What do hospital leaders actually want from staffing firms? A leader and former RN at one of those staffing firms put herself in your shoes and published an article on Staffing Industry Analysis that she believes answers that question.
Acknowledging that the relationship between hospital leaders and staffing partners “often feels strained,” Susan E. Ball, executive VP, chief administrative officer, general counsel and corporate secretary of staffing firm Cross Country Healthcare, writes that the tension reflects “a major disconnect” – specifically, a deficiency among staffing firms in terms of technology.
“Hospitals are investing in digital transformation, yet their staffing partners are failing to leverage technology — particularly AI and predictive analytics,” writes Ms. Ball. “Instead, they’re relying on outdated, reactive models that are failing to meet the evolving needs of health systems. The future belongs to partners who evolve beyond transactional staffing into strategic workforce support.”
She then granularly examines the staffing issue and what she calls “digital transformation” through the lenses of hospital finance, clinical and procurement leaders.
“Hospitals want staffing partners who act as long-term collaborators, not short-term arbitrageurs,” writes Ms. Ball. She believes CFOs, CNEs and procurement leaders crave confidence that their staffing partner provides consistency in clinician quality and communication, competitive pricing informed by data, clinicians who honor commitments, proactive rather than reactive partnership, accountability when things go wrong and, “increasingly,” partners who leverage AI and advanced analytics for smarter workforce planning that anticipates needs, reduces emergency staffing and aligns decisions with sustainability.
Obviously, while Ms. Ball is implicitly pitching the bona fides of her own staffing firm, she does provide significant food for thought for hospital leaders who are looking to reboot or optimize their relationships with their own staffing firms and leverage data as they move forward together into an ever-uncertain labor future.
Read Ms. Ball's full article here.
