“Winnow’s AI solution has never been more needed than now, as our industry faces nursing shortages and physician turnover rates that are at an all-time high," said Marty Bonick, president and CEO of Ardent.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (PRWEB) May 05, 2022
Winnow, a Nashville-based health tech company, today announced it has partnered with Ardent Health Services to leverage its artificial intelligence (AI) solution for clinician recruiting. The partnership will deepen Ardent’s commitment to digital innovation and give its 200 sites of care, including 30 hospitals, a competitive advantage in a historically tight labor market.
“We’re thrilled to join forces with Winnow,” said Marty Bonick, president and CEO of Ardent. “Winnow’s AI solution has never been more needed than now, as our industry faces nursing shortages and physician turnover rates that are at an all-time high. This partnership will allow us to use proven technology to hire the best-qualified clinicians across Ardent’s footprint.”
The partnership announcement follows a months-long joint development phase. During this time, Winnow led a comprehensive study of Ardent’s existing recruiting processes, collecting data on the company’s cost allocations, tools, efficiencies, and other recruiting metrics. Winnow then implemented its AI platform to support the company’s specific recruiting needs and opportunities.
“Ardent is the ideal partner to lead the AI evolution of healthcare recruiting,” said Paul Vernich, CEO of Winnow. “While the company may be large, their willingness to embrace change and pursue digital innovation will ensure that Winnow’s cutting-edge technologies create new efficiencies and opportunities to improve patient care.”
A SECTOR OVERDUE FOR DISRUPTION
Winnow was launched in 2021 by SwitchPoint Ventures, an AI-focused venture studio based in Nashville. After identifying clinician recruiting as a sector overdue for disruption, the SwitchPoint team applied its world-class expertise in AI to modernize a field that has been mired in antiquated processes.
One of the most significant recruiting challenges Winnow addresses is a dearth of candidates who are actively looking for new positions, which amounts to only 10% of the workforce at any given time. This imbalance puts recruiters in the position of spending an inordinate amount of time simply sourcing candidates.
“Recruiters today are forced to focus on and aggressively compete for the small pool of candidates who are actively looking,” said Vernich. “Whether these candidates are actually the best fit for the job becomes a secondary consideration to the need to simply fill positions with plausible candidates.”
Winnow’s thesis is that recruiting clinicians who are strong, long-term fits requires three elements to be in harmony: timing, context, and relationships. Winnow’s platform uses predictive analytics to synchronize these factors. It accomplishes this by, first, accurately sourcing the best clinical providers for each business and role, whether those candidates are active or passive. Next, the platform creates opportunities for a medical organization’s existing clinicians to easily refer a Winnow candidate within their own networks.
Vernich believes the clinician recruiting process offers an ideal application for AI.
“We developed Winnow to modernize recruiting,” he said, “a process that has come to entail expensive contingency firms, suboptimal third-party tools, and resources, long recruiting cycles, hidden costs, and an inability to source the best-aligned candidates. We believe AI-driven innovation in recruiting will help health organizations optimize care for their patients and create greater efficiencies.”
Bonick sees recruiting as one of many areas of healthcare that must be updated with new technologies.
“Healthcare is at an inflection point,” he said. “For too long, providers have been weighed down by inefficient processes and a lack of consumer-friendly technology. Keeping consumers engaged with the healthcare ecosystem will require health systems to make strategic investments in technology – both consumer-facing and behind the scenes. Winnow’s technology addresses a universal need and we’re proud to be an early partner in this vision.”
ABOUT ARDENT HEALTH SERVICES
Ardent Health Services invests in people, technology, facilities and communities. Through its subsidiaries, Ardent owns and operates 30 hospitals and more than 200 sites of care in six states with more than 25,000 employees, including 1,200+ employed providers. With a focus on evidence-based practices to improve quality care and patient outcomes, 85% of Ardent hospitals received a Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade of A or B for fall 2021 compared with 58% of ranked hospitals. In 2021, Modern Healthcare recognized five Ardent hospitals as "Best Places to Work," marking the 13th consecutive year an Ardent facility was recognized. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Ardent is owned by current and former members of Ardent’s executive management team; Equity Group Investments (EGI), a Chicago-based private investment firm; and Ventas, Inc. (NYSE: VTR), a publicly-traded real estate investment trust.
ABOUT WINNOW
Winnow is an AI solution for clinician recruiting that dramatically increases the efficiencies, savings, and success of in-house healthcare recruiting. Winnow’s platform uses predictive analytics to instantly source ideal clinician matches and determine the best fits for each open role. Winnow was launched in 2021 by SwitchPoint Ventures, an AI-focused venture studio based in Nashville.
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