| Course | HLTH 4000 Introduction to Healthcare Management |
|---|---|
| Week | Week 4 |
| Paper type | Staffing plan paper |
| Length | About 1,080 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Walden University |
| Program | BS in Healthcare Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HLTH 4000 Week 4
Keeping the Front Desk and Phones Covered for Eight Weeks With One Representative on Leave: A Staffing Plan Within a Fixed Budget
Student Name
Walden University
HLTH 4000: Introduction to Healthcare Management
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Keeping the Front Desk and Phones Covered for Eight Weeks With One Representative on Leave: A Staffing Plan Within a Fixed Budget
The Problem
The patient access team at our multispecialty clinic covers two functions: in-person check-in at the front desk and the scheduling phone line. The clinic is open from 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The team has nine representatives, eight full-time at 40 hours a week and one part-time at 20 hours. One full-time representative will be on approved family leave for eight weeks starting next month. The practice manager has told me that the team's labor budget for the period cannot increase, though money can move between line items, such as from a vacant position's salary to overtime or temporary staffing. This plan shows the hours that must be covered, the gap created by the leave and three ways to fill it, then recommends one. All figures are illustrative, based on a composite of our team's real structure.
Step 1: Hours That Must Be Covered
Coverage needs differ by time of day. Table 1 shows the minimum number of staff needed at each position across the day, based on last quarter's call volume and check-in counts.
Table 1
Minimum Staffing Needed by Time Block, Monday Through Friday
| Time block | Hours | Front desk staff | Phone staff | Total staff | Staff hours per day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7:30 to 9:30 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 12 |
| 9:30 to 12:00 | 2.5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 12.5 |
| 12:00 to 2:00 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| 2:00 to 4:30 | 2.5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 12.5 |
| 4:30 to 6:00 | 1.5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4.5 |
| Total | 10.5 | 49.5 |
Note. Values are illustrative and based on the composite team's call and check-in volume.
Step 2: The Gap
Minimum coverage requires 49.5 staff hours a day, or 247.5 hours a week. That is working time, not paid time. Each full-time representative is paid for 40 hours but, after a 30-minute unpaid lunch each day is excluded from their 8.5-hour shift, works 40 hours on the floor; however, two 15-minute paid breaks a day take 2.5 hours a week off the floor, leaving 37.5 productive hours. The part-time representative works four five-hour days with one 15-minute break each, about 19 productive hours.
With the full team, productive hours are 8 times 37.5 plus 19, or 319 a week, comfortably above the 247.5 minimum. The surplus covers meetings, training, slow days and time off. With one full-time representative on leave, productive hours drop to 281.5 a week. That is still above the minimum on paper, but the surplus shrinks from about 72 to 34 hours. In practice, the pressure falls on the peak blocks, especially 7:30 to 9:30, when six people are needed and any additional absence or meeting leaves a position empty. The real gap is not total hours but peak coverage.
Step 3: Three Options
Option A: Overtime. Ask full-time staff to work extra peak-hour shifts, for example coming in at 7:00 a.m. on alternate days. To cover the morning peak fully on days when other absences occur, about 8 hours of overtime a week would be needed. Under federal wage law, hourly staff who are not exempt earn time and a half once a week passes 40 hours (U.S. Department of Labor, n.d.), so at an illustrative wage of $20 an hour, overtime costs $30 an hour, or $240 a week, $1,920 over eight weeks. The representative on leave is receiving paid leave for part of the period and unpaid leave for the rest; the four unpaid weeks release about $3,200 in salary. Overtime fits the budget. Its cost is fatigue, since the team is already stretched at peak times.
Option B: Temporary staff. Hire a temporary worker through an agency for 20 hours a week covering the two peak blocks. At an illustrative agency rate of $32 an hour, that costs $640 a week, $5,120 over eight weeks, exceeding the released salary. A temporary worker would also need training in our registration system, about two days of a supervisor's or lead's time, and could not verify insurance without access the agency worker would not have.
Option C: Extend the part-time representative's hours. Ask the part-time representative to work 30 hours a week instead of 20 for the eight weeks, covering the morning peak each day. At $20 an hour straight time, the extra 10 hours cost $200 a week, $1,600 over eight weeks. She is fully trained and has said she would welcome more hours temporarily.
Step 4: Recommendation
I recommend Option C, with a small amount of overtime as backup. Extending the part-time representative's hours covers the morning peak with a trained person at the lowest cost, $1,600 over eight weeks, well within the salary released by the unpaid portion of the leave. For days when an additional absence occurs, up to four hours of overtime a week, about $960 over the period, would cover the remaining gap. The total, about $2,560, stays within the budget. Option B is rejected because it costs more than the released salary and brings training and access problems for a short period.
This plan protects peak coverage, which is where patients notice gaps first: long lines at check-in and callers who hang up before reaching anyone. Health care management texts emphasize that staffing decisions should be judged by their effect on service as well as cost (Buchbinder et al., 2021), and this option keeps both in view.
Risks and How They Will Be Watched
Three risks could undo the plan. The part-time representative might be unable to work the extra hours on some days; if so, overtime will cover those days. Another representative might call out during the period; if more than one absence occurs in a week, I will cover the phones myself in the morning rather than pull the lead representative from her new template duties. And call volume might rise unexpectedly; I will check the daily abandonment report, and if more than 8% of calls are abandoned on three consecutive days, I will ask the practice manager for temporary help from the billing office's cross-trained staff. Staff wellbeing is also a risk: I will ask the part-time representative at the end of each week whether the extra hours remain manageable, because a plan that exhausts the person carrying it is not a good plan, and she is more likely to tell me the truth if she trusts that saying so will not count against her (Edmondson, 1999).
References
Buchbinder, S. B., Shanks, N. H., & Kite, B. J. (Eds.). (2021). Introduction to health care management (4th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350-383. https://doi.org/10.2307/2666999
U.S. Department of Labor. (n.d.). Overtime pay. Wage and Hour Division. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/overtime
HLTH 4000 Week 4 instructions, in plain terms
Staffing plans at this point usually give you a unit, hours to cover, a fixed budget and an employee who will be unavailable. Start by stating every number your calculations will use. Build a table of coverage needs by time block, since peaks matter more than totals. Convert paid hours into productive hours by accounting for breaks. Show where the gap actually falls. Cost two or three options with labeled illustrative figures, including legal requirements such as overtime rates and non-financial costs such as training and fatigue. Recommend one, show it fits the budget and explain why it protects service. Name the risks, the triggers that would prompt action and how you will check on the people carrying the extra load.
Inside the HLTH 4000 Week 4 example
The problem section gives hours, team size, the eight-week leave and the budget rule. Table 1 lists five time blocks with front desk and phone needs, totaling 49.5 staff hours a day. The gap section converts 40 paid hours to 37.5 productive hours, calculates 319 and then 281.5 productive hours a week and identifies peak coverage as the real gap. The options section costs overtime at $1,920, citing the federal rule, a temporary worker at $5,120 and extended part-time hours at $1,600. The recommendation combines the part-time extension with backup overtime for about $2,560, citing Buchbinder and colleagues. The risks section sets an abandonment trigger and a weekly check-in, citing Edmondson.
HLTH 4000 Week 4 rubric: what earns full marks
Arithmetic that a classmate could redo from the page carries much of the grade. Instructors check that coverage needs are broken out by time of day, that breaks are accounted for and that the plan recognizes where shortages actually bite. Each option should be costed transparently, with illustrative figures labeled and legal requirements such as overtime pay applied correctly. Non-financial costs, from training time to fatigue, deserve explicit mention. The recommendation should fit the budget and be justified by its effect on service, not only by cost. Naming risks with concrete triggers for action, and attention to the wellbeing of staff carrying extra hours, show managerial judgment. A clear table and correct references complete the picture.
HLTH 4000 Week 4 help from the desk
Staffing plans often divide total weekly hours by 40 and conclude everything is fine, missing the morning peak where the shortage actually hurts patients. Others ignore breaks and lunch, or treat paid hours as working hours. Some recommend temporary staff without counting training time. Build a coverage table by time block first. Subtract breaks. Then compare the team's productive hours with the need at the busiest block. Cost each option with the same wage assumptions. Our team can also produce a staffing plan for this course that calculates coverage by time block, compares options and fits a fixed budget.
Get a HLTH 4000 Week 4 example written to your instructions
Send the scenario with its hours, budget and absence, plus the prompt and rubric, and the desk builds the plan from demand through options to a defended recommendation with assumptions listed. Free on the first custom sample, with a 24-48h turnaround. Every quantity in it traces to your scenario, and none is manufactured to make an option look better.
More HLTH 4000 papers and BS in Healthcare Administration samples
- HLTH 4000 Week 1: Manager Obligations Discussion Post
- HLTH 4000 Week 2: Manager Workday Role Analysis
- HLTH 4000 Week 3: Task Delegation Memo
- HLTH 4000 Week 5: Span of Control Discussion Post
- HLTH 4000 Week 6: Management Budget Note
- HLTH 4000 Week 7: Recruitment and Retention Plan
- HLTH 4000 Week 8: Employee Performance Memo
- HLTH 4000 Week 9: Management Decision Paper
- HLTH 4000 Week 10: Change Communication Plan
- HLTH 4000 Week 11: Department Management Report
- HLTH 3510 Week 4: Medical Coding Walkthrough
- HLTH 3110 Week 4: Policy Evidence Review
- HLTH 3105 Week 4: Communication Breakdown Analysis
- HLTH 3100 Week 4: Informed Consent Analysis
HLTH 4000 Week 4 questions, answered
Where can I find a free HLTH 4000 Week 4 sample paper?
The staffing plan, with its coverage table and costed options, is reproduced here in full for students.
What is the real gap in the HLTH 4000 Week 4 plan?
Peak coverage between 7:30 and 9:30, when six staff are needed, rather than total weekly hours, which remain above the minimum.
Why are productive hours lower than paid hours?
Because paid breaks take staff off the floor, so a 40-hour employee provides about 37.5 productive hours a week.
Which option does the plan recommend?
Extending the part-time representative from 20 to 30 hours a week, with up to four hours of overtime as backup, at about $2,560 over eight weeks.
Why not hire temporary staff?
The illustrative agency cost of $5,120 exceeds the released salary, and a temporary worker would need training and system access for a short period.