The economics of health care continue to be a significant factor influencing the delivery of respiratory services. Because human resources are typically the most expensive component of hospital costs, they are carefully scrutinized and are often the first area to be reviewed when cost reductions are required. The AARC Safe and Effective Staffing Guide (SESG) provides the essential resources to assist respiratory care leadership in determining and justifying staffing levels.
What was previously known as the AARC Uniform Reporting Manual (URM) has existed for over 35 years and was expanded with new chapters and updated with new resources and renamed the AARC SESG to increase the value to support our RT leadership. The SESG remains the recognized Gold Standard in identifying procedures associated with the provision of respiratory services and the time required to perform each of those procedures.
As with prior URMs, the SESG includes validated procedure time standards and the methodology to create staffing programs using procedure time standards. In addition, the SESG includes new content to assist in the implementation of staffing programs and systems, as well as a new focus on Value Efficiency.
The SESG is designed to assist respiratory care leadership and decision-makers with:
- Understanding the benefits of using staffing metrics that are driven by the clinical needs of patients and the value of such care.
- Access to nationally validated procedure time standards, scope of care, and CPT codes.
- Methodology to apply the concept of Value Efficiency.
- Tools, references, case studies, pre-configured workbooks, and accounts of best practices that provide a wealth of knowledge regarding staffing programs and how to successfully implement them.
The data, methods, and concepts included in the SESG can be applied in budget planning, shift-by-shift allocation of staff, and reporting productivity. Systems developed and described will assist in evidence-based staffing decisions and can be adapted for expansions and changes to service programs. This resource will also aid in identifying trends in service utilization and forecasting demand for equipment and supplies. The SESG can serve as an essential resource to promote standardization in both terminology and processes to facilitate benchmarking in which both labor and activities require such standardization to compare performance.