If 2025 has made anything clear, it’s this: MSP programs remain among the most effective workforce models in healthcare staffing. The demands on health systems have grown more complex, and MSPs are uniquely positioned to bring order, insight, and structure to that complexity. As we look ahead, 2026 isn’t the year to question MSPs, it is the year to strengthen them.
Healthcare systems face growing, converging pressures
Across the United States, hospitals and health systems are facing intensified pressure on multiple fronts: rising labor costs, tightening reimbursement, value-based care demands, constrained operating margins, persistent physician, and nurse shortages, expanding regulatory compliance requirements, and an increasing emphasis on quality and patient outcomes. According to the American Hospital Association (AHA) 2024 Costs of Caring Report, these financial, regulatory, and workforce pressures continue to accelerate and are reshaping how health systems approach staffing and operational strategy.
The magnitude of the workforce challenge is stark. According to a national projection, demand for registered nurses is significant, with more than 193,000 RN openings projected annually through 2032. Because retirements, turnover, and growing care needs all contribute to that figure, many healthcare organizations cannot keep up using traditional staffing models.
Given this backdrop, health systems need partners who can deliver visibility, predictability, and efficiency at scale. MSPs are built for just that.
Why MSP models continue to work
MSPs deliver a foundation of stability and structure that helps health systems navigate volatility in demand, staffing supply, and regulatory burden. Rising labor and compliance costs have made staffing unpredictability one of the biggest threats to hospital operations.
Key advantages include:
- Workforce visibility: Through dashboards and analytics, MSPs provide insight into utilization, retention, cancellations, and spend.
- Standardized processes: Credentialing, billing, order management, and vendor communication move through a unified workflow.
- Rate-card consistency: Predictable pricing protects budgets and supports sustainable staffing.
- Supplier alignment: Central oversight enhances vendor accountability and optimizes staffing supply coordination.
- Clinical quality oversight: Credentialing accuracy and compliance become shared priorities with fewer moving parts.
By centralizing these functions, MSPs allow health systems to operate with clarity instead of chaos, even amid shortages and rising costs.
The evolving role of suppliers
For MSP programs to deliver on their promise, they depend on strong supplier partners. When suppliers invest fully in the MSP program, the entire ecosystem performs better, including clinicians and health systems that are already strained by rising labor and compliance costs as outlined in the AHA 2024 Costs of Caring Report. Expectations are evolving, and in 2026 suppliers must commit to more than filling orders. They must deliver:
- Timely, accurate submissions
- Real market data
- Transparent communication
- High standards of credentialing and compliance
- Responsive clinician support
- Reliable and consistent fill execution
- Partnership instead of transaction
When suppliers invest fully in the MSP program, the entire ecosystem performs better, including clinicians and health systems.
The shift from procurement to strategic workforce partnership
MSPs are no longer viewed only as procurement solutions. They are strategic workforce partners embedded in long-term staffing strategy. This evolution elevates the MSP to a strategic partner and raises the bar for supplier alignment. Hospitals are increasingly dependent on workforce planning and operational efficiency due to the economic pressures.
Many MSPs now engage in:
- Talent forecasting
- Market analytics
- Retention modeling
- Internal float pool design
- Clinical quality metric tracking
- Operational risk reduction
This evolution elevates the MSP to a strategic partner and raises the bar for supplier alignment.
Why MSPs need support from suppliers
MSPs face the same pressures as health systems, including rising labor costs, regulatory challenges, and clinician shortages. Suppliers play a crucial role in ensuring MSP program goals remain sustainable and achievable.
The strongest suppliers in 2026 will be those who:
- Bring data rather than assumptions
- Advocate for fillable terms over short-term wins
- Support credentialing accuracy
- Provide insight into clinician experience
- Maintain consistent, respectful communication
- Align with long-term success metrics
This is not about saying “yes” to everything, it is about saying “yes” to the right things.
The takeaway
MSP programs are not simply enduring; they are becoming more strategically important. Health systems want solutions that scale, simplify, and sustain, especially as financial and workforce pressures continue to grow. MSPs deliver that, and suppliers who engage deeply within those programs will strengthen their long-term success.
As we move into 2026, alignment among MSPs, suppliers, clinicians, and health systems must be intentional and data-driven, to provide the stability and clarity the industry and patients need.
