The most influential AI in healthcare is not clinical, it is operational

AI is emerging in healthcare, but not every use case has real value. Environmental scribes are celebrated as AI’s primary success in healthcare, but the impact is mostly perceived rather than structural. They simplify documentation and improve workflows without reducing labor costs or creating new capabilities.

If we want AI to help solve the biggest problem in healthcare, we need to attack the order items that make up more than half of the total hospital budget: labor operations. It is the largest, most unpredictable fee and the area with the greatest room for improvement.

Nurse managers spend up to 60-80% of their time just coordinating the schedule. These are clinical leaders responsible for patient mobility, quality metrics, compliance, and team morale. Instead of focusing on care, however, they stuck in spreadsheets and group texts, manually working to fill shifts.

Where does AI actually make a difference

Although most of the focus of AI in healthcare focuses on diagnosis or documentation, the most direct impact occurs in workforce optimization. AI is helping hospitals move routes more effectively, projecting gaps in coverage and returning time to those who continue to care.

Workforce platforms use real-time data based on availability, skills and costs will be transferred to the right employees. The internal team gets priority. The float pool is very early. Use contract labor only when necessary or in a specialized area of ​​care. This makes arrangements proactive rather than responsive, while helping reduce burnout and leading to tangible operating benefits.

This labor optimization approach also helps predict and prevent problems before they begin. Because workforce platforms utilize AI, they are able to learn over time. This means shifts or units marked with higher call rates and automatically built within backup coverage. They track patient census trends to help staffing align with needs. This visibility helps nurse leaders make better decisions in real time.

The cost of doing nothing

Hospitals are facing new financial pressures from proposed Medicaid cuts, which could cause more than 11 million people to lose coverage, and a sharp rise in unpaid care. Safety nets and rural hospitals will lose more than $70 billion in reimbursement over the next decade. Any reduction in Medicaid reimbursement increases the pressure on labor costs and labor shortages.

Between 2019 and 2022, hospitals saw labor costs soaring by 213%, mainly due to the pandemic-driven demand for travel nurses. Although these costs are starting to drop, they are still far beyond pre-pandemic levels. McKinsey estimates that a shortage of nurses will cost US hospitals $170 billion by 2027.

Financial pressure is obvious. Travel nurses cost $90 or more per hour, while the same shift for in-house nurses may cost just $60 to $70. When patient demand drops, insiders can be bent or redistributed. However, due to most travel contracts, hospitals are locked in to pay premium rates even if they need to fade.

Workforce AI helps solve this imbalance. These platforms curate a smarter combination of full-time and part-time employees, PRN or Diem workers, internal buoys and contract labor. They prioritize internal coverage, activate flexible staff when needed, and retain contract labor for professional cases or last place insurance. The result is a responsive and more cost-effective staffing model that aligns workforce with patient needs and financial sustainability.

Make the most of your investment

There will always be a new AI tool that they hope to save healthcare, optimize workflows or save a few minutes a day. But before we chase every emerging use case, we should deal with the largest and most expensive part of the system: labor optimization.

McKinsey reports that organizations that incorporate workforce strategies into core operations greatly outperform those that do not, but many hospitals still see personnel as back-end tasks.

Workforce AI provides results that hospitals can measure. It provides nurses with more control over the schedule, reduces administrative pressure on managers, and provides leaders with data they need to plan ahead, retain employees and stay responsive in a changing environment.

Photo: Cecilie_arcurs, Getty Images

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