How Traditional and Modern MSPs Differ in Healthcare Staffing
Healthcare facilities struggling with staffing often turn to managed service providers (MSPs) for several reasons, from streamlined vendor management to consistent care delivery. As the healthcare landscape evolves, MSPs are stepping away from traditional staffing approaches and embracing modern workforce practices that align with today's demands.`
What Is an MSP in Healthcare Staffing?
An MSP is a one-stop workforce solution for managing all your healthcare staffing agencies in one place. Instead of juggling multiple contacts and processes, the MSP handles everything for you—making it easier to find and manage the credentialed healthcare professionals you need on a per diem, short-term, long-term, or permanent basis. This flexibility ensures your organization can maintain optimal staffing levels and deliver uninterrupted patient care, regardless of fluctuating demands.
MSP vs. VMS
While managed service provider (MSP) and vendor management system (VMS) are frequently used terms in the recruitment field, they often cause confusion due to their overlapping functions. However, each serves a unique role within a healthcare staffing strategy.
MSPs are third-party organizations that manage the end-to-end process of sourcing and managing contingent workers. In contrast, a VMS is a software platform that automates and streamlines the management of vendors and contingent workforce suppliers.
Think of MSP vs. VMS in terms of a restaurant and reservation system. The MSP is the restaurant staff responsible for providing a full-service experience and handling all the logistics to deliver a great meal. The VMS is the reservation system that helps organize, track, and manage reservations. In short, the MSP handles the operational work, whereas the VMS manages the tools and processes to support it.
Traditional vs. Modern Healthcare MSPs
Now that we've covered the difference between an MSP and a VMS, let's discuss traditional vs. modern MSPs. In healthcare staffing, traditional managed service providers operate similarly to the "break/fix" model used in IT. These MSPs focus on reactive solutions, filling staffing gaps when problems arise, such as unexpected call-offs or staffing shortages. While this approach solves immediate issues, it's often limited by its focus on crisis management rather than proactive workforce planning.
Much like the pre-cloud, infrastructure-centric IT services, traditional staffing MSPs rely on manual processes and on-site management. They are equipped to handle in-person, last-minute staffing needs but may not offer the flexibility and advanced solutions that modern, digital staffing platforms provide. This can lead to inefficiencies, as the focus remains on fixing urgent gaps rather than optimizing staffing strategies to prevent shortages or improve workforce utilization.
In contrast, modern healthcare MSPs are evolving beyond this reactive model, adopting cloud-based platforms and data-driven tools for predictive staffing, better workforce planning, and a more agile response to changing healthcare demands. These modern approaches aim to prevent staffing gaps and ensure more proactive and efficient healthcare workforce management.
4 Ways Modern MSPs Outperform Traditional MSPs
1. Driving Rapid Healthcare Innovations
Modern MSPs accelerate digital transformation within healthcare staffing. They help streamline shift management and credentialing processes and enable real-time communication between healthcare facilities and staffing agencies. Modern MSPs bring the necessary resources to optimize staffing operations—something traditional MSPs often lack. This capability ensures that healthcare organizations can meet patient care demands more efficiently while driving operational improvements.
2. Empowering Evidence-Based Staffing Decisions
Modern MSPs enhance data-driven decision-making by leveraging workforce analytics and business intelligence tools. This helps healthcare organizations spot staffing gaps, optimize scheduling, and improve program outcomes. Traditional MSPs may not have the expertise to fully utilize data visualization software or workforce data analytics to make informed decisions on staff utilization, shift management, or workforce planning.
3. Leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Modern MSPs harness AI to personalize the staffing experience, automate repetitive tasks, and improve healthcare workforce management. Through AI-powered tools like predictive scheduling and virtual assistants, they help automate administrative processes, improving user experiences and staff engagement. Traditional MSPs cannot integrate advanced AI solutions, such as virtual agents for automating shift requests or AI-driven workforce management systems to improve staff allocation and reduce burnout.
4. Enhancing Data Protection in Healthcare Staffing
While traditional MSPs focus on network and device-centric security, modern MSPs ensure data protection at the application and user levels. With advanced security tools, modern MSPs safeguard sensitive employee and patient data, reducing risks associated with breaches or unauthorized access. This holistic approach to cybersecurity is crucial in maintaining compliance with healthcare regulations, something traditional MSPs often overlook.
5 Things to Look for in a Modern Healthcare MSP
Utilizing a modern MSP for healthcare staffing can transform your shift fulfillment, boost operational efficiency, and deliver significant cost savings. To fully capitalize on these benefits, choosing the right MSP is essential. Here are five things to look for:
1. Diverse Sourcing and Recruitment
Choose a healthcare MSP that provides access to a diverse pool of credentialed healthcare professionals across various disciplines and specialties, ensuring your organization can deliver quality, continuous patient care anytime, anywhere.
The ShiftMed Unlimited Network is a modern digital MSP that offers access to over a million credentialed healthcare professionals from 1,000+ reputable staffing agencies nationwide. The network features nurses, respiratory therapists, allied healthcare professionals, and more.
2. Credentialing and Compliance
Choose a healthcare MSP that uses advanced technology to streamline credentialing, centralize compliance data, and automate real-time monitoring of licenses and certifications. It should also provide transparent records for easy audits and compliance reporting.
The ShiftMed Unlimited Network's cloud-based credentialing process reduces onboarding time by an average of 40%, allowing healthcare workers to upload credentials from anywhere. It also facilitates background checks and monitors credential renewals.
3. Task Automation
Choose a healthcare MSP that enhances operational efficiency by leveraging AI-powered tools to match healthcare professionals with open shifts based on qualifications, availability, cost, and location. It should also streamline time tracking and payroll processing to minimize errors and generate automated reports on staffing metrics, compliance, and performance for quicker decision-making.
The ShiftMed Unlimited Network utilizes Intelligent Routing™ Software to identify the best-qualified and cost-effective staff for shift fulfillment, notifying workers in real-time through advanced app technology.
4. Cost-Saving Strategies
Choose a healthcare MSP that delivers substantial labor savings while ensuring optimal staffing ratios and quality care, with practical strategies to minimize overtime expenses and surge pricing.
The ShiftMed Unlimited Network enables healthcare staffing agencies to compete for shift vacancies, allowing facilities to secure competitive rates and identify the most cost-effective contingency labor for their needs.
5. Fair Pricing Structure
Choose a healthcare MSP that doesn't charge staffing agency fees for filling shift vacancies. Traditional models can create significant cost disadvantages as fees accumulate, impacting budget allocations. By opting for a fee-free MSP, organizations can streamline staffing processes and manage workforce needs more cost-effectively.
The ShiftMed Unlimited Network does not charge staffing agencies to join its network and offers pay-as-you-go staffing, allowing healthcare organizations to avoid any upfront investments.
Conclusion
Using the proper healthcare MSP is vital for optimizing staffing processes and enhancing operational efficiency in today's dynamic healthcare environment. Modern MSPs offer advantages over traditional models, including innovative technologies, data-driven decision-making, and robust cost-saving strategies.
By selecting an MSP that provides diverse sourcing, streamlined credentialing, task automation, fair pricing, and a commitment to compliance, healthcare organizations can effectively meet patient care demands while maximizing their resources.
The ShiftMed Unlimited Network exemplifies these modern practices, empowering facilities to achieve staffing goals and improve overall care quality. Schedule a workforce consultation to see how the ShiftMed Unlimited Network can optimize your staffing processes and ensure quality patient care.