Or will hospitals leverage healthcare staffing technologies in favor of the bottom line? With third-party payor reimbursements dropping below sustainable levels and healthcare reform shrinking Medicare and Medicaid, hospitals will find profits harder to come by. For some, better managing staffing agencies and using data to drive staffing decisions will do the trick. For others, outsourcing workforce management functions or re-evaluating managed care contracts will be sufficient to reign-in cost centers and boost profits. Staffing, a healthcare employer's single largest expense, is probably where hospital cost reductions can affect profits most quickly. Patient census data and the benchmarking of hours worked per case allow for the flexible and accurate scheduling of part timers and travelers. This reduces staff down time, heightens productivity during peak times and is critical to not over or under staffing facilities, both of which adversely impact profits. Tightening vendor policies and diligently tracking the performance of staffing agencies can also improve the look of a P&L. Narrowing vendor relationships to only top performers and holding agencies accountable to competitive bill rates and timely submission of documents will save staffing managers time, money and aggravation; savings that can be converted to [+]