Staffing Robot - Healthcare Staffing Technology, Design & Marketing Blog

Breaking News: Concerro Acquired by API Healthcare

 

Big news today in the healthcare staffing industry. Concerro has announced they have been acquired by API Healthcare. Concerro, is a provider of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) staffing and scheduling systems for healthcare. 

 

 Concerro’s products and client base are the perfect complement to API Healthcare’s existing solutions and markets,” said J.P. Fingado, president and chief executive officer, API Healthcare. “Working together we will reinforce our mutual commitment to innovation and dedication to the healthcare industry. This strategic move allows us to leverage a larger number of talented, diverse and clinically-based staff to deliver the high quality of service that separates API Healthcare from our competitors.

This acquisition further consolidates the tech staffing space for healthcare staffing. In recent years API acquired Clearview and Concerro acquired Res-Q Healthcare Systems. Having all of this tech under the banner of API Healthcare will further increase their dominance in the healthcare staffing industry.

Official Press Release: API Healthcare Acquires Concerro

Workforce Logic Acquired by Zero Chaos

The Staffing Industry Analysts reported big news in the VMS space yesterday by announcing Zero Chaos's acquisition of Workforce Logic. The deal was offically closed last Thursday.

“The fusion of ZeroChaos and WorkforceLogic will be a powerful force in the workforce management solutions market, with the combined infrastructure, global presence and financial stability of two incredibly strong companies,” said WorkforceLogic CEO Catherine Candland.

 

You can read the full story by the SIA here: ZeroChaos Buys VMS and MSP Provider

Or the Press Release here: ZeroChaos Buys Competitor Workforce Logic

 

VMS and MSP Growth Slowing: SIA Reports

The Staffing Industry Analysts are reporting data suggesting VMS and MSP adoption is slowing.

The percent of large buyers reporting use of VMS and/or MSP in 2011 was roughly flat with the previous year, according to just-released research from Staffing Industry Analysts.

The full report is behind a paywall unfortunately, but the summary is available. It would be very interesting to see the data as it relates specific staffing segments.

Back in 2009 we posted a snapshot estimating VMS/MSP adoption based on the VMS/MSP providers in the healthcare staffing industry. This was just a high level estimate but already seemed to identify a market nearing saturation. There are only about 5000 hospitals across the nation and now, almost 3 years later, there have been new players in the industry and VMS/MSP adoption increased dramatically. In healthcare staffing, it makes sense that adoption would slow. 

Any signs or data suggesting that's the case (or not the case)? Post in the comments below.

 

VMS Revenue Continues to Surge Even During Recession

Think everyone struggled in staffing over the last couple of years? Think again. According to new research and data released from the Staffing Industry Analysts, temporary staffing spend run through VMS systems increased in both 2008 and 2009.

In their latest VMS/MSP Competitive Landscape Report they site that:

"U.S. temporary staffing spend through VMS increased by 15%, from $23.0 billion in 2008 to $26.5 billion in 2009."

Perhaps just as interesting, although the acceptance and popularity of the MSP model has seemed to increase, the revenues here remained flat.

You can read more about the topic here: Estimate of U.S. VMS and MSP markets

 

API Healthcare Launches New Workforce Management Product - Synergy

At the end of last year we blogged about healthcare staffing trends and predictions for 2011. One of the things we discussed was a hope for more tech advances in the industry. It seems API Healthcare is making great strides toward this effort.

Yesterday, API Healthcare annouced the release of API Healthcare Synergy. API Healthcare Synergy states to be the first fully integrated, single-platform workforce management solution for the healthcare staffing industry. The promise of the software is that it eliminates the need for multiple workforce management systems. The application is based on real-time patient needs data to identify the best patient-caregiver match of available healthcare professionals and their skill sets.

“By using intuitive workforce management technology to ensure the right patient-caregiver connection, organizations will not only see more positive outcomes; they will also position themselves to realize more positive financial results,” said J.P. Fingado, president and chief executive officer, API Healthcare. “The overall outcome is better patient care and a more balanced workload among nurses. Better equity leads to happier, more productive employees, which benefits the patients and is good for the organization as a whole.”

We had a chance to get a sneak peek at the application and its features last year at the Healthcare Staffing Summit and we're really impressed with the technology and the benefits it affords both hospitals and heatlhcare staffing companies.

Some of these features include:

• Open shift management tools for employee schedule selection, and shift requesting and trading.
• Mobile Device Communication tools for shift broadcasting and fulfilment.
• Overtime analysis tools providing managers with insight into preventable, scheduled and projected overtime.

Top Healthcare Staffing News of 2010 and Predictions for 2011

At the end of 2009 we recapped the top stories in the healthcare staffing industry and made our predictions for healthcare staffing industry trends in 2010. As 2010 now comes to a close, it's interesting to see how we did on these predictions, reflect on industry events in 2010 and make some predictions on healthcare staffing trends in 2011.

The Healthcare Staffing Industry in 2010

Healthcare Staffing and the Economy 2011
The macro economic effects on the healthcare staffing industry were still the big stories this year. The SIA's 2010 Healhtcare Staffing Summit gave us all some great insight and data on this topic. While not as dire as the economic downturn in 2009, the news was still mostly a downer.

In 2010 hospitals still struggled with everything from reduced budgets to nationwide nursing strikes. All of this caused hospital job growth to slow dramatically and negatively impacted the revenue for the entire industry. While the revenue dropped for almost every company (large and small) in the healthcare staffing industry, perhaps the most notable news was learning Medical Staffing Network filed for bankruptcy in 2010.

The bad economy also claimed a few tech companies in the healthcare staffing industry in 2010. One of the largest was Healthcare VMS provider, Symbio Solutions, who filed for bankruptcy in 2010.

Negative changes in the economy produce acquisitions in every industry and the healthcare staffing industry was no exception. ABRY Partners made news with their acquisition of Comforce late in the year. However, the biggest merger news of 2010 was AMN's acquisition of Medfinders. This alliance will definitely be a game changer in 2011, particularly on the vendor management side of things.

There was also a lot of news this year regarding healthcare staffing tech company acquisitions. Concerro was one of the first, expanding their client base and service offerings by acquiring Res-Q Healthcare Systems. More significantly, however, were the acquisitions of Medefis by OnWard Healthcare and Symbio Solutions by Broadlane. Broadlane picked up the remaining assets from Symbio's bankruptcy and Onward Healthcare made a bold move by acquiring the once, vendor neutral, Medefis VMS technology.

New Technology Products for Healthcare Staffing in 2010
2010 also brought the introduction of some new software applications to the industry. Tweetdeck announced a new tool for recruiters called Job Deck, while Concerro launched their new IPhone scheduling app. Amistaff also launched a fantastic new product called Prophecy to help hospitals with employee hiring assessments. Finally, we can't leave out our or own product - ePromoter. Staffing Robot launched ePromoter in September as the first email marketing software designed and created specifically for managing healthcare staffing email marketing campaigns.

Successful Marketing Strategies for Healthcare Staffing Companies in 2010
This year, healthcare staffing companies found their most successful marketing efforts on the web. There were many changes to both search and social marketing this year that companies had to pay attention to. While Bing made itself a respected search competitor, Google decided it was time for their searches to get more social. And then Bing got really social by being the first search engined allowed to search facebook.

Although many things changed this year for social media marketing, the top stories were all about Facebook. Facebook is perhaps the best place for healthcare staffing companies to market on the web. The biggest news from Facebook was the announcement of their new 'Like' button. This simple button is changing a lot on the web in terms of how companies interact with their audience. It even started getting people asking which was more important - search engine or social network optimization.

Another marketing strategy some healthcare staffing companies took in 2010 was rebranding. Access Nurses became Aya Healthcare and Broadlane rebranded their VMS division to Prolucent. The biggest news, however, was the fact that AMN rebranded after some large acquisitions and expanding their service offerings.

Staffing Robot
Our company also went through a lot of changes this year. The most significant change being that we went from simply being a healthcare staffing blog to a full service website design and marketing company for the healthcare staffing industry. We also launched a healthcare industry news service called The Healthcare Staffing Report. Look for more changes from us in this next year as we continue to grow, expand our service offerings and launch new staffing related software products.

So, like we said, 2010 was a very eventful year for the healthcare staffing industry. So what will the next year bring?

Our Predictions for Healthcare Staffing in 2011

Further Consolidation of Staffing Agencies and Tech Companies
Although there was a lot of acquisition activity in 2010 we haven't seen the end of it. Unfortunately, many healthcare staffing agencies are still hoping for a major rebound in the economy to keep them in business. When this doesn't happen they will be looking to sell. In addition, stronger partnerships and mergers amongst small to medium players are going to be necessary to compete with the size of companies like AMN.

Tech companies in the healthcare staffing industry will be no exception. In the last decade, many tech companies have started in the healthcare staffing industry. Several of them have realized that considerable capital backing is necessary to fully realize their opportunity. Therefore, we'll see a lot of these companies forming partnerships or selling to larger, better capitalized players who can successfully deliver their offerings.  

Note to future self: Be honest about revenue and its cost of acquisition. If it's not working out - call it a day or change your game.

Success of the MSP Model
The SIA predicts that by the end of 2011 over 90% of hospitals will have adopted a VMS solution. While we don't believe it will be quite that high, hospital adoption of VMS is certain to continue increasing. In the last two years the vendor neutral, tech model has failed to prove its success when competing against the MSP model at large health systems. In addition, the MSP model has had a major resurgence of success in the last two years as hospitals have cared less about vendor neutrality and more about the successful outsourcing of their entire staffing operation.

As big companies like AMN continue to improve these offerings through technology, process and acquisitions, they will become more of a dominant service offering in the industry. If you're not AMN, figuring out your strategy on how to thrive in the presence of this new model is highly advised.

Note to future self:  Starting your own VMS offering is not the answer.

Greater Success with Web Marketing
2011 will be the year healthcare staffing companies realize the value of marketing on the web. More and more companies in the space are developing mobile web applications and launching successful social media campaigns as a way to grow their audience and increase their revenue. In 2011, understanding how to succeed on the web will become more critical than ever before. Many companies in this space are still wondering if there is any real value here and spending months analyzing (read: guessing) at the ROI they'll receive on their efforts. Beat them by doing the opposite.
 

Note to future self:  Stop guessing - start acting.

 

 Healthcare Reform
How healthcare reform effects the healthcare staffing industry will once again become a major topic as companies prepare to deal with some of the reform aspects that begin in 2012.

Note to future self:  Start preparing for this in 2008 - the good and the bad. 

Industry Innovation
At the end of 2009 we predicted that 2010 would bring about some new innovation for the healthcare staffing industry. Sadly, we were wrong here. It was mostly business as usual in this area as most tech companies just focused on how to stay in business. Hopefully this year we will see new tech innovations from some of the larger players or new comers in the market.

Note to future self:  Make your idea a reality.

 

The Market Will Rebound
Oh! A very bold prediction indeed! In 2009 we predicted the market would return in mid 2011. We're holding to that prediction. Almost every company we speak with is seeing positive signs that the market is turning around. Although no one expects this year to return to pre 2008 levels, any improvement will be welcomed. The SIA also put out some encouraging data for next year supporting this prediciton:

Note to future self:  Innovate and run a better business so I'm prepared for the market return.

 

Your Predictions
It's been another exciting year being in this industry. Time will tell what 2011 has in store for all of us. What are your predictions for healthcare staffing in 2011? If you have any, please share them here.

We wish you all happy holidays and much success in the new year. See you in 2011!

Related Posts

Top Healthcare Staffing Stories of 2009 and Predictions for 2010

Wrap Up From The Healthcare Staffing Summit 2010

We spent this week at the Healthcare Staffing Summit in Chicago. I've gone to this conference for the last 8 years and I have to say I felt this year was one of the best conferences ever. Even though the industry data presented wasn't anything to celebrate, it did appear there was some light at the end of the tunnel.

Aside from the data it was a great networking opportunity and the venue at the Palmer House Hilton was amazing. We met lots of great people doing some very interesting things and attended many sessions that provided invaluable information. Also, as a company, Staffing Robot, was honored to speak on a panel about social media marketing that was well attended and full of great participation from the audience.

Here is a summary of some of the highlights from my notes throughout the week.

Barry Asin's Keynote: Succeeding in A Time of Change

As usual, Barry Asin kicked off the summit providing lots of great information about the industry. Of all the data presented, perhaps the most shocking was that in 2010, spend on healthcare staffing has been cut to $7.9B. For comparision, in 2006 it was at $10.1B.

• Unemployment continues to be a huge negative factor for the overall economy. As of August, unemployment still remains high at 9.64%.
• Hospitals have continued to decrease their spending on contract labor as this unemployment number has increased.
• Even though the data is negative for contract labor, full employment remained a relative bright spot in the overall economy. Much of this employment growth occurred in ambulatory settings.
• Many hospitals have or are in the process of implementing internal resource pools but need assistance in consulting, recruiting and the staffing managment. Agencies should see opportunity in helping hospitals manage internal resource pools. 
• VMS/MSP adoption continues to accelerate. The Staffing Industry Analysts suggest that hospitals have adopted VMS at a rate of over 70% and MSP of over 50%. Personally, I question these numbers. Although there has been widespread acceptance, this number seems very high to me. Regardless, the lesson here though is that buyers prefer to consolidate their suppliers.
• 2010 spend on healthcare staffing cut to $7.9B. In 2006 it was $10.1B.
• Private healthcare staffing company revue is improving. However, becaue of previous losses, they are still in the negative.
• Major industry events this year:
  • L.A. Times article criticizes temp nurses ‐ Dec. 2009
  • Symbio VMS sold in bankruptcy court ‐ Feb 2010
  • Healthcare Reform Passes –March 2010
  • MSN files ch. 11 and acquired by creditors – July 2010
  • AMN announces acquisition of Medfinders – July 2010
  • MedAssets acquires Broadlane – Sept 2010
• The overall forecast for 2010 for spending on healthcare staffing shows a slight improvement of 1% and a 10% improvement for locums tenens.
• Data suggests that the nursing shortage won't return in full swing until 2018.
• Older nurses make great candidates to recruit. Many of these nurses are looking for supportive and flexible work arrangements and practices (e.g. modified workloads, flexible scheduling options, reduction in hours of work, etc.).
• Hospitals expect four key things from contingent workers: Quality, Efficiency, Cost (not just rates, but true costs of the overall program) Risk (How much do I really have? Should we
  mitigate or eradicate? What’s best for the business?)
• Of all the temp industries, healthcare uses the fewest amount of contingent labor and has the worst perception of contingent labor.
• The rank of the largest healthcare staffing firms by revenue has changed. Most notably, Cross Country was pushed down to the 3rd spot by CHG Healthcare:
• The impact of healthcare reform on the staffing industry is still largely unknown. Some of the reforms (such as additional coverage) will have a positive impact, while others (employer mandates) will be mostly negative.
• The overall healthcare staffing industry forecast for next year does show some slight imrovement

Social Media: No Longer a Hobby

We spoke on a panel about Social Media Marketing for Healthcare Staffing Agencies. Because of the other topics at the same time, I was expecting a small turnout. However, we actually had a packed room with people standing around in the back. The audience was very much interested and engaged in the topic, which made for a great discussion.

 

 

 

 

I intend to blog more about this session in a separate post but here are some of the highlights and questions from the discussion:

• Definition of Social Media: Social media is defined by the act of sharing content in
  and between social networks regardless of the content type.
• Who owns Social Media: Marketing? President/Owner? Recruiters? Sales?
• Value (why participate) in Social Media: It’s cool and fun - I don’t, I leave it for the young people - It is a time sink, so I don’t - I love it, it is how I keep up with everything.
• What’s relevant and what’s not: Blogs, Micro-blogging (Twitter), Video sharing, Social CRM (Jigsaw, InsideView), Facebook vs. LinkedIn – Facebook and LinkedIn.
• How do you create good content and how do you keep people engaged?
• How can I ensure my staff are using social media properly?
• When engaging in social media, what should I be measuring and tracking and what tools can I use to do this?
• How can staffing agencies 'control' their brand and employee/customer particiaption in social media?
• What are the legal considerations of social media?

Brace Yourself. VMS Is Here to Stay, So What Do We Do About It?

VMS is always a contentious topic and this years discussion was no exception. Many people expressed many concerns they have about Vendor Management Services (VMS), mostly around the Managed Services Provider (MSP) model.

I did think it was great that the panel was mostly talking about VMS and defined VMS strictly as being the technology delivery model, not to be confused with the MSP model. Yes! Also, Dana Shaw is my favorite panel moderator, as she is always very energetic and entertaining.

Although the panel provided some interesting information I did think it was somewhat odd that they only had 1 (non SIA) participant and this person was not from a healthcare VMS background. Surely having someone from Medefis, Prolucent or ShiftWise would have added significant value and perspective to the topic. Unfortunately, much of what the panel participant had to say was not relevant to healthcare staffing.

Here are some of the other highlights from my notes:

• VMS panel claim: "VMS has faster adoption if it is accompanied with a service program." This simply isn't true. Pure play VMS tech companies have had a much higher acceptance/adoption than those accompanied by a service. Barry Asin's keynote data even suggested that hospitals have adopted VMS at a rate of over 70% and MSP of over 50%.
• One of the things the panel did do was attempt to dispell a huge VMS myth: VMS companies keep vendors from talking to their clients. The reality is that the client sets these rules. The VMS is just the tech.
• The biggest issue healthcare staffing companies still face with VMS tech companies is that disparate systems keep the complications of working with VMS high. There is no systems standardization.  The hosptials and staffing agencies are all using different systems and then 5 - 10 different VMS systems are sitting in the middle.
• VMS panel claim: "No buyer really wants vendor neutrality. Vendor neutrality is dead." Again, I couldn't disagree with this more. When vendor neutral, VMS tech first appeared in the industry it was all the rage for 3 - 4 years. Since then, the managed services model has made a big come back. However, suggesting that there is no longer a demand for vendor neutrality is not accurate.
• VMS panel claim: Avg fee for VMS is 1/2% - 10 years ago it was 5-7%. Again, this data is inaccurate. I know that every MSP charges 3 - 5% and all of the big VMS tech players charge 2 - 4%. So, I'm not sure how they are getting to this number.

In short, it was a great conference. If you've never attended I highly encourage you to do so. It's the best signle event for getting industry data, networking, checking out your competition and learning more about new things in the industry.

See you next year!

 

Thoughts on the AMN Acquisition of Medfinders

In a move resulting in further consolidation of the healthcare staffing industry, American Mobile Nursing (AMN) announced last week their acquisition of one of their competitors Medfinders.

The deal between AMN and Medfinders is valued at approximately $220 million (including approximately $132M of refinanced debt for Medfinders). AMN granted 6.3 million shares of common stock and 5.7 million shares of preferred stock to Medfinders who's shareholders will will now effectively own approximately 26% of AMN.

Medfinders is the 7th largest healthcare staffing agency in the nation and has done a great job securing large MSP accounts across the country. This acquisition is another in a long line of acquisitions that AMN has made over the last few years.

From my perspective, this was a great move for AMN. Medfinders has a great reputation and is a solid provider of Per Diem and Travel Nursing and Allied staff, as well as Locums Tenens. Acquiring MedFinders will further enhance AMN's brand and expand their offerings in Locums, Allied and Nursing. Further, I believe this is the first time that AMN will now be able to provide Per Diem staff under their brand.

AMN will also gain a significant book of VMS/MSP business through this acquisition. Perhaps the best benefit to AMN is that they will now be better positioned to deliver more comprehensive MSP offerings by delivering both Long Term Contract and Per Diem nursing staff to their hospital clients. It will certainly make them more of a threat to their competition in the MSP/VMS space.

It will be interesting to watch the results in the market from this acquisition.

Healthcare Staffing Agency Website Design and Web Marketing Services

Eight years ago I had an idea and saw an opportunity. That idea was ShiftWise and over the last eight years the opportunity was realized. Today, ShiftWise is the largest provider of Vendor Management Services in the healthcare staffing industry, servicing over 1,200 hospital clients and 1,100 staffing agencies all across the nation. 

I'm incredibly proud of what ShiftWise has become and look forward to watching it grow even more successful over the next several years. However, I will be watching the success from a distance, as I have decided it's time to move on to a new venture.

Today I wanted to officially announce the launch of a new company appropriately called - Staffing Robot! The company currently has 5 employees and is being founded by me and my business partner, Ross Barbieri, who also helped me start ShiftWise.

Staffing Robot is a healthcare staffing web services company that provides the following services to hospitals and staffing agencies all across the nation:

• Website design
• Web software application development
  
• Mobile web platform development
  
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
  
• Pay Per Click (PPC) marketing management
• Social Media Marketing (SMM) campaign strategies
  
• Brand creation, rebranding and brand management
  
• Email marketing campaign management
• Traditional print marketing services
  

The Staffing Robot blog will become an extension of our new company's services and the blog posts will continue to provide you with relevant information from the healthcare staffing industry.

It's been great working with so many of you over the last several years and I look forward to working with some of you in this new capacity. If your hospital or staffing agency is looking to rebrand, create a new website, build a web application or improve your web marketing through SEO or social media campaigns - Staffing Robot is open for business.

Check out some samples of our work at Staffing Robot or contact us to get a free quote for your web project. As always, you can follow Staffing Robot on Twitter or call us directly at 971-533-8839.

Broadlane WFX Rebrands to Prolucent & Some Rebranding Tips

A couple of months ago I wrote about AMN's re-branding campaign. Now, another major player in the healthcare staffing industry has gone through a similar effort. Broadlane's Workforce Management Services has rebranded itself from Broandlane WFX to Prolucent.

If you're considering a rebranding campaign for your staffing agency now is the perfect time to do it. The trends in the healthcare staffing industry have been bleak over the last 1.5 years. However, as things start to pick up again hospitals will be re-evaluating their staffing agency partners. Approaching them with an improved identity, renewed focus and new service offerings can go along way toward keeping the attention of your clients or getting new ones to notice you.

If you do decide to rebrand I offer the following tips:

1. Make sure you understand what all is involved with this effort. A brand is more than a logo. You don't want to simply update your logo or website and overlook the rest of your promotional material. Promoting an inconsistent brand sends a bad message to the market. 
2. If you rename your company or product chose something that's easy to pronounce. Although 'Broadlane WFX' wasn't a great name, I'm not sure the name 'Prolucent' is any better. Many people are going to spend time trying to figure out how to pronounce it or just skip the exercise all together and continue to call them Broadlane. Further, if you change your company name to something in another language (say for example 'Concerro') be sure the name means what you think it does.
3. Do your homework and work with reputable companies that know what they're doing and won't overcharge you. If you don't know where to start contact me and I can help point you in the right direction.

Changing your brand can be tricky and if done incorrectly, it can be disastrous. There is a lot to consider, including the current equity your brand has or doesn't have, before going down this path. However, if AMN can pull it off with all the equity they had in their brand, most likely you can too too.