Because of the inevitable variability of the patient census (uncertainty), the planned (budgeted) staffing is usually: (i) either not enough to deliver proper quality of care or (ii) is excessive, resulting in idle time for some employees and/or pay under contractual obligation for the idle time.This webinar is providing a methodology called the ‘newsvendor’ framework that helps in planning (budgeting) the staffing level that minimizes the overall cost of under and over staffing.Areas Covered The main Concept and Some DefinitionsThe “newsvendor” framework approach - Optimized annual staffing level - Optimized monthly staffing level - Optimized staffing for caregivers’ skills mix - Comparison of the 3 main methodologies for modelling staffing with variable patient demandWho Should Attend Nursing Managers, Chief Nursing Officers, Directors and VP of quality and operations improvements of healthcare organizations interested in learning practical methods of data analytics for optimal nursing staffing, required number of exam rooms and pieces of equipment.Why Should You Attend Typically, nursing staffing is based on the past historical average daily patient demand (midnight census), and the average required daily hours of care per patient depending on the acuity level (supply of resources). However, the variation and the uncertainty of the supply and demand in healthcare settings creates two types of problems: - Over-staffing over the planned level which hurts operation margins; - Under-staffing over the planned level, which requires overtime and/or premium pay that also hurts margins and causes lower quality of care.The latter problem affects patients’ and staff satisfaction.The objective of this webinar is providing an overview and examples of application of the methodology called the “newsvendor” framework. This methodology helps to determine the optimal staffing for the specified time periods for hospital units with randomly fluctuating patient census.The optimal staffing provides the total minimal possible cost of over- and under-staffing.Topic BackgroundWorkforce management significantly impacts the cost efficiency and quality of care. Indeed, workforce cost typically absorbs more than 50% of total hospital’s operating revenue. An accurate assessment of the required staffing that best matches the highly variable patient demand is an integral part of the hospital’s budgeting and planning process. Healthcare administrators must accomplish multiple clinical and quality goals while simultaneously developing realistic staffing plans and budgets. Random fluctuations of the daily patient demand (census) make the staffing planning a big challenge to many hospitals’ administrators.