Thanks to all of the participants in our 2017 US Allied Health and Advanced Practice Benchmarking Survey. Across the 12 respondents, there was a total of $429 million in allied health staffing for the first half of 2017 ($858 million on an annualized basis). This represents approximately 22% of the total US allied healthcare temporary staffing market, by our estimate. The full report has been distributed to survey participants. A few findings from the survey are below:

• Total allied healthcare temporary staffing revenue among our sample of survey respondents increased 11% from the first half of 2016 (1H16) to the first half of 2017 (1H17), with a 13% increase in volume (hours billed) partially offset by a 2% decrease in the aggregate bill rate. A greater mix of modalities with relatively low bill rates (such as OT assistants and those in “other allied”) was a factor in decreasing the overall bill rate.
• Average bill rates ranged from $52.08 for “other allied” to $81.28 for pharmacists.
• Staffing of physical therapists (PT), medical technologists (MT) and occupational therapists (OT) made up the three largest categories in our survey, with 21%, 12% and 11% of reported allied health staffing revenue, respectively. Revenue from PT and MT staffing grew 8% and 14%, respectively, from 1H16 to 1H17. OT staffing revenue declined by 6% over the same period.
• Overall, 28% of allied health staffing revenue accounted for in this survey passed through a managed service provider (MSP) and 32% through a vendor management system (VMS).
• Total advanced practice revenue grew by 21% from 1H16 to 1H17.
• Among allied health and advanced practice occupations, the three cited as most difficult to recruit (on a scale from one to five with five being most difficult) were nurse practitioner (4.3), OT (4.1) and CRNA (4.0).

For getting the most use from our benchmarking survey results, we recommend focusing on the most relevant metrics for your company’s situation and strategy, and comparing your company’s baseline performance in those metrics to peer group results. Investigate any causes for performance variances, and where necessary develop an improvement plan, and finally implement, measure again and follow up.