MNA's Proposed Safe Staffing Ratios Would Save Twin Cities Hospitals Money (Page 133)

The stats don’t lie – the type of safe staffing language Twin Cities nurses are proposing to Twin Cities hospitals during 2010 contract negotiations not only improves patient safety and quality of care, but it also saves the hospitals money!

Safe staffing ratios save hospitals money

• Adding 133,000 RNs to the acute care hospital workface across the U.S. would produce medical savings estimated at $6.1 billion in reduced patient care costs, not including the value of increased productivity when nurses help patients recover more quickly, an estimated additional $231 million per year. Combining medical savings with increased productivity, the partial estimates of economic value averages $57,700 for each of the additional 133,000 RNs. (Medical Care, January 2009)
• Reducing the high RN turnover rate – unsafe staffing is a major cause of RNs leaving the bedside – could save billions of dollars. At the current national turnover rate, 18.5 percent, and a 2007 inflation-adjusted per-RN turnover cost of $82,000 to $88,000 yields a total national cost of RN turnover of $18.9 billion – $20.1 billion a year. (Journal of Nursing Administration, January 2008)
• Improving RN-to-patient rations from 1:8 to 1:4 would produce significant cost savings and is less costly that many other basic safety interventions common in hospitals, including clot-busting medications for heart attacks and PAP tests for cervical cancer. (Medical Care, August 2005)
• Preventing medical errors reduces loss of life and could reduce healthcare costs by as much as 30 percent. Insurers paid an additional $28,218 (52 percent more) and an additional…. The post-discharge costs savings achieved by reducing adverse events might just be enough for the hospital to break even on the investment in nursing. (Health Services Research, July 2008)
• RN understaffing in hospital intensive care units increases the risk of pneumonia and other preventable infections that can add thousands of dollars to the cost of care of hospital patients. (Critical Care, July 2007)
• Raising the proportion of RNs by increasing RN staffing to match the 25 percent best staffed hospitals would produce net short-term cost savings of $242 million. (Health Affairs, January/February 2006)
• Nurses represent the single largest labor expense for hospitals. In an attempt to manage costs, many hospitals have, over the years, reduced nursing staff, which in some cases has compromised quality of care and patient safety. Nursing shortages have been shown to contribute to longer lengths of stay in the ICU and increased rates in urinary tract infections and other complications. According to VHA research, hospitals that improve employer satisfaction witness an average increase in revenue per employee…Poor service and loss of patients to other hospitals ultimately mean lost revenue for a hospital. Those facilities that find solutions will gain a competitive advantage in their market and achieve solid financial returns. (Voluntary Hospital Association. Press Release: What the Work Force Shortage is Costing U.S. Hospitals, Nov. 11, 2002)
• Healthcare industry turnover is reported to be 20.7 percent. A hospital with 600 employees and turnover rate of 20 percent would spend $5.52 million a year on turnover. Cutting the turnover rate to 15 percent would result in direct savings of $1.38 million per year. (Voluntary Hospital Association. The Business Case for Work Force Stability, October 2002)
• Hospitals with higher turnover rates have higher costs per discharge. Costs per adjusted discharge at hospitals with turnover rates above 21 percent run 36 percent higher than those at hospitals with turnover rates below 12 percent. (Voluntary Hospital Association. The Business Case for Work Force Stability, October 2002)