How to Find the Right Healthcare Staffing Partner

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It’s no secret that there’s a nursing shortage having a major impact on healthcare organizations of all sizes across the U.S. According to the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis, there’s a projected shortage of 63,720 full-time registered nurses by 2030, which suggests that hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare facilities are set to see even larger workforce gaps in the coming years.

Because of this workforce gap, many healthcare organizations are turning to staffing solution partners to recruit skilled healthcare professionals for temporary or permanent needs. Through these partnerships, hospitals and other healthcare facilities can utilize beneficial services, such as workforce management, vendor management software, leadership consulting services, international direct hire, and more.

But not all staffing companies are the same. Some strictly offer temporary staffing recruitment, while others provide a full suite of workforce management services. Some may provide customized staffing solutions, while others may have more standardized offerings. This is why it’s helpful to understand your options—you want to make the right decision for your organization’s budget and long-term goals

If you’re looking to address short-term or long-term staffing needs at your organization, you’ll want to find a healthcare partner that offers these common workforce management solutions:

Managed Services

A healthcare managed service provider (or MSP) is a third-party company that offers temporary and contingent workforce staffing solutions. Through this service, healthcare organizations of all sizes can address staffing shortages quickly and effectively, as the MSP will typically take on all responsibilities related to the organization’s talent recruitment and contracting processes.

What Do Healthcare MSPs Offer?

Healthcare MSPs provide workforce management solutions and step in to handle the recruiting, hiring, onboarding, and contracting steps so that administrative healthcare staff are free to focus on other aspects of operating their organizations. In general, a healthcare MSP offers:

  • Talent recruitment
  • Vendor-partner network
  • Contract management
  • Timesheet approvals
  • Regulatory compliance

In some cases, the managed services provider may also pair staffing services with a technology solution—that is, a vendor management system or software—which can provide additional transparency and convenience for administrative and hiring stakeholders.

Benefits of Working with a Healthcare MSP

  • Reduce Time & Labor: With an MSP, you won’t have to spend as much time and effort on sourcing, hiring, and managing a contingent workforce. That includes the work required to stay on top of contracts, schedules, timesheets, invoices, and credentials.
  • Scale Solutions to Needs: Typically, MSPs can work with your facility to scale staffing solutions for temporary or permanent hiring needs. This can be beneficial if you require flexibility due to fluctuating patient needs and workforce gaps over the course of the year.
  • Find & Vet Additional Vendors: If your existing vendors or services aren’t meeting all of your staffing needs, your MSP partner can help deliver new vendor-partner options and additional services or solutions that can fill the gaps where needed.

Vendor Management

A healthcare vendor management system or software (VMS) is a standalone technology solution that allows healthcare organizations to streamline management of a contingent workforce. From mitigating risks and reducing overhead costs to simplifying interactions with third-party vendors, utilizing a vendor management system can make a world of difference for workforce management.

What Does a Healthcare VMS Offer?

Healthcare vendor management software provides automation, transparency, and convenience for hospital executives and operations stakeholders who are addressing staffing shortages and managing contingent labor with the help of vendor-partners. Typically, a VMS offers features and functions, such as:

  • Streamlined contingent labor management
  • Vendor-partner visibility
  • Easy access to candidate records and contracts
  • Invoice and timesheet management
  • Budget tracking
  • Compliance auditing

Benefits of Working with a Healthcare VMS

  • Simplify Processes: Through vendor management systems, you can reduce administrative burden by automating and streamlining processes around hiring, onboarding, communicating with vendor-partners, approving timesheets, invoicing, and more.
  • Manage Documentation: A VMS can help you keep contingent workforce documentation—such as employee records, contracts, and credentials—organized in one place. Not only does this make it easier to review, but it also helps reduce the risk of compliance issues.
  • Review Key Insights: Many healthcare vendor management platforms offer transparency into vendor performance, including details around fill rates and time to fill. This data can provide insight into the effectiveness and overall cost of workforce management solutions.

Workforce Consultation

A healthcare workforce consultation is a service offered by a third-party company in which the company works as an expert guide for hospital executives, HR staff, CNOs/DONs, and other administrative teams to address team engagement, as well as recruitment and retention issues.

What Does a Healthcare Workforce Consulting Service Offer?

Healthcare workforce consultants provide valuable insights into healthcare industry trends, assess consistent pain points with workforce management, create more effective internal talent recruitment strategies, improve communication and engagement among staff, and encourage inclusivity in the workplace, all of which drive an organization’s culture and growth. Consulting services usually include:

  • Evaluation of current tools, systems, and strategies
  • Strategic planning to create sustainable, long-term workforce solutions
  • Guidance on interpreting and utilizing workforce analytics
  • Leadership development and support
  • Cost-benefit analysis
  • Industry insights

Benefits of Working with a Healthcare Workforce Consultant

  • Address Root Causes: A healthcare staffing consultant can help identify communication issues, inefficient processes, unnecessary spending, potentials risks, and more so that you can better address and prevent similar workforce issues from occurring in the future.
  • Utilize Innovative Strategies: By bringing an outside perspective to the table, you’ll be able to learn and implement cutting-edge recruitment and retention strategies that can help your organization effectively hire quality talent and future-proof your operations.
  • Develop Stronger Leaders: Healthcare consulting services that provide leadership training and development programs make it easier for you to build a more successful administrative team, reduce employee burnout, and experience smoother operations overall.

Why TRS Managed Services Is the Partner for Your Organization

Each of the healthcare workforce management services described above have great value individually, but the benefits are even more impactful when combined—which is exactly the experience TRS Managed Services and TRS International offer for organizations like yours.

With over a decade of experience as a managed services provider (MSP) and over 30 years of international recruitment experience, TRS has industry-leading expertise and solutions, including:

  • Dedicated support staff focused on building a partnership with your team
  • Cost-saving talent solutions for nursing and allied health needs, including temporary staffing, permanent staffing, and international direct hire
  • Consulting services to improve team member engagement, talent recruitment, and culture
  • Flexible, scalable workforce management solutions tailored to your unique needs
  • Easy-to-use proprietary VMS for streamlined staffing management
  • And more!

We support healthcare organizations of all sizes, and we have particular expertise with community, critical access hospitals, and rural hospitals. We also have a select range of vendors and affiliate endorsed partners that we work with, such as NRHA, NCHN, IRHA, HINK, and TORCH.

With our recruitment expertise, user-friendly VMS, consultative services, long-term international direct hire options, and commitment to providing exceptional service, TRS Managed Services and TRS International are the partners for your healthcare staffing needs.

Ready to see what we can do for your organization? Schedule a call with the TRS Managed Services or the TRS International team today by filling out this short request form.