A buyer's guide to effective management of external staffing companies

As one travels the country, it is hard to determine which is the greater problem for hospital chief nursing officers: the shortage of nurses or the cost of staffing. In any case, any effective solution involves vendor management. One of many problems is that the hospital (or health system) is trying to solve staffing issues with a “just-in-time” approach involving many vendors, many units, and even many disciplines. In addition to this, the financial and accounting process has been mainly manual, with each staffing company having distinct invoicing process, timesheets, and other forms for running the program. The sheer time, money, and effort it takes to manage multiple contracts adds significantly to the time/money burden and rarely helps ensure safe staffing in the facilities. The purpose of this article is to explore the many opportunities and pitfalls of developing a strategic partnership with your vendor of choice.