Why Managed Services Providers Should Be Using a VMS for Staffing

Managed Services Providers (MSPs) operate on thin margins in a highly competitive space, especially within the healthcare sector. It’s not easy to provide exceptional client service and competitive pricing and drive profitability simultaneously. You need to work efficiently and cost-effectively. 

A Vendor Management System (VMS) empowers MSPs to manage the entire contingent workforce process from sourcing to payment. By streamlining workflow, you can expand your business to handle any number of suppliers for a broader talent pool and scale quickly as demand increases.

The Benefits of a VMS for Your MSP

Some of the key benefits of employing a VMS to manage your client's healthcare staffing needs include:

• Cost Savings: Centralizing the management of your contingent workforce can reduce the number of vendors and contracts you have to manage manually — saving time and money.
• Increased Efficiency: Automating many manual processes such as candidate screening and selection, onboarding, credentialing, time tracking, payroll, and invoicing increases operational efficiency.
• Manage Compliance Risks: Ensuring compliance with complex compensation packages, bonuses, taxes, and regulatory requirements is crucial. A VMS helps maintain up-to-date credentials and compliance documentation.
• Greater Visibility: Providing granular visibility into worker performance, vendor performance, and satisfaction levels for healthcare professionals is essential for maintaining high standards.
• Access to Talent: Managing a more extensive base of qualified candidates, agencies, and suppliers helps find the best available talent, improving the quality of placements and reducing time-to-hire.
• Flexibility: Providing flexible and scalable solutions to adapt as market conditions change is key to staying competitive.
• Mobile Accessibility: Many healthcare professionals need mobile-friendly solutions due to the nature of their work, enabling them to manage shifts and credentials on the go.
• Cost Management: Understanding and managing costs associated with regular staff, contingent staff, and overtime is crucial for balancing budgets with staffing needs.
• Fraud Prevention: The high risk of vendor fraud due to complex staffing and invoicing systems necessitates having a system to detect and prevent fraudulent activities.
• Workflows and Customization: Each healthcare organization has unique workflows that need to be supported, and systems must allow for customization to fit specific organizational processes.
• Data and Analytics: Robust reporting and analytics are essential for tracking performance and cost savings, helping MSPs make informed decisions.
• Quality of Care: Ensuring the quality of care through effective staff management and fit within the system is critical. The ability to rate and manage individual staff performance helps maintain high care standards.
• Reducing Dependency on Agencies: Building a pool of previously hired staff reduces reliance on external agencies and streamlines the process of re-hiring known and trusted staff.

When evaluating VMS solutions, focusing on a system designed for healthcare that provides these sorts of benefits is paramount.

The Importance of a VMS Designed for Healthcare

Healthcare has unique challenges for MSPs. You need to source and place a wide range of healthcare jobs, each with specific requirements and certifications. A VMS designed for healthcare helps you manage these complexities effectively, giving you tools to manage such things as:

• Credentialing and Compliance: Ensuring documentation is current before submitting a healthcare worker is critical. The right system will track all state and facility credentials for individual jobs and send reminders for expiring certifications.
• Shift and Assignment Management: Managing shifts and longer-term assignments, such as travel nursing, requires setting rules around day and night shifts, overtime, and automating notifications to healthcare professionals via mobile devices.
• Tiering of Staffing Agencies: A VMS can help juggle multiple staffing agencies by creating tiered structures based on performance metrics. Top-tier providers get the first shot at filling jobs, ensuring the best possible matches.
• Quality of Care: Facility managers can rate placements, making it easier to provide the best possible candidates to meet quality standards.
• Needs Assessment: Evaluate your organization’s current and future workforce requirements. Identify bottlenecks or gaps where a VMS can drive efficiencies, helping to identify key features needed and benchmarks to gauge success.
• Evaluating VMS Solutions: Assess potential VMS partners to ensure they can handle the unique needs of healthcare staffing, credentialing, and time sheets.
• Integrating VMS Solutions: Work with an experienced VMS provider to guide the integration process, focusing on workflow mapping, data migration, and data integrity.
• Collaboration and Customization: A sold VMS can be customized to integrate with your workflow. Not all VMS providers can meet the rigid requirements for healthcare staffing or adapt their software to specific environments.
  
  

Elevate Your Staffing Services

Adopting a more effective and organized staffing process is crucial for Managed Services Providers operating in the competitive healthcare industry. Leveraging a robust VMS can significantly enhance your operational efficiency, ensure compliance, and provide superior client service.

For an in-depth guide on optimizing your staffing processes with a VMS, download our latest ebook, Optimizing Healthcare Staffing with a Vendor Management System. This detailed guide delves into utilizing a VMS to boost productivity, ensure regulatory adherence, and provide outstanding value to your healthcare clients. Get your hands on this vital resource—download it now to revolutionize your staffing approach and enhance your service delivery.