MSP staffing solutions are relatively new from a technology perspective. Staffing agencies have long helped healthcare facilities manage their temporary and permanent placement workers, but new technologies have taken MSP programs to the next level. Technologies like analytics and artificial intelligence are making MSP staffing solutions more like technology partners than just software packages.
The crowning achievement for any MSP solution is a mobile app designed around clinicians. Mobile apps provide that connection point that is so often lacking with MSP programs. They keep clinicians in the loop, facilitate easier recruiting and staffing, and make for quicker matches between clinicians and healthcare facilities looking to hire.
Living in a Mobile World
It is easy to make the case for including a mobile app just by looking at statistics that show we are living in a mobile world. For example, 77% of the American population owns a smart phone. That translates to more than 230 million consumers. As many as 10 billion mobile devices are connected and in use at any given time.
There is no doubt we live in a mobile world. Furthermore, the doctors and nurses that make up the bulk of locum tenens staffing are part of the mobile revolution. They use their phones just as much as anyone else. So why shouldn’t they use those phones to participate in the MSP environment?
Instant Access for Per Diem Contractors
Perhaps a practical example is in order. Imagine you are a per diem contractor who provides clinical services on a day-to-day basis. You do not necessarily want to commit to a single staffing agency and the 3-to-4-month contracts they tend to generate. You would prefer to look for work day-by-day, as you see fit.
Now imagine a mobile app connected to an MSP platform that several local hospitals and staffing agencies participate in. Imagine being able to bring up that app and instantly find open shifts pertaining to your specialty. You do not need to call and speak with a staffing agency rep. You do not have to contact the hospital’s HR department. All you have to do is accept the shift through the app and show up for work when the time comes.
Apps of this nature are not yet widespread. However, they are starting to emerge. It is probably only a matter of time before they become a default component in a typical MSP staffing solution. Solution providers who get on board early will have the advantage in recruiting doctors and nurses.
More Efficient Hiring
Bringing locum tenens providers into the MSP arena with an app not only gives them instant access to opportunities, it also creates more efficient hiring. This is accomplished by prescreening clinicians and setting up standards for things like rates, shifts, locations, etc. Setting up the most important parameters ahead of time eliminates the need to start from scratch every time a clinician takes a new assignment.
The makers of Vista Select say a fully integrated smartphone app would also streamline data gathering and reporting by bringing automation to the equation. For example, every time a doctor accepts an assignment through the app, all the necessary information about that assignment is automatically populated throughout the system. Staffing agency reps can see it, hospital HR staff can see it, and so forth. Efficiency is increased by keeping all data current and in real time.
We live in a mobile world. Every MSP staffing solution for healthcare should include a mobile app that encourages locum tenens providers to participate. A mobile app makes for easier access and more efficient hiring.
