Adjusting Echo-EKG Lab Staffing to Variable Volumes

When hospital occupancy determines volume in your Echo-EKG lab, staffing the right number and mix of professionals for variable demand can be a challenge.

Adjusting staff to volume is the name of the game for Cardiology Supervisor Joyce Ukleja of the Rush Oak Park Hospital and Rush University Medical Center.

"Recently, we feel we achieved a good mix by letting the statistics drive staffing," writes Ukleja in the upcoming edition of CV Directions.

"Over the past few months, our echo volumes have increased significantly and our EKG/stress tests have decreased, so we increased our echo tech FTEs to two and decreased our EKG tech FTEs to two, eliminating a full time EKG position," she writes.

Teamwork in the Echo-EKG Lab

With variable volume, teamwork and flexibility are all-important. "Finding the right team is as important in a small cardiology department like ours as it is in a professional sports team," writes Ukleja.

That makes team fit a big factor in hiring, though it can be hard to find qualified candidates in many areas.

Ukleja details more challenges and strategies for staffing the Echo-EKG lab in her article.

Does variable volume affect staffing in your lab? How do you manage it? Leave a comment below!

For another preview of the upcoming CV Directions, see also: A Clinical Ladder in the Procedural Setting; Carmen Shaw details how Carolinas Healthcare System implemented a clinical advancement program to support and retain team members.