Fact or Fiction: 7 Common Healthcare MSP Myths

Hospital staffing can be an overall challenging endeavor. The processes involved in sourcing, recruiting, hiring, and onboarding nursing and specialty staff can be overwhelming and time-consuming.

MSPs help hospitals and healthcare facilities streamline these processes, so their staff can focus on patient care.

However, there are many misconceptions about MSPs that keep healthcare organizations from taking advantage of the benefits they offer. 

In this guide, we’ll expose some common myths about healthcare MSPs and then unveil the truth behind those myths to show just how valuable healthcare MSPs can be in managing workforce solutions.

Table of Contents

• Myth #1: Facilities Have To Pay For MSP Services
• Myth #2: It’s a Manual, Time-Consuming Process To Integrate MSPs With Existing Software
• Myth #3: MSPs Only Benefit Larger Facilities
• Myth #4: MSPs are Vendor-Exclusive
• Myth: #5: MSPs Only Offer VMS Services
• Myth: #6: MSPs Only Provide Clinical Workers
• Myth: #7: Outsourcing to an MSP Will Result in Decreased Operations Visibility
• Trusted Managed Services: Helping Your Company Save Money and Increase Revenue

7 Common Misconceptions About Healthcare MSPs

Myth #1: Facilities Have To Pay For MSP Services

Who pays for MSP services? 

Many healthcare facilities mistakenly believe they are responsible for MSP costs. When they suspect MSP costs are outside of their budget, they may pay many vendors individually for various services. Or they may resort to their recruitment or HR personnel, believing that workforce management will be cheaper if they tackle it on their own. 

Truth: Managed Service Providers Are Free for the Healthcare Facility

With Trusted Managed Services, facilities can use our services at no cost, including our VMS software. Instead, the vendors who participate in the VMS are charged a rebate percentage off of the bill rates, which is typically a 3-5% fee. 

An MSP reduces costs by negotiating rates from suppliers and managing a VMS so the healthcare facility can utilize its internal resources to focus on patient care.

Myth #2: It’s a Manual, Time-Consuming Process To Integrate MSPs With Existing Software 

When the MSP handles the integration process, the healthcare facility doesn’t need to invest precious time and effort to integrate its current software with the MSP.

Additionally, compliances are handled by the MSP and the VMS they work with, which frees up the facility’s administrative team to focus on other important tasks. 

Without a healthcare MSP, the facility may have many different systems in place to manage compliance processes and paperwork. When systems aren’t streamlined, it costs the facility precious time and money for the extra effort necessary to manage those systems.

Truth: The Integration Process Is Very Hands-Off for Healthcare Facilities

At Trusted Managed Services, the integration of existing software with the MSP is handled by us off-site. This means healthcare facilities do not need to be involved in any manual, time-consuming processes that would take time away from their primary duties.

Additionally, compliances are all kept within one database and are just a click away. Through our VMS, Trusted Managed Services can help hospitals simplify their systems by handling the workflows with our in-house team.

Myth #3: MSPs Only Benefit Larger Facilities

Smaller healthcare organizations may be under the erroneous assumption that MSPs are only best for large hospitals or facilities. With fewer contingency needs, smaller organizations may believe that MSP services are more necessary for those organizations with larger staffing needs who cannot manage their needs internally.

The opposite is true as well. Many larger healthcare organizations believe MSPs are better suited for smaller organizations. Larger organizations with more resources at their disposal may believe that smaller healthcare facilities without in-house staffing resources benefit more from contingency workforce solutions.

Whether you’re a small healthcare facility or a vast hospital system, the workforce tasks will likely be the same:

• Recruiting
• Hiring
• Onboarding
• Payroll

Healthcare MSPs help facilities manage all those tasks — and more — despite the size of the organization.

Truth: MSPs Offer Customizable Workplace Solutions 

The truth is that quality healthcare MSPs are scalable and customizable.

If you’re a small organization, the MSP will focus on the tasks most important for you to succeed. The MSP will also be able to grow with you as you expand, adding services or tasks that provide solutions for future needs.

For example, if your employee force grows from 10 to 50, a flexible MSP will be able to ramp up its payroll services as the payroll load increases.

In addition to scalability, the best healthcare MSPs are able to customize services based on the needs of each organization. 

At Trusted Managed Services, we listen to you to determine your needs and goals and work together to develop an MSP strategy that provides the services you need to excel.

Myth #4: MSPs are Vendor-Exclusive

We all know the consequences of putting all our eggs in one basket. When you concentrate all your resources in one location, losses can be huge if the resources fail or run out.

This is a significant misconception when it comes to healthcare MSPs. Though some MSPs are vendor-exclusive, other providers, like Trusted Managed Services, are vendor-neutral.

Many organizations believe that choosing an MSP limits their vendor options and thus, the labor pool. They also may believe that MSPs can slow the candidate application, interview, and hiring process, thus making the whole process less efficient.

Truth: MSPs Have Access to a Database of 18+ Vendors To Pull Qualified Candidates From

The truth is that MSPs can make the hiring process efficient, and the number of vendors an MSP (or a healthcare facility) uses is not exclusive.

The Trusted Managed Services MSP agreement is non-exclusive. So, a healthcare organization can continue to work with current vendors even if they partner with us.

We have a database of over 18 vendors that will continue to grow, providing more options and a varied pool of suppliers. With such a variety, healthcare facilities can be assured of staffing qualified candidates. This improves efficiency by helping facilities more quickly fill their open positions and reducing the time it takes to recommend candidates and extend offers.

Since Trusted Managed Services is Joint Commission certified, hospitals and other healthcare facilities can be sure that we are committed to recruiting contingent staff that will maintain the safe and high-quality care they expect.

Additionally, when the vendor pool is broad, healthcare MSPs can more easily negotiate rates while still maintaining superior contingency candidates.

Myth: #5: MSPs Only Offer VMS Services

Healthcare MSPs are short-changed when healthcare facilities believe the myth that VMS services are the only ones they offer. Understanding how MSPs and VMSs work together is key to debunking this myth.

Vendor Management Services and MSPs work together. An MSP is a service that outsources the staffing process, while a VMS is the software solution that allows organizations and hospitals to streamline and automate other processes like hiring, onboarding, and payroll.

Simply stated, MSP is the service, and VMS is the technology. They both go hand-in-hand.

Truth: MSPs Are a Comprehensive Solution 

MSPs working together with a VMS provide comprehensive workforce solutions along with benefits to the healthcare organizations that utilize them.

Some of the comprehensive solutions supplied by an MSP include:

• Increasing value from vendors by integrating them into broader organizational systems
• Enhancing vendor management by evaluating existing vendors to determine if they are economical and if they are delivering the services they promised
• Recruiting and evaluating candidates
• Streamlining hiring, onboarding, and payroll
• Maintaining Independent Contractor (IC) compliance
• Steadily supplying contingency workers

Myth: #6: MSPs Only Provide Clinical Workers

Even though the COVID public health emergency is officially over, the nursing shortage remains, as well as the need for contingency healthcare workers. But assuming that MSPs only provide clinical contingent workers would be a mistake. 

Some MSPs supply clinical and non-clinical contingent workers. Whether you need to recruit and onboard more medical staff, housekeeping staff, or admin workers, a quality MSP will help place all of your clinical and non-clinical staffing needs.

Truth: Trusted Managed Services Sources Both Clinical and Non-Clinical Workers

When thinking of contingency healthcare workers, clinical workers may be the first — and only — type of healthcare worker that comes to mind. But MSPs also work to provide non-clinical staff solutions to healthcare facilities and hospitals.

Types of non-clinical workers that MSPs can help recruit include:

• Housekeeping
• Administrative personnel
• Allied healthcare technicians; or
• Others that do not provide direct care to patients

You can rely on Trusted Managed Services to provide a source of both clinical and non-clinical staff wherever they may be needed in the healthcare industry.

Myth: #7: Outsourcing to an MSP Will Result in Decreased Operations Visibility

Anytime you outsource a service or process, you lose some sort of oversight or control because you aren’t directly involved in those processes. Outsourcing staffing solutions to an MSP means you’re intentionally passing on the candidacy process to someone else — an MSP you can trust to find the quality staff you’re looking for.

However, just because you’re asking an outside source to manage some of the workforce processes doesn’t mean you lose oversight of regular operations.

Truth: MSPs Improve Forecasting Abilities and Cost Control Measures Among Vendors

If you’re concerned that using an MSP will result in decreased operations visibility, you can rest assured that the opposite is actually true.

Healthcare MSPs like Trusted Managed Services provide a 360-view of payroll, onboarding, compliance, and more.

Additionally, Trusted Managed Services provides visibility into high-level data and workforce analytics to allow them to make better informed contingent staffing decisions through their VMS. 

For example, looking closely at staffing headcounts, average bill rates, and reports on spending utilization can help an organization know if budgeting capabilities are being used properly. Additionally, taking advantage of worker quality and survey details can ensure that the best candidates are the ones being recruited.

In the end, increasing efficiency and finding ways to cut costs can be significant when it comes to the success of a healthcare organization. MSPs do that and so much more.

Trusted Managed Services: Helping Your Company Save Money and Increase Revenue

Exposing common MSP myths makes it easier to see how beneficial MSPs can be for many in the healthcare industry.

From financial savings to ease with integrating software, MSPs work with organizations of all sizes to provide customizable workforce solutions. 

And with over 18 vendors at our disposal, Trusted Managed Services is poised to bring you the best staffing talent and centralize your contingent staffing to save you time and simplify the process. Using Trusted Managed Services as your MSP, you’ll also likely see a reduction in staffing vacancies and increased retention.

In addition to those direct contingency staffing advantages, Trusted Managed Services helps hospitals and other healthcare facilities manage billing and time-tracking from one point of contact.

And if customer service is important to you, Trusted Managed Services excels in that arena as well. Each organization has a workforce consultant at its side to advise on labor trends and custom solutions. 

A Trusted Managed Services representative is also assigned to each program area to make sure all processes go smoothly in the areas of:

• Payroll
• Billing
• Recruitment
• Credentialing
• Contracting and Insurance

Request an MSP demo to see how Trusted Managed Services can directly alleviate and expedite the hiring process for your healthcare facility.