Staffing Industry Analysts, in partnership with the National Association of Travel Healthcare Organizations, conducted the 2019 SIA NATHO Travel Nurse Benchmarking Survey. The full results of the survey were published last week directly to the respondent organizations. The 33 companies participating in the survey reported a total of $3.6 billion in US travel nurse staffing revenue for 2018, which represented 68% of the estimated $5.3 billion market size in 2018. Key findings from the survey:

• Among survey respondents, 2018 aggregate travel nurse revenue was reported to be flat compared with the prior year, with hours billed volume growth of 2% during the same period. The flat revenue growth was in relative alignment with the 1% travel nurse staffing revenue growth estimated for 2018 in SIA’s April 2019 Staffing Industry Forecast. Revenue growth reported in the survey varied widely, with respondents at the 75^th percentile experiencing double-digit growth and respondents at the 25^th percentile experiencing double-digit contraction.
• 56% of aggregate 2018 revenue was reported as being generated through a managed service provider. An additional 16% of aggregate 2018 revenue was reported as being generated through a standalone vendor management system. In total, 72% of 2018 travel nurse revenue was reported as being generated through an MSP and/or VMS. This was up from 69% reported for 2017.
• The aggregate bill rate reported across respondents was $72.97, down from $74.59 reported for 2017. Aggregate gross margin and SGA expense were reported to be 26.1% and 14.8% of revenue, respectively, leaving an aggregate EBITDA margin of 11.3%.
• Aggregate gross margin of 26.1% was down 30 basis points from 2017. The increase in cost of sales as a percentage of revenue was due mainly to higher housing expense (housing and stipends) and meals and incidental per diems paid, offset by lower wages, bonuses and payroll taxes reported. 

Highlights from the study will be discussed at SIA’s 2019 Healthcare Staffing Summit, which is being held Nov. 6 through Nov. 8 in Las Vegas. The full SIA NATHO report is available only to healthcare staffing companies that completed the survey. Companies interested in participating in next year’s annual survey should contact Amy Chang, healthcare analyst, at achang@staffingindustry.com.