HealthStream Enhances Healthcare Staff Scheduling with Increased Investment in ShiftWizard
A strategic investment, paving the way for enhanced healthcare scheduling solutions
HealthStream®, a leading provider of healthcare workforce solutions, is proud to announce another year of strategic investment in ShiftWizard™, the fastest-growing healthcare scheduling system. This investment underscores HealthStream’s commitment to help healthcare organizations streamline everyday tasks while improving performance, engagement, and safety—fostering a workplace where people flourish and care thrives.
Since HealthStream acquired ShiftWizard in 2020, the impact on healthcare leaders, managers, and staff has been transformative. In 2023, HealthStream has diligently advanced this cutting-edge technology, primarily focusing on refining the product and introducing innovative modules like Acuity and Assignment Manager. These improvements have worked to streamline the scheduling process and enhance patient-staff alignment for healthcare systems of every size, contributing to an overall improvement in the quality of life for healthcare professionals and patients.
In 2023, HealthStream invested substantially in ShiftWizard, bringing all software development in-house and combining all credentialing and scheduling, including ShiftWizard, to form the company’s Enterprise Applications Solution group. Michael Sousa has been appointed Executive Vice President of Enterprise Applications. In his 18 years with HealthStream, Sousa has been instrumental in the nationwide growth of HealthStream, as well as successfully building and leading the CredentialStream® business. Alongside this milestone, HealthStream has expanded its ShiftWizard workforce, appointing Purti Barve as the Vice President of Software Development and welcoming a team of eight new developers, four developers, and two designers—with plans to add two more developers this year.
Sousa expressed the significance of this investment, stating, “By assembling a highly skilled and dedicated team, our strategic investment in ShiftWizard reflects our commitment to advancing the nursing profession. The enhancements introduced through ShiftWizard represent a significant opportunity for optimizing scheduling processes and providing managers with a streamlined workflow. Moreover, the improvement to the calendar app empowers nurses to effortlessly manage their schedules on the go. This innovative platform is a central hub for communication, fostering increased engagement, mitigating burnout, and ultimately contributing to enhanced retention rates.”
HealthStream is also excited to announce a series of strategic investments in the ShiftWizard mobile product. The vision for 2024 included multiple releases and mobile app optimizations for Android and iOS platforms. These improvements enhanced the overall user experience, increasing the product's efficiency and accessibility.
Furthermore, HealthStream recognizes the importance of the mobile nurse experience in today's fast-paced healthcare environment. Additional resources will be allocated to this endeavor, accelerating the release of new features and enhancements.
“Our commitment to evolving with the healthcare industry and the needs of healthcare professionals remains unwavering, and we are confident that these investments will significantly improve the lives of users,” said Sousa.
In addition to the mobile application, ShiftWizard has expanded its capabilities by introducing the Acuity and Assignment Manager module. These tools provide a comprehensive view of staffing needs and allow for better management of patient acuity levels, ensuring that staff are correctly assigned to patients based on their specific needs. This improves patient outcomes and employee satisfaction by reducing burnout and improving work-life balance.
The remarkable advancements and innovations introduced by ShiftWizard have earned HealthStream the prestigious 2023 Workday Partner Innovation Award for Advanced Staff Scheduling Integration for Healthcare. Workday, a leading provider of streamlined financial, human capital, and information management software, acknowledges ShiftWizard's seamless integration as instrumental in elevating healthcare professionals' experiences nationwide.
In addition to this industry accolade, ShiftWizard achieved substantial growth in 2023, with a 153% increase in subscriber growth. They also successfully transitioned four organizations from HealthStream’s legacy scheduling solution, ANSOS, including a large healthcare system encompassing 45 hospitals.
In the healthcare landscape where 80% of organizations rely on outdated communication methods, such as text messages or pagers, HealthStream remains committed to pioneering new solutions. By enhancing communication, improving visibility, and increasing staff efficiency, HealthStream is dedicated to leveraging ShiftWizard to positively impact the lives of healthcare staff and patients.
Recognizing the dynamic nature of healthcare, HealthStream implemented monthly product releases for the ShiftWizard application; furthermore, in 2024, the company will introduce weekly hotfixes, underscoring its commitment to continuous improvement. These enhancements are designed to bring unparalleled convenience and usability to the ShiftWizard platform, delivering substantial benefits to healthcare professionals and organizations nationwide.
Sousa emphasized, “ShiftWizard already boasts a wide range of features that have significantly improved the lives of healthcare facilities. We aim to leverage this innovation and apply it directly to the solution, elevating crowdsourced enhancements, flexibility, and efficiency for all those who rely on the power of ShiftWizard.”
Furthermore, HealthStream has introduced hStream for Scheduling, a comprehensive platform enabling users to access integrated benefits and capabilities within the hStream ecosystem. Additionally, this innovative platform fosters collaboration through a robust online community, facilitating discussion and shared learning among customers, employees, and industry experts to enhance the overall effectiveness and experience of the platform. In 2024, hStream for Scheduling will enable the introduction of power data visualizations and benchmarks proprietary to ShiftWizard clients.
HealthStream is excited to embark on this journey of innovation and improvement for ShiftWizard. Through the elevation of this advanced scheduling solution, HealthStream remains dedicated to providing healthcare professionals with an even more advanced, user-friendly, and efficient scheduling solution.
About HealthStream
HealthStream is the leader in healthcare workforce solutions. We help organizations work better by helping their people work smarter.
HealthStream provides the leading learning, clinical development, credentialing, and scheduling applications delivered on healthcare’s #1 platform. We streamline everyday tasks while improving performance, engagement, and safety—fostering a workplace where people flourish, and care thrives.
