With the many financial and operational challenges that the industry is facing at a rapid pace today, we often look to hospitals' electronic health records (EHRs), technology and other systems as the culprits. What we fail to see is that a human, who is the end user of these systems, is at the core of every challenge.

To curb these challenges, we make short-term fixes and look to our technologies and systems to solve the issues. Instead, we should be utilizing long-term solutions to raise the competency of the entire revenue cycle workforce to do better performing the actual work, which will lead to less operational and financial defects in the long run.

In an economy where many people still struggle to find high paying jobs, the healthcare industry is the exception. In fact, there is a shortage of qualified workers across many healthcare fields. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, nine of the top 30 jobs expected to see the most employment growth are in healthcare. In fact, the World Health Organization reported that the world will be short 12.9 million healthcare workers by 2035. Rural America will be hit the hardest, as it represents 20 percent of the total population and already has the hardest time finding enough qualified individuals to staff hospitals.

So, how do we overcome this challenge? According to the American Hospital Association (AHA), “[t]he U.S. healthcare system faces growing challenges. The U.S. population is aging at a rapid rate; health care reform is expected to bring millions more patients into the system; and there are anticipated shortages in numbers of trained healthcare professionals to care for these patients. Therefore, the need to start now to develop more effective and efficient workforce planning models for healthcare organizations is critical.”

I completely agree with the AHA that we need to look for another way. However, for an example, let’s look at revenue cycle staffing. The challenge is, where do we find individuals who have the skills and competencies to do these specific roles? As we know, there is no “Revenue Cycle University,” so instead of looking for the quick fix or spend a great deal of money and effort to find supply that may not be in your market, why not create your own staff from within your organization or the community?

This revolutionary approach will solve labor challenges, provide career paths, enliven the community and foster workforce loyalty. A typical external search for new hires will not provide the right experience or capability that is needed to staff these crucial positions. A sophisticated, standardized process of training is still needed to solve the labor shortage by filling your open positions and reducing your costs. There is more money loss from a less competent workforce or through hiring contractors, than there is to train skilled, efficient staff from your organization and the community.

Take a look right within your walls. There might be a group of nurses that are exhausted from providing clinical care and are considering leaving the organization. Why not train them to be skilled case managers or charge capture auditors? They can utilize their experience in a new role that will better suit them and your organization. Look within your community. There are many military veterans, underemployed or unemployed individuals that would be highly dedicated to the program and hard-working contributors to your organization. First-term veterans have the hardest time landing a job, as about 16.2 percent of veterans in the labor force between 18 and 24 years old are jobless.

Creating a registered apprenticeship program would provide the opportunity for some organizations to receive grant money to train veterans and those that have been out of the workforce for some time, to support their community clinically. In return you would have a list of benefits: a loyal and dedicated workforce, a trained team for high-demand roles, avoidance of offshoring or increased cost of recruitment, initially lower labor cost per employee, tax credits, incentives and more.

There are many benefits to the trainee as well. There is a guarantee of employment if the program is completed and the test is passed, increased wages, free training and education, the opportunity to learn a new technical and transferrable skillset, potential for academic credit and the opportunity for advancement.

Due to the assumed high time or effort commitment, many providers fear creating programs like these, but the truth is, creating your own staff does not have to be as extensive as one might think. The program could be as short as a few weeks if enough time and effort is invested. A committed training program with the continued support of mentors is the key to successfully creating your own staff in revenue cycle. And if you still have doubts, there are plenty of success stories of organizations doing it for many different roles and you should look to collaborate and listen to their successes, lessons learned, and the value it has brought their organization.

Be willing to break the traditional approach by not only growing your organization and ensuring a robust and strong revenue cycle but also by helping your local community through employment and education. To accomplish this, don’t hesitate on becoming a registered apprenticeship in order to leverage a myriad of educational methods and tools. Lastly, if you do grow your own staff, celebrate the accomplishment because it made a difference. In revenue cycle, anyone can become any role, but you must have the right person, the right education and the commitment.