7 questions to ask when sourcing a healthcare MSP

An industry swear word or an advantage?

We’ll be the first to agree there can be a negative stigma associated with managed service providers, especially in the locum tenens industry. Which is why we saw the perfect opportunity to provide a quality solution that doesn’t waste time and money — like many managed service providers are famous for.

What is a Managed Service Provider (MSP) in healthcare?

Let’s start with a definition. A Managed Service Provider (MSP) in healthcare, particularly in locum tenens, is a third-party responsible for overseeing and managing the entire locum tenens program. This includes handling hiring and tracking functions for temporary healthcare professionals, ensuring smooth operations, and meeting staffing needs at healthcare facilities. MSPs offer services like credentialing coordination, contract compliance monitoring, and performance tracking, serving as strategic partners to healthcare organizations to improve staffing strategies and provide cost-effective solutions.

A Vendor Management System (VMS) in locum tenens is a technology-driven solution that automates and streamlines hiring and tracking functions for physicians, nurse practitioners and CRNAs. Acting as a centralized platform, it allows healthcare organizations to maintain visibility and control over their locum tenens staffing. The VMS facilitates job posting, candidate selection, contract management, timekeeping, billing, and reporting, simplifying administrative tasks and enhancing efficiency in locum tenens management.

While an MSP may utilize a VMS as a tool, a VMS itself does not handle recruitment or directly engage with agencies or the providers they recruit. Its primary focus is on providing a digital platform for managing the hiring and tracking process.

What questions really determine the best healthcare MSP?

Whether you are counting down the days until your current MSP contract ends, or you’re starting to explore options, there are important questions to ask in order to determine if an MSP is going to help you meet your recruitment objectives.

1. How can an MSP help healthcare facilities gain efficiencies?

A healthcare MSP should be able to showcase how it optimizes efficiencies so in-house and agency recruiters can focus on strategic priorities. Many think that adding this extra layer between the provider and recruiter slows things down, but if done correctly, it’s quite the opposite. MSPs should eliminate the non-value-added tasks bogging down the process and provide a single source of truth to ensure that shifts are optimally filled.

2. What automations can an MSP provide?

Look for MSPs that offer digital integration, electronic time capture, and standardized agreements within a centralized portal to streamline and simplify operations. 

3. What cost saving benefits does an MSP offer?

Many MSPs will say they can save you money, but aren’t transparent about how they do it — some even adjust down the bill rate to agencies, taking a margin off the top of the rate they quote the hospital. This ultimately impacts the pay to the provider. Look for MSPs that offer flat percentage fees without hidden costs.

Why wouldn’t your partner be transparent about how the process works?

4. What happens to my existing staffing agency relationships?

Hiring an MSP provider shouldn’t mean relinquishing control of relationships that have required trust and time to build. Keep an eye out for providers that maintain vendor neutrality, or those with onboarding fees that make it difficult for smaller agency partners to participate.

5. What credentialing protocols exist?

Given the complexity of credentialing in healthcare, an MSP should help expedite and streamline the process without disrupting your credentialing department. Specifically in locum tenens, MSPs should have specific workflows designed for physician credentialing.

6. How many healthcare facilities do you support in this geographic region?

This one is important! Many MSPs want to show off the number of healthcare organizations they’ve worked with in a particular region. It might look impressive on the surface, but how can they prioritize your open shifts? An MSP exclusively serving a single healthcare facility within a geographical market offers significant advantages, ensuring unwavering loyalty and a dedicated focus on sourcing the most skilled healthcare professionals in the area.

7. Do you have internal staffing?

When jobs are released, some MSPs that are owned and managed by large staffing companies will hold jobs for a specific period of time to see if they can fill it internally before releasing it to agency partners. If they don’t fill it internally, how does that benefit you? Run, don’t walk, if you experience that! You need unbiased, competitive access to the best healthcare staff as quickly as possible.

A unique healthcare MSP from Syncx

The best way to recruit doctors? Provide a best-in-class experience, so they tell their colleagues about it. It starts there, and it ends with our custom locums management solutions specifically designed for the healthcare industry. 

At Syncx:

• We democratize competitive access to desirable open locum tenens positions in real-time, for a holistic view across the staffing spectrum. Through this democratization, healthcare facilities gain efficiencies, automation, and cost savings.
• Our technology enables recruiters by providing visibility into the credentialing process, facilitating quicker placement of candidates and allowing for the identification of any gaps or deficiencies within the process.
• Healthcare agencies pay a flat percentage fee of 5%. There are no implementation fees, monthly add-ons, reduced rates, or other hidden costs. We are 100% transparent with our pricing model.
• Our priority is to cultivate exclusive relationships within a region, enabling us to concentrate on deliverability. Unlike larger firms, we don’t require our clients to compete for talent amongst each other. We believe in quality over quantity; more isn’t always better.
• Our agency partners enjoy working with us! It’s a win-win all around. 

The real X factor in locums staffing

Our MSP is specifically designed for locum tenens. Say goodbye to administrative headaches and kick burdensome, manual tasks to the curb. Book a demo to see our technology in action.