HWL Insights

For today’s nursing leaders, clinical excellence depends on getting the right clinicians into the right units — all while maintaining compliance, controlling labor costs, and supporting care teams in a challenging workforce landscape.

Healthcare never stops, and neither do the challenges that disrupt staffing. Pandemics, natural disasters, sudden medical group transitions, and unplanned leaves of absence can strike without warning, putting patient care at risk. When these moments hit, healthcare organizations need skilled, compassionate providers who can step in immediately and maintain continuity of care. This is where locums agencies shine. 

I was speaking to an executive in a health system that was six months into having implemented an MSP with a very large staffing agency that had promised everything under the sun from customer service, fill rates, quality and cost savings. I was not shocked to hear that almost none of the promises from sales had materialized.

Healthcare demand for locum tenens and contingent staffing has never been higher. The pandemic highlighted how critical staffing agencies are for delivering qualified providers quickly, but also exposed weaknesses in service quality, compliance, and transparency. As healthcare organizations rely on external staffing partners, vendor-neutral VMS/MSP platforms must streamline talent access while holding agencies accountable to higher service standards.

Healthcare organizations face unprecedented challenges in managing contingent labor costs, vendor relationships, and workforce optimization. Strategic vendor management systems deliver measurable cost savings, enhanced transparency, and oversight of contingent staffing programs—positioning procurement professionals to drive meaningful ROI while maintaining operational excellence.

The healthcare industry has become an increasingly complex balancing act. Between regulatory changes, staffing shortages, and patient volume fluctuations, running a healthcare organization today feels like performing surgery while the operating room transforms around you. The question isn't whether unexpected challenges will hit your facility—it's when, and how ready you'll be to handle them. 

HWL executives, Jeff Niles, Executive Vice President, and Tommy Binner, Vice President, hosted the Becker’s Healthcare Webinar, How Hospitals Can Get an Upper Hand on Contract Staffing, that discusses the distinctions between vendor-neutral Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and master agency MSPs, highlighting the advantages of partnering with a non-agency staffing provider. The HWL leaders were joined by Maxine Briggs, CFO, Samaritan Health, and Meghan Fay-McCaffrey, Network Director Physician Services, UVMHN Medical Group, as they explained how the vendor-neutral MSP model has impacted their organizations for the better.

Healthcare companies have been finding creative ways to minimize skill gaps through qualified talent for decades now. Staffing shortages were exacerbated throughout the pandemic, with some recovery happening in recent years. Most organizations became dependent on contingent labor in some form or another, for good reason — since 2020, nearly one in five healthcare workers left their jobs and recent surveys suggest that 47% of U.S. healthcare workers plan on leaving their positions by 2025.

Are you paying market rates for Locums? Or are you overpaying? If you are negotiating rates with agencies individually and without the benefit of a competitive process you are most likely overpaying. The reality is that most health systems do not do a great job ensuring that they are competitive in the marketplace and not being overcharged for fees and conversions.

Vendor Management Systems (VMS) streamline and standardize the management of contingent workers across the healthcare organization to reduce costs and increase time saved. Whether it’s Local or Travel, Contract or Per Diem, Clinical or Non-Clinical, a robust VMS will deliver heightened visibility, efficiency, and compliance into your operations. Learn how Lahey Hospital and Medical Center leveraged HWL VMS technology to consolidate contract hiring and monitor contingent workforce performance across the organization.

Healthcare Workforce logistics (HWL) has been engaged to manage a Locums Managed Service Program (MSP) for Healthcare Council of the National Capital Area (HCNCA) and National Capital Area Shared Services (NCASS) including HWL proprietary Locums VMS.

Healthcare Workforce logistics (HWL) has been engaged to manage a Locums Managed Service Program (MSP) for Maine Hospital Solutions (MHS) including HWL proprietary Locums VMS.

Healthcare Workforce logistics (HWL) has been engaged to manage a Locums Managed Service Program (MSP) for the Colorado Hospital Association (CHA) including HWL proprietary Locums VMS.

Healthcare Workforce logistics (HWL) has been engaged to manage a Locums Managed Service Program (MSP) for the Arizona Healthcare and Hospital Association (AzHHA) including HWL proprietary Locums VMS.