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CAPC Palliative Care Discussion Forum
Staffing

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Post Staffing level
Author: mindyshah
Date: May 5, 2011 12:13 pm
We're a palliative care program in it's fourth year, at a 360-bed community hospital, average daily census 15-18, with about 2-4 new consults/day. Census and consult rate are increasing steadily. Estimated volume at end of this year about 460. More community physicians rather an hospitalists, and up until now have been expected to do fairly frequent follow-ups so not a lot of single-visit consults (more co-management). Currently have a SW in the afternoon, an NP 4 days per week, and a 1.0 FTE doc. What staffing levels do other programs (with similar characteristics) use, and what levels would be idea? Would appreciate any input!
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correction to post (by mindyshah on 05/05/2011)
Correction: hospital size is 187 beds
Re:Staffing level (by Weissman on 05/05/2011)
Hi--thanks for posting your query; there are no hard and fast benchmark data yet on staffing, it is one of the goals of the Palliative Care Registry; if you haven't submitted data on your program I'd really encourage that: https://registry.capc.org/

For programs just starting, we recommend that for an expected consult volume of 30/month, that 1.0 APN and 0.5 MD is appropriate, assuming that 30% of their work time is in non-clinical activities: data collection, education, policy development. But much depends on how you organize your service in terms of maximizing efficiency between the various team members. Presence of social service, chaplaincy staff are also encouraged; how the full team decides to see patients will greatly impact your staffing numbers. Bottom line--your numbers sound in line with an "average" program seeing your reported patient volume.

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