Quality of labor is decidedly the most important factor that healthcare providers consider when working with staffing agencies, according to the 2014 survey of nurse leaders conducted by ShiftWise, a healthcare vendor management system. The survey gauged the attitudes of nursing leaders throughout healthcare in the U.S with regard to contingent workforce management practices.

Survey participants ranked "quality of labor" as the most important consideration when working with staffing agencies. Cost of labor ranked second, followed by fill rate success.

Other survey takeaways include:

• In-house processes dominate: The majority, 83.7 percent, of nurse leaders say they are meeting contingent staffing demands through the use of processes and technology developed internally. These processes consist of one or more combinations of email, fax and phone communication. Only 9.1 percent utilized a vendor management systems and 4.5 percent utilize a managed service provider.
• Contingent operations continue to function in a silo: Most respondents indicated that each facility manages its own contingent labor whether that’s within a networked system or a single healthcare delivery organization.
• Float pools and use of internal resources are most commonly used to meet staffing shortfalls: Just over half of the respondents say they are using at least some agency, but float pools and internal PRN staff are the most used solution to fill needs.
• VMS vs. MSP: When not considering in-house solutions, VMS holds a slight edge over MSP as a preferred solution to managing contingent labor. This holds true both now and with future expectations.

The survey included 112 nurse leaders in the United States, including but not limited to department managers, directors, vice presidents, executives and officers. Eighty-two percent of participants represented acute care hospitals.

To view the complete survey, click here.