Transform care gaps into care gains
Partner with TMS Associates to overcome workforce challenges that disrupt care and operations
To deliver on strategic goals, healthcare CEOs rely on a stable, capable workforce
Despite best efforts, workforce challenges persist, giving way to care and operating model gaps
Common workforce challenges that lead to care and operating model gaps
Leadership deficiencies:
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Leadership gaps have a profound impact on team morale and employee engagement. When leadership is inconsistent or ineffective, it creates uncertainty and a lack of direction, leading staff to feel unsupported in their roles. Employees may begin to question the organization’s priorities and future, fostering a disengagement culture.
This erosion of trust diminishes team cohesion and motivation, causing productivity to drop as individuals become disconnected from their work.
According to industry insights collected by TMS Associates, disengagement is often a direct result of poor leadership. Uncertain communication, a lack of vision, and insufficient recognition contribute to a workforce that feels undervalued and directionless.
Without solid leadership, organizations experience a decline in morale that is difficult to reverse, ultimately stalling progress and innovation.
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Leadership plays a vital role in preventing burnout and fostering a stable workforce. When leadership is absent or ineffective, employees are left without the guidance and support to manage their responsibilities effectively. This often results in unbalanced workloads, unclear expectations, and heightened stress levels. Without proper leadership to distribute tasks and provide strategic direction, teams may face overwhelming demands that exceed their capacity, leading to exhaustion and disengagement.
The American Hospital Association underscores that a lack of leadership increases individual burnout and destabilizes entire teams.
If left unaddressed, burnout often translates into higher turnover rates, as staff leave to find better working conditions or organizations where they feel more supported. This turnover further compounds the issue, as remaining employees must take on the additional workload, perpetuating the burnout cycle and creating staffing instability.
Frequent turnover is not only disruptive to team cohesion and morale but also costly, requiring constant recruitment, onboarding, and training. The result is a workforce that is in a near-constant state of flux, unable to maintain consistency in care delivery, ultimately undermining both patient outcomes and operational performance.
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Leadership plays a critical role in shaping an organization’s ability to function efficiently. When leadership gaps exist, decision-making processes become fragmented, and accountability weakens, leading to significant operational inefficiencies. Without strong leaders to set priorities, ensure resource allocation aligns with strategic goals, and drive process improvements, the organization becomes susceptible to mismanagement and operational waste.
Harvard Business Review highlights that leadership voids lead to missed opportunities for optimizing processes, as teams need clear direction on streamlining workflows or implementing necessary changes. This misalignment can result in duplication of efforts, bottlenecks in critical functions, and delays in achieving key performance metrics. Moreover, when leaders are absent or ineffective, employees may be left to navigate competing priorities without proper guidance, further compounding inefficiencies.
Ultimately, these inefficiencies drive up costs, reduce overall productivity, and impede the organization’s ability to respond to challenges in a timely and cohesive manner, jeopardizing financial stability and quality of care.
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Effective leadership is essential for translating strategic plans into actionable outcomes. When leadership gaps occur, the execution of these plans often falters, as teams lack the clear guidance, coordination, and accountability needed to stay aligned with the organization’s vision. Without strong leaders to drive key initiatives forward, teams may struggle to prioritize tasks, allocate resources efficiently, and maintain focus on long-term objectives.
McKinsey emphasizes that organizations with fragmented or absent leadership often experience difficulty in aligning their workforce around strategic goals. This results in siloed efforts and inconsistent progress, making it difficult to adapt to the dynamic business environment. This misalignment can cause delays in project timelines, the abandonment of critical initiatives, and the inability to pivot or adapt to emerging challenges. Without a cohesive leadership framework to sustain momentum, the organization risks stalling progress and losing competitive advantage.
Over time, missed goals erode organizational credibility and diminish confidence among stakeholders, employees, and even patients. This breakdown in leadership directly impacts an organization’s ability to grow, innovate, and deliver on its promises, ultimately threatening both short-term performance and long-term success.
Recruitment challenges:
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Talent shortages arise when an organization struggles to effectively target, attract, and engage the right candidates for critical roles. This inability to fill key positions promptly creates a ripple effect throughout the organization, particularly in healthcare, where unfilled roles directly impact patient care and team efficiency.
When positions remain vacant for extended periods, existing staff must shoulder the additional workload, leading to heightened stress, burnout, and, ultimately, turnover. The resulting gaps in care delivery compromise quality and continuity, making it difficult to meet patient needs and maintain operational performance.
Without a proactive approach to talent acquisition, healthcare organizations face sustained workforce shortages that weaken their ability to provide high-quality care, reduce overall productivity, and increase labor costs.”
Examples of how talent shortages affect healthcare:
Increased workloads: Vacant positions force existing staff to take on more responsibilities, stretching them thin and reducing the quality of care they can provide.
Extended patient wait times: A lack of specialized talent, such as physicians or advanced practice providers, delays patient access to care, particularly in high-demand specialties like cardiology or neurology.
Increased reliance on temporary staff: Shortages lead to increased use of contract or Locum Tenens professionals at higher costs, while also impacting continuity of care, as temporary staff may not be as familiar with patient history or organizational processes.
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A person must meet two essential criteria to fit a role—they must align with your core values and possess the desire, understanding, and natural ability to excel in the position. Without this fit, the wrong hires can undermine team performance.
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Longer vacancies in healthcare organizations create significant challenges that extend beyond simply leaving a position unfilled. When critical roles remain open for extended periods, the burden of maintaining service levels falls disproportionately on existing staff, who are forced to work extra shifts or take on additional responsibilities.
This added pressure often leads to increased burnout and dissatisfaction among employees, driving turnover and further compounding the staffing problem. As remaining staff struggle to cope with increased workloads, the quality of care can deteriorate, resulting in poorer patient outcomes and diminished organizational performance.
These prolonged vacancies also disrupt team dynamics, weaken morale, and place healthcare organizations at a competitive disadvantage by hindering their ability to meet patient needs and achieve operational goals.”
Examples of how longer vacancies impact healthcare:
Higher staff burnout: With fewer staff to share the workload, existing employees face increased stress and fatigue, which accelerates burnout and diminishes their ability to provide quality care over time.
Decreased patient satisfaction: Prolonged vacancies often lead to delays in care and longer wait times, which negatively affect patient experience and satisfaction scores.
Reduced team cohesion: As teams operate with fewer resources and face higher demands, collaboration suffers, and morale declines, weakening the overall culture and increasing turnover.
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Increased costs are a direct consequence of staffing shortages, prolonged vacancies, and high turnover in healthcare organizations. When burnout leads to elevated turnover, healthcare providers must continually recruit, hire, and onboard new staff—an expensive and time-consuming process that adds to the overall operational burden. Recruitment fees, background checks, and orientation programs all contribute to rising costs, while high turnover also disrupts continuity in care, further diminishing operational efficiency.
To compensate for these staffing gaps, healthcare organizations often rely on overtime pay for existing employees or contract Locum Tenens staff, both of which come at a premium. Overtime rates significantly increase labor costs, and while Locum Tenens professionals offer a temporary solution, their elevated fees quickly add up. These compounding costs strain healthcare budgets, making it more challenging to maintain financial stability while also compromising the quality of patient care.”
Examples of how increased costs impact healthcare:
• Frequent rehiring and training costs: Constant turnover requires repeated investments in recruitment and onboarding, diverting funds away from patient care and operational improvements.
• Higher overtime expenses: To cover for staff shortages, existing employees are often required to work overtime, which, over time, leads to inflated labor costs and an increased risk of burnout among the remaining workforce.
• Premium Locum Tenens rates: Reliance on temporary healthcare professionals to fill staffing gaps adds significant expense, as their rates are often much higher than those of permanent staff, exacerbating financial pressures without providing long-term solutions.
Workforce challenges are painful
Make them short-lived
Partner with TMS Associates to resolve workforce challenges and improve care
TALENT ADVISORY | CAREER ADVISORY | HEALTHCARE RECRUITMENT
Resolve critical talent demand in three steps
PLAN
Collaborate with stakeholders to clarify needs, formulate solutions, and present plans for approval
DELIVER
Recruit and career advise talent. Recommending select individuals for interview. Provide decision support to all parties
SUPPORT
We assist with final negotiations and onboarding. And for each new hire, we provide 6 - 18 months of retention support
Improve access, continuity and quality of care
Strengthen your operating model—beat budget
Benefits of partnering with TMS Associates
Enhance your workforce, streamline operations, and improve quality of care
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Partnering with TMS Associates ensures your healthcare organization can effectively meet critical talent demands. We specialize in identifying and engaging top-tier candidates across key roles—physicians, advanced practice providers, and healthcare executives—filling staffing gaps that disrupt care delivery and operational efficiency.
By targeting individuals who not only meet your technical requirements but also align with your core values and culture, we help you secure the right talent for long-term success.
Our strategic recruitment approach minimizes vacancies, stabilizes your workforce, and enhances your ability to deliver high-quality care, while also reducing reliance on costly temporary staffing solutions.
Key benefits of fulfilling critical talent demand with TMS Associates:
• Reduced turnover: By ensuring a better cultural fit and aligning values, we help lower turnover and foster long-term employee retention.
• Improved patient care: Filling essential roles quickly ensures continuity of care, improving patient outcomes and overall satisfaction.
• Operational efficiency: Swiftly filling critical positions reduces strain on existing staff and eliminates costly delays, enabling smoother day-to-day operations.
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Partnering with TMS Associates ensures that your healthcare organization benefits from a more engaged and high-performing workforce. By carefully selecting candidates who not only have the required skills but also align with your organization’s values and culture, we help create teams that are more motivated and committed. Engaged employees are proven to be more productive, which not only improves patient care but also enhances operational efficiency.
A more engaged workforce leads to better communication, collaboration, and innovation, all of which are essential to streamlining your operating model. With the right talent in place, your organization can optimize workflows, reduce inefficiencies, and improve overall performance, allowing you to focus on delivering quality care.
Key benefits of increasing employee engagement and performance with TMS Associates:
• Stronger team cohesion: Our focus on cultural alignment ensures your teams work better together, improving collaboration and boosting morale.
• Higher retention rates: Engaged employees are more likely to remain with the organization long-term, reducing turnover and the need for costly recruitment and training.
• Improved operating model: With an engaged workforce, you can streamline processes, reduce bottlenecks, and enhance day-to-day efficiency, enabling smoother operations.
• Better care outcomes: Employees who are committed to their roles and organization deliver higher-quality care, leading to improved patient satisfaction and outcomes.Item description
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Partnering with TMS Associates ensures that your healthcare organization has the right talent in place to provide timely, consistent, and high-quality care. We understand that unfilled positions and high turnover can lead to delays in care, disrupt continuity, and negatively impact patient outcomes. By filling critical roles with professionals who are not only skilled but also aligned with your organization’s mission and values, we help stabilize your workforce, ensuring patients receive the care they need when they need it.
A stable and well-matched workforce improves access to care by minimizing gaps in staffing and reducing patient wait times. Additionally, continuity is maintained as fewer vacancies mean less reliance on temporary staff, allowing patients to build relationships with consistent providers who are familiar with their history and care needs. Ultimately, this leads to better health outcomes and higher patient satisfaction.
Key benefits of improving access, continuity, and quality of care with TMS Associates:
• Timely care delivery: By ensuring key roles are filled quickly and effectively, we reduce wait times and improve access to care for patients.
• Enhanced continuity: Fewer vacancies and better retention mean patients receive consistent care from familiar providers, improving trust and care outcomes.
• Higher quality of care: With a stable, committed workforce, your organization can focus on delivering high-quality, patient-centered care, leading to improved health outcomes and patient satisfaction.
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Partnering with TMS Associates allows your organization to build a workforce that is not only clinically skilled but also deeply invested in patient care. We prioritize matching candidates who embody your values and have a genuine commitment to patient-centered care. By ensuring the right fit, we help create teams that are more engaged, which directly enhances the patient experience.
A well-aligned workforce fosters stronger patient-provider relationships, leading to more personalized and attentive care. This results in higher patient satisfaction and more positive clinical outcomes. Additionally, with fewer staffing gaps and reduced turnover, providers can maintain continuity of care, which is essential for improving health outcomes and reducing errors. The stability and commitment of your workforce become a driving force behind better patient experiences and superior clinical performance.
Key benefits of elevating patient experiences and clinical outcomes with TMS Associates:
• Improved patient satisfaction: A committed, aligned workforce delivers more personalized and attentive care, leading to better patient experiences.
• Stronger clinical outcomes: Continuity of care, supported by a stable workforce, reduces errors and enhances treatment effectiveness, resulting in better health outcomes.
• Long-term patient relationships: By ensuring your team is consistent and well-suited to your culture, we help build lasting patient-provider relationships, increasing trust and long-term care success.
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Partnering with TMS Associates helps your healthcare organization not only secure the right talent but also drive significant improvements in operational efficiency and budget management. By addressing staffing gaps with precision, we reduce the reliance on costly overtime and temporary staff, enabling a more stable and engaged workforce. This directly contributes to controlling labor costs and minimizing turnover, which are critical factors in staying on budget.
In addition, having the right team in place enables better management of length of stay (LOS), a key performance metric for controlling costs and enhancing patient throughput. With a well-staffed and high-performing team, you can reduce unnecessary extended stays, improving bed availability and ensuring more efficient use of hospital resources. Furthermore, our recruitment approach supports optimized inpatient and outpatient utilization, helping you balance your patient load and reduce operational bottlenecks across both care settings.
Key benefits of enhancing your operating model with TMS Associates:
• Cost-effective staffing solutions: By minimizing turnover and reliance on expensive temporary staffing, we help lower labor costs and improve budget performance.
• Improved LOS management: A stable workforce supports better patient flow and shorter length of stay, freeing up beds and improving hospital efficiency.
• Optimized inpatient and outpatient utilization: With the right staff, you can balance inpatient capacity and outpatient services, ensuring smoother transitions and more efficient resource use.
• Operational efficiency: Our strategic recruitment strengthens team cohesion and productivity, reducing delays and enhancing the overall care process.
• Budget alignment: Filling positions faster and improving workforce stability allows your organization to operate within budget, while maintaining a high level of care quality.
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“We teamed up with TMS Associates to bring on a new cardiologist, and wow, did they deliver. She fits our culture and has a stellar clinical background; our patients adore her. We hit every mark on our hiring checklist.”
— LISA H., TMS ASSOCIATES CLIENT