3rd party contract

79Tango · Feb 17, 2012

I would work with X agency if they help me land on my feet & have another job that pays good $$ in front of me. If not, then I would put them on blast for not disclosing the relationship with Y agency..

That is pretty messed up your recruiter didnt have the guts to tell you what the "real deal" is. In all my experience with this, the contract had both companies listed... "Groundedandrooted is working for X agency on behalf of Y agency at ABC Hospital type of stuff"

NedRN · Feb 19, 2012

This is a common business arrangement, and is generally transparent to the traveler. That third party is called a vendor manager, and in effect it is the hospital outsourcing their human resources department. Much of the time, this vendor manager handles perhaps hundreds of agencies to find the traveler that best fits the hospital needs, just like human resources. Sometimes this vendor manager also owns an agency, like Intelistaf, or American Mobile (Kaiser hospitals), or Trustaff (for St Thomas), or AAS (HCA hospitals). Others are completely independent like Broadlane, or Medefis, and do not have their own travelers.

There are some interesting things you can do if you know what is going on and there is a very comprehensive article on pantravelers dot org. But for the most part, it really shouldn't matter much to you. If you've done your homework, found a good agency you like to work for, and found that their pay rates are competitive, what difference does it make how they acquired a great assignment at pay you like?

If you are thinking that in the case of an agency like American Mobile that is subbing out a job to your agency, and that you will get paid more by working directly for AM, think again! Seems logical, but it is often not so, and the subcontractor pays more, sometimes substantially more. The primary advantage for working directly for someone like AM is that you will get first crack at the assignment. If you like working for a big agency, that is the way to go of course.

Finally, it is not unethical for the recruiter not to tell you upfront about vendor managers. For one thing, they may not know. It may be just as transparent to them as it is to you. Secondly, it is complicated to explain, and there is no decision you would have to make with that agency, like I'm not going to work those assignments. They don't tell you what the bill rate is, or how much they pay for Liability Insurance, or what a recruiter makes. On the other hand, most any good agency will tell you if you ask (and the recruiter knows), but unless you are an advanced traveler, you will not know what you can do with that information so there is not much point to it.

groundedandrooted · Feb 20, 2012

The first clue that I had was when the recruiter sent me paperwork from an agency different from hers. I'm thinking that it is easier for Y agency to cancel someone NOT from them, in this case Y agency cancelled me instead of one of their own nurses.

groundedandrooted · Feb 20, 2012

I'm thinking this route of employing nurses would cut down on the refusals to work for a certain corporation.

NedRN · Feb 20, 2012

I'm thinking that it is easier for Y agency to cancel someone NOT from them, in this case Y agency cancelled me instead of one of their own nurses.

Agencies never cancel travelers, only hospitals do so. It doesn't make any difference to the hospital which agency the traveler is from, and they may not even know. In any case, the cost to the hospital is exactly the same no matter the originating agency the traveler came from so there is no incentive to pick out a traveler from a particular agency.

I'm thinking this route of employing nurses would cut down on the refusals to work for a certain corporation.

Not enough to matter. If you are thinking about Cross Country and American Mobile, they employ more travelers by a good bit than any others. A few travelers less is not important enough to set up a vendor management system to capture a few more. Also, the average vendor manager charges about 3% of the total contract amount. An agency supplying their own traveler has a margin of around 18 to 35 percent. So it would be silly to cut your margin by that much just to grab someone who doesn't like them.

Usually conspiracy theories such as this one should be the last to be considered. Occam's razor! Normal business reasons (the simplest hypotheses) are generally the real reason.

groundedandrooted · Feb 20, 2012

I wonder how many nurses know and avoid HCA and South Florida?? AAS and HCA are one and the same entity. They would cancel a traveler from another agency before they would cancel a direct hire. Agree?

NedRN · Feb 20, 2012

HCA and AAS (now called Parallon) are not the most trustworthy of agents. However, relationships between them and subcontracting agencies are governed by contracts, not whim. I've never heard of any propensity for non HCA agency travelers to get preferentially terminated. If you think about the understaffed working conditions at most HCA hospitals, there is not much reason to terminate a traveler. Warm bodies rule at HCA.

Clearly you are a conspiracy freak! Personally, if I wished to work an assignment at HCA, I would prefer an independent agency. One of the benefits to working for an agency is that they act in your behalf. I like a go between myself and the hospital, or a go between between myself and AAS. From what I hear, you can often get better pay from independent agencies working at HCA as well. If you ever work directly for AAS, you may not be able to choose another agency next time for an HCA hospital.

Your choice of course, but I don't think you should be encouraging other travelers to work for AAS.

groundedandrooted · Feb 21, 2012

LOL I can't think of any good conspiracy to explain why HCA and AAS would cancel my contract! And I don't encourage anybody to work in south Florida.

over and out :)

NedRN · Feb 21, 2012

Did you get cancelled by AAS? I'm sorry.

groundedandrooted · Mar 20, 2012

So... I got a call from Parallon---- Call me paranoid, How the heck did they get my info?! It's too much of a coincidence to be a cold call.....

NedRN · Mar 20, 2012

Ever worked at an HCA hospital, or AAS (including subcontracting agencies)? Ever held a nursing license in a state that sells mailing lists, such as California? Or another agency that ends up being sold? It is not hard for Parallon to get your info.

As to the coincidence part, it would take a real leap to think they are going to target you for a specific assignment because you were submitted by a third party agency. Travelers are a common commodity and they care little about one in hundreds from a corporate perspective. What is much more likely is you fell in a list for recruiters to call and they are required to cold call so many travelers a day. Many, if not most agencies do this. You are valuable to an individual recruiter, but they don't know you from Adam until they call you.