We’ve written extensively on how hiring the right healthcare professionals—from EMR specialists to Nurse Practitioners to Care Managers—could help ease the transition into the new healthcare model. It’s important to us that all our clients run efficiently, and with all the changes occurring in healthcare, this could be a challenge that staffing can help greatly with. But while you’re in the early stages of the changes put forth by the Affordable Care Act, predicting your needs for the future could be difficult. Therefore, it may be more appropriate for your particular facility, at this time, to focus first on repurposing current staff.

The current changes to healthcare may seem daunting, but don’t forget about your current staff in the midst of it all! You have a company full of competent, hard-working healthcare professionals who, with a bit of added or tweaked responsibilities, could help streamline the transition to the new healthcare model proposed by the Affordable Care Act. Shifting the roles of your current employees,  and letting them reshape and grow as needed to improve patient care and adapt to the changes being made through the Affordable Care Act, is a great way to increase your efficiency in a time when workflow is at a bit of a risk.

For example, general RNs can be trained and repurposed as Care Managers and Coordinators. As a result, they will be given the responsibility of tending to patients before, during, and after visits rather than just during their stay to prevent further health problems and rehospitalization. You can also train other staff by teaching them skills that their training may not have included. Such skills can be as simple as data entry—teaching employees at all levels the basics of data entry can greatly assist in EMR conversion.

One company that’s had extended success with this is San Diego’s Scripps Health. According to Scripps leaders, one of the ways the company has found success in these times is by training bedside nurses to act as “patient navigators,” or Care Coordinators. These patient navigators work to coach patients on their care plans, the proper way to take their medication, and general best health practices to keep them healthy long after their discharge.

The best way to reorganize your efforts in this way is to run an audit on your current staff. Assess what everyone’s duties are and their potential to fit into this kind of initiative. Who are your most adaptable employees? Who hasn’t received a change in duties in a while? Who has been asking for a promotion or added responsibility? It’s important to identify where you can use help and who is most likely to step up and offer that help—after all, healthcare is a constantly changing industry. Many of your current employees should know this, and given the industry they’ve chosen, should be willing to adapt to the changes to expedite implementation and resume the balance of typical workflow.