The challenges of healthcare delivery have grown in recent years. As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to create difficulties for organizations of all types, more facilities and providers are turning to managed services to help meet their needs. But choosing a managed service provider is no small task! It’s a major decision that needs to be considered from a variety of angles.
Yes, most healthcare managed services providers (MSPs) specialize in helping facilities and home health providers shore up critical gaps in the workforce or administration. But not all MSPs are created equally, and what works for one organization may not work for another. With that in mind, here’s a rundown of the most important questions to ask before choosing a managed service provider.
Workforce & Recruitment Questions
1. Can you provide a full range of healthcare workers across the United States?
The foundation of any effective healthcare MSP is a strong, reliable clinical workforce. Especially today, when workers are in short supply, and skilled nurses and clinicians are more difficult to find than ever. Questions about the quality and quantity of workers offered should be among the first questions you ask.
Whether you run a smaller facility or are in charge of staffing for an entire region, having a nationwide network of workers to draw upon could make all the difference in meeting your staffing ratios and patient care goals. With that in mind, you’ll want to choose a managed service provider that doesn’t just offer workers in your region, but can also offer travel nurses and clinicians from around the country.
2. Do you cover all clinical specialties?
On top of offering healthcare professionals from around the country, make sure that your MSP partner also has you covered with the full range of clinical specialties. That means not only nurses, therapists and techs but also nurse managers, speech-language pathologists, home health workers, pharmacists, and more.
Depending on the type of facility you run, you may also want to find a partner with specific expertise staffing a variety of settings like skilled nurse and long-term care facilities, as well as educational and correctional facilities.
> Did you know? CareerStaff Unlimited specializes in offering skilled workers in all types of specialties, for a huge variety of facility types. Find out more here.
3. What do nurses and clinicians think of your company?
A managed service provider that specializes in healthcare recruitment should have a great track record with the nurses and clinicians in their network. If they don’t offer testimonials from those workers — or if they offer too few — it may be a red flag.
For example, CareerStaff Unlimited offers a monthly “Clinicians of the Month” feature that highlights outstanding workers in our network. We know how important it is to recognize valuable workers, and we’re proud to highlight a few of these amazing workers every month. You can browse some recent CareerStaff Clinicians of the Month here.
“My recruiters are my favorite part of working with CareerStaff,” says Debbie, a January 2022 Clinician of the Month. “The personal touch — they are awesome!”
Technology & Infrastructure Questions
4. Can you cover other workforce and administrative needs?
A premium network of nurses and clinicians is essential when choosing a healthcare MSP. But that’s just the beginning. Your MSP partner should also be able to complement those professionals with an entire range of workforce solutions, including administrative tasks like billing and payroll, employer of record services, IC compliance services, and any necessary implementation of vendor management services.
On top of ensuring that you get the right workers at the right time, these workforce solutions can also drive cost savings and help your operation run more smoothly and efficiently. And that can save you valuable time in labor hours, as well as improve your reputation and help you compete in a sometimes crowded healthcare delivery marketplace.
5. Can you help ensure continuity?
It’s critical to ensure that your MSP partner is equipped to help you weather any storm — figuratively, and literally. Today, natural disasters like storms and wildfires, combined with other crisis situations like pandemics and severe staff shortages, put healthcare providers at greater risk than ever before. So, make sure that your partner has a plan to ensure continuity of care for when catastrophe strikes.
6. Can you adapt to our technology — and improve it?
Your healthcare MSP should be able to adapt to your existing systems, and improve them, as applicable. That means having the power to automate important processes like regulatory compliance and contract labor management. It also means offering vendor-neutral technology for greater efficiency and resource optimization, so you don’t have to make costly changes to your own infrastructure.
> Did you know? CareerStaff Unlimited is proud to offer vendor-neutral technology services that adapt to every aspect of your existing systems for maximum efficiency and cost savings. Learn more here.
Reliability & Expertise Questions
7. What’s your track record? Are you an established, known service provider?
Healthcare workforce solutions has become a major industry, with more and more organizations throwing their hat in the ring. But not all healthcare MSPs are created equally, and nowhere is that truer than when it comes to reliability. Make sure that you’re not left in the cold, and that you choose a managed service provider with decades of experience and a significant footprint nationwide.
> Did you know? CareerStaff Unlimited has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for Health Care Staffing Services Certification. Read more here.
8. Do you offer customized, carve-out solutions?
No two healthcare organizations are exactly the same. As such, an effective MSP solution should be able to adapt to meet your specific needs. Whether your priority is staffing, compliance, growth, strategic re-alignment, or another area of focus, make sure that you choose a managed service provider flexible enough to offer a solution that’s truly customized to meet your needs.
9. Can you provide assistance 24/7?
Getting assistance with big-picture challenges is extremely important. But it doesn’t mean much if your partner isn’t available during an unexpected moment of need. The healthcare MSP you choose is available to take your calls 25 hours a day, 365 days a year, and can ensure a quick response to make sure that you always have access to the help you need, when and where you need it.
Choose a Managed Service Provider with Experience and Expertise
Offering decades of experience, Joint Commission certification, a network of thousands of healthcare professionals, and much more, CareerStaff Unlimited can meet all of the above requirements, and much more. Discover how we can help you meet your managed service and workforce needs — contact us today or request a consultation now.