The Greatest Threat to Innovation in Healthcare Workforce Management? The Status Quo

As we enter 2025, healthcare systems face a daunting reality: a worsening shortage of clinicians and providers, mounting financial pressures, and unsustainable labor costs. Despite identifying labor costs as a top concern, many health systems continue to rely on large, agency-led Managed Service Providers (MSPs) that perpetuate inefficiencies and inflate costs. The healthcare staffing market, particularly in travel nursing and allied health, is heavily saturated by these large MSPs. Of particular importance is the relationship between the largest MSP’s and the largest staffing agencies. In most cases, the largest staffing agencies in the healthcare staffing space are also the owners of the largest MSP’s. Estimates suggest that 70-80% of all travel nursing orders are managed through MSP’s. This backdrop creates a system where the largest players control both the staffing supply and have significant influence over rates.

This is the status quo in healthcare workforce management. As innovation and change management inside large health systems can sometimes feel overwhelming or out of reach, the status quo may feel “easier.”

Maintaining the status quo is the greatest barrier to innovation in healthcare workforce management. The time is now for healthcare leaders to evaluate their current partnerships and consider innovative solutions that deliver efficiency, flexibility, transparency, and long-term value.

The Hidden Costs of Agency-Led MSPs

The healthcare staffing market—particularly in travel nursing and allied health—is dominated by large, agency-led MSPs. These organizations often prioritize their financial interests over client outcomes, leading to:

• Extended Time-to-Fill: Financial pressures compel large MSPs to hold onto staffing orders longer, attempting to fill roles internally to protect margins, ultimately delaying placements and increasing vacancy costs. This also limits other staffing agencies in providing quality healthcare professionals at potentially lower rates.

• The Status Quo is Expensive: Traditional reliance on 13-week travel contracts and premium agency fees drive up labor expenses.

• Limited Transparency: Lack of real-time data and visibility into contingent workforce spending hampers informed decision-making.

• “Rate Skimming”: Large, agency-led MSP’s often publish openings to their own agency with higher internal rates, and lower rate visibility to other agencies. This practice is often not visible to the hospital/health system. Additionally, this practice creates an environment leading to lower vendor competition that could impact clinical quality and drive-up labor costs.

If labor costs are a top concern, it begs the question—are the largest, agency-owned MSPs truly delivering the greatest value to their clients? Or, do their own interests prevail over yours? This is an important consideration in thoughtfully evaluating MSP partners and options.

Key Considerations for Evaluating Your MSP Partner

1. Advanced Technology Solutions

Does your partner provide technology that aligns with your organizational goals? Innovative workforce technology should:

• Simplify compliance and credentialing processes

• Streamline scheduling and shift fulfillment

• Optimize resource allocation through predictive analytics

2. Transparent Reporting and Actionable Insights

Access to real-time, transparent reporting is essential for informed decision-making. Your MSP should offer:

• Clear, data-driven insights into workforce utilization and spend

• Customizable dashboards for visibility across departments

• Actionable recommendations for continuous improvement

3. Consultative Partnership

A valuable partner acts as a strategic advisor—not merely a service provider. They should:

• Proactively identify workforce challenges and recommend solutions

• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to align staffing strategies with organizational goals

• Provide lower cost solutions and alternatives to the highest-premium travel nursing contracts

• Continuously assess performance and adapt strategies accordingly

4. Proactive Innovation and Solutions

Is your MSP partner driving innovation? An innovative partner should:

• Anticipate market shifts and labor trends

• Introduce forward-thinking workforce strategies

• Offer scalable solutions tailored to evolving workforce needs

5. Clinical Excellence

Does your MSP demonstrate a rigor around providing a service that improves clinical quality? They should:

• Lead clinical and compliance process in partnership with clinical leadership

• Create an environment that promotes competition between staffing agencies that prioritize clinical quality

• Have a lens on candidates submitted for roles that ensures clinical fit for all positions

Trio Workforce Solutions has implemented these principles to help healthcare organizations navigate workforce challenges effectively. By leveraging advanced technology, promoting transparency through actionable data, and fostering collaborative partnerships, we aim to address issues such as rising labor costs, extended time-to-fill, and limited workforce visibility. Our approach also supports more flexible opportunities for clinicians, aligning with the evolving needs of the healthcare industry. The following case studies highlight how these strategies have been applied to achieve meaningful results.

Case Studies: Innovation in Action

Case Study: Improved Integration, Enhanced Efficiency

A leading practice management group with over 5,000 clinicians across 700 facilities, lacked visibility and insights into their physician workforce spend—particularly with 1099 contractors. Trio Workforce Solutions consolidated the practice’s entire physician enterprise—Locums, 1099, and internal contracts—into a single, integrated platform. Through this partnership, the practice gained:

• Full transparency into workforce spend;

• Integration with their HRIS system, Workday, for comprehensive workforce data; and

• Strategic insights enabling data-driven decision-making and proactive workforce planning.

This consultative partnership empowered the practice to optimize their workforce strategy and enhance financial performance.

Case Study: Clinical Flexibility, Decreased Costs

Norman Regional Health System faced escalating contract labor costs. By partnering with Trio Workforce Solutions, they achieved over $10 million in annual savings, a 73 percent reduction in travel agency costs by implementing an external per diem staffing solution. Leveraging Trio Shifts, an integrated shift-based mobile application, Norman Regional built and tapped into a pool of local contractors, reducing reliance on costly 13-week travel contracts. This consultative approach aligned staffing strategies with organizational goals, demonstrating how innovative solutions directly impact cost savings and operational efficiency.

A Call to Action

As healthcare systems grapple with rising labor costs and workforce shortages, and as new innovative approaches have emerged, the time is now to question the value your MSP partner delivers and implement new solutions. Consider:

• Do you know how much you’re truly saving?

• How often does your current provider present proactive solutions that reduce dependence on high premium contingent resources?

• Does their technology enable you to provide other flexible models and provide a seamless, end-to-end process?

• Is your MSP partner driving innovation or an active participant in maintaining the status quo?

It’s time to break free from outdated, high-cost workforce solutions. Partner with a solution provider that prioritizes your success and puts control back into your hands through advanced technology, transparent insights, and proactive strategies.

Challenge the Status quo. Reimagine your workforce strategy. Choose innovation and a partner that empowers it. Contact us today to get started.

About the Author

Bambi Gore is the Chief Clinical Officer at Trio Workforce Solutions, where she leads initiatives focused on improving workforce strategies and delivering quality patient care through innovative staffing solutions.