

"somebody can come in and underbid, but most times, i get what i bid for," he says. if the hospital pays him $45 an hour, it still saves money from what a temp agency nurse would cost, callow adds.

bidshift's springer says that if a shift remains unfilled under an auction and looms only days away, a hospital may shift to a priceline.com-like tool. that allows a nurse to offer a bid at any wage, with no designated pay ceiling.

healthcare staffing inc., a leading provider of temp nurses to metro atlanta hospitals, says shift bidding is a hot topic among hospitals.

"we're uncertain about what it's going to mean long term," says bill dallas, president of the firm.

but, he adds, temp agencies will survive.

"agency nursing isn't going away," he says. "we provide flexibility."

this is something i will definitely look into after i graduate in 2007.