Predictive features offered as part of popular nurse and staff scheduling tools aren't living up to the hype, according to a KLAS Research report.
For the report, the health IT research firm interviewed more than 300 respondents — including C-suite executives, directors and nursing leaders — from various hospitals and clinics about their experiences with tools from nine popular nurse and staff scheduling vendors.
Although many popular nurse and staff scheduling vendors market advanced functionalities, such as predictive scheduling and artificial intelligence, human expertise is still "more valuable than artificial modeling" for organizations looking to maximize staff availability and ensure caregivers are matched to appropriate patients, according to the report.
Only one of the nine vendors in the report had 15-plus customers in KLAS Research's sample: OnShift, which earned a score of 7.3 out of 9 for the accuracy of its predictive scheduling features.
Here's how the remaining eight vendors stacked up on the accuracy of their predictive scheduling features. KLAS Research noted the limited number of respondents using these products in its sample hindered the firm from generalizing these findings.
1. Schedule360 (based on 14 customers): 8.1
2. ShiftWizard (based on seven customers): 8
3. GE Healthcare's ShiftSelect (based on nine customers): 7.8
4. Change Healthcare (based on seven customers): 7.6
5. Cerner (based on 12 customers): 7.4
6. Avantas (based on 11 customers): 7.2
6. GE Healthcare's Staffing & Scheduling (based on nine customers): 7.2
8. Kronos (based on 11 customers): 6.4
KLAS Research noted only half of ShiftWizard, GE Healthcare and Change Healthcare's customers reported using the predictive scheduling features in their products, favoring a more manual process for creating schedules.
"Respondents often point out that the predictive scheduling is only as good as the data it consumes and the users who manage it," the reports reads.