Escalating patient demand and deep shortages of clinical professionals have made talent acquisition one of the most important issues facing healthcare organizations today.
Hospitals and other providers around the country are struggling to hire enough qualified nurses, physicians, allied workers and other staff to address their growing patient demand.
In the face of these mounting challenges, many healthcare providers have turned to workforce solutions experts for help, including second-generation Managed Service Programs (MSPs), which have expanded on traditional MSP services in new and important ways.
What is a second-generation MSP?
The technology industry, among others, have been using MSPs for years, but this service only arrived in healthcare in the last decade. With a first-generation MSP, an outside expert team partners with an organization to help manage staffing vendors that supply the company with contingent workers. This model gives the healthcare organization a single point of contact for the oversight of contingent staffing vendors and frees up internal human resources staff for other duties. It provides needed visibility, cost control, and business agility that otherwise is lacking in many organizations today.
Since its introduction, MSP use has grown rapidly in the healthcare industry as organizations recognized the cost savings and efficiencies of partnerships for the management of multiple staffing vendors.
But, as healthcare labor shortages have reached unprecedented levels, and talent acquisition challenges have become more complex, MSP providers have begun to offer a wider array of services. The second-generation MSP offers expanded, integrated and strategic support to aid healthcare clients in recruiting, hiring and managing both their contingent and permanent workforce.
Service areas of a quality second-generation MSP
The array of services provided by a second-generation MSP is limited only by the MSP provider’s expertise and resources. In selecting a high-quality MSP, healthcare organizations should seek an expert team that can help them solve any workforce challenge they may encounter. In particular, second-generation MSPs should be strategic and help organizations anticipate future needs along with solving immediate problems. A quality MSP today understands that clients need help planning as well as managing their workforce to optimize staff use.
Some key abilities to look for include:
• Cutting-edge, technology-enabled sourcing strategies for accessing top quality healthcare professionals. These strategies should include access to a large national candidate database and the broadest digital footprint possible for reaching and engaging healthcare clinicians for hire. Digital sourcing tools such as social media, mobile platforms, search engines and websites are important, as well as customized metrics that align to the goals of the organization.
• Predictive analytics technology that enables accurate forecasting of staffing needs based on patient demand and other factors several weeks to several months in advance. This capability allows healthcare organizations to save on labor costs and improve staff satisfaction by eliminating last minute scheduling changes and reducing overtime and bonus pay.
• Advanced labor management tools to optimize and deploy staff. Strategies and processes that help healthcare organizations optimize their permanent and contingent staff, aligning their workforce to future patient demand forecasts.
• State-of-the-art automation of processes such as time-keeping, billing and credentialing. This critical capability, which includes comprehensive candidate vetting to ensure up-to-date licenses and certifications, frees internal staff from time-consuming evaluation procedures and mitigates risks associated with worker misclassification.
Since workforce challenges may include both clinical and nonclinical personnel, a second-generation MSP should also include services to source a broad range of healthcare staff, including IT, executives, support jobs and other positions.
In summary, a quality second-generation MSP offers healthcare providers a strategic partnership that can solve a wide variety of contingent and permanent workforce challenges, while freeing up staff to focus their energies and resources on maintaining patient care excellence.
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