SIA Healthcare Staffing Summit – What You Missed and The Takeaways
November 13, 2025
Last week we wrapped up the 2025 Staffing Industry Analysts Healthcare Staffing Summit! ABD was proud to be a Silver sponsor and exhibitor of this year’s summit.
If you weren’t able to attend or would like to see some of our takeaways, check out our recap below and our Bob Walking Segment on The Staffing Buzz Network to see what attendees had to say!
The State of the Healthcare Industry
Overall, Per Diem and Locum Tenens are seeing strong growth in healthcare. Acute care is predicted to play a larger role in growth next year. While travel nursing is down, there is more stabilization than before the pandemic.
During the pandemic the industry saw a decrease of perm nurses and an increase in travel nurses. After the pandemic, more travel nurses have gone back to their perm roles. Travel nurse pay has also been down compared to the pandemic years, which could play a role for nurses when deciding to go into a permanent or temporary role. While travel nursing is at a stable level, there is good potential for it to grow again as nurses are reminded of the challenges faced in permanent nursing positions compared to the flexibility offered as a travel nurse.
The Challenges
Staffing companies are facing more demanding clients and recruiters are working harder than they ever had to before. Overall, submission to placement levels are low and the number of submissions needed to get a job filled is high.
Speed to fill also needs to be quicker than it ever was before. This is where AI and automation can play a role. Traditional recruiting techniques aren’t as effective, and recruiters need to begin doing things differently. At the same time, while AI and automation can play a major role in streamlining recruiting operations, it’s also important to bring the personal touch. Everyone receives a lot of spam emails and text messages, so it’s important to find ways to stand out through the clutter. Time on the phone is valuable—it’s important to remember to still pick up the phone!
Today’s AI and Technology
Many of the summit sessions included discussions on AI, automation, and technology. Top healthcare technology vendors were also in the exhibit hall for attendees to have hands-on experience with the latest tools available to them.
While the impact of AI and technology is greater than it ever was before for the industry, a common trend was confusion. Staffing companies are having a hard time deciding on what AI tools they need and deciphering the difference between AI vendors. All of the new technology in the marketplace can be overwhelming. It’s important for staffing companies to identify what business problems they are trying to resolve with AI. It’s also important to talk to your current vendors and staffing software provider to see what technology is available in their system and what is available through their partnerships. Piecing together different solutions that aren’t integrated will yield poor results, especially when it comes to using AI.
Tech is becoming an important value proposition for both clients and candidates. What self-service tools can you offer to not only place candidates faster, but to offer an easy placement process? Successfully incorporating this technology can help give staffing companies a competitive advantage.
Many sessions also talked about the important role VMS and MSP’s can play in driving growth. More AI and automation tools are also becoming available in VMS to streamline placements.
Ultra-Staff EDGE at the Healthcare Staffing Summit
At the Automated Business Designs booth, staffing companies had the opportunity to experience the all new Ultra-Staff EDGE AI-Powered Shift Invitations. Within Ultra-Staff EDGE Front Office, recruiters can set the criteria for a shift and automatic invitations are sent out to candidates that meet the criteria. Instant shift notifications appear on the candidates’ phone and these shifts can be accepted or rejected instantly within the Ultra-Staff EDGE JOBS candidate mobile app. Once a shift is accepted or rejected, the statuses are automatically updated within Ultra-Staff EDGE Front Office on the candidate profile and in the job order. All activity notes are also logged.
AI-Powered shift invitations bring more autonomy to healthcare workers and set the stage for gig-type work. It’s a big selling point for healthcare workers that are looking for flexibility and ease of finding shifts. It also expedites the time to fill positions and brings a huge value proposition for hospitals and facilities.
The AI-Powered Shift Invitations coupled with color-coded shift scheduling, built-in Pay Package Calculator, Credential Management, and self-service tools are leading the way for healthcare staffing companies to stay ahead of the competition.
Schedule a Demonstration
If you didn’t get a chance to stop by, schedule a demo of Ultra-Staff EDGE Healthcare Staffing Software to experience the above features coupled with a full ATS and CRM solution with Back Office. Ultra-Staff EDGE is truly the only healthcare staffing software you will ever need.