DirectShifts reimagines the clinician experience as an all-in-one staffing platform

The healthcare industry is complex, and the landscape has made it increasingly more difficult for employers to find, to hire, and to retain qualified clinicians.
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DirectShifts offers a modernized recruitment solution by making it easier for clinicians and hiring personnel to connect, so they can directly discuss openings and new opportunities. Their goal is to empower clinicians through technology, so that they can manage their credentials, proactively pick up local shifts and contracts, manage their own availability, and track their income - all in one place.
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DirectShifts’ two-sided clinical staffing marketplace has already connected healthcare employers and thousands of clinicians together. Having already worked with physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, therapists, and allied health professionals, DirectShifts understood the importance of designing a customized and comprehensive experience for its clinicians and healthcare employers.
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While the platform was already built to handle sourcing, recruitment, applicant tracking, onboarding, and timesheet management, DirectShifts sought to solve a major pain point for its users: the ability to easily and efficiently process payroll and payments, without the confusion and frustration caused by third-party providers.
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DirectShifts had been using separate, third-party payroll and payments systems for its 1099 and W2 clinicians. This created a disjointed user experience, requiring clinicians and administrators to manage multiple logins across different systems.
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Clinicians were struggling to match their pay with their timesheets, while employers ran reconciliations. And with no real control over the payroll or payment platforms, the DirectShifts operational support team was caught in the middle. “Embedding payroll into our platform was the logical next step for us,” says Vamshi Gunukula, Chief Operating Officer of DirectShifts. “By giving all our clinicians complete access to what, how, and when they’re paid, we’ve streamlined the whole process for everyone.”

Embedding payroll into our platform was the logical next step for us. By giving all our clinicians complete access to what, how, and when they’re paid, we’ve streamlined the whole process for everyone.
<h4-style>Vamshi Gunukula<h4-style>
<p-small>Chief Operating Officer, DirectShifts<p-small>

In order to make the entire DirectShifts experience seamless, they knew it was critical that any payroll provider they chose would need to work integrally within their framework. They considered more traditional payroll options, but none gave them the flexibility to follow their existing workflows. Instead of a white-labeled solution, they knew that what they really needed was a fully embedded experience. That’s when they discovered the Check platform.
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“Check offered us the foundation we needed to build a payroll experience from the ground up in a way that really suited all our needs,” Gunukula says. Now, instead of the multiple systems required to manage 1099 and W2 payments outside of the DirectShifts platform, everything is in one centralized place. It has resulted in a much better experience for clinicians, who can navigate the platform seamlessly from initial job search, to submitting timesheets, to getting paid.

Check offered us the foundation we needed to build a payroll experience from the ground up in a way that really suited all our needs.
<h4-style>Vamshi Gunukula<h4-style>
<p-small>Chief Operating Officer, DirectShifts<p-small>

Having payroll data all in one place also makes it significantly easier for DirectShift’s internal teams to manage its users. Questions regarding payroll and payments were cut by 50% in the first two months post-implementation, which significantly reduced the operational pain the support team was experiencing. “Troubleshooting is much easier because information access is much easier,” says Gunukula. “The team can see everything in one place, so they can respond faster, with the right answers, the first time.” The result has been a 20% reduction in the time spent onboarding, processing, and tracking payroll.

With an embedded payroll experience, DirectShifts users now revisit the app every time they need to access or review their pay stubs, effectively doubling app engagement with the launch of embedded payroll. “We’ve received a lot of positive feedback from users saying the platform is seamless,” says Gunukula. “They can now come to the platform, get credentialled, go to work, submit timesheets, and view the payments associated with the timesheets. Everything is in one place, so it becomes a very easy experience.”
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In some cases, payments can be made within a 48-hour period. “With the gig economy evolving, people expect to be paid right away,” says Gunukula. “They don’t have the time to wait for their paychecks. We think this is one of the reasons our platform has become even more attractive to our users. And they can use our platform to provide evidence of payments and earnings to banks, lenders, or any entity making an inquiry.”
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This increased access to payroll information makes the platform more efficient and effective overall. Not to mention, it helps build trust with both the employers and healthcare workers on the app. “Anything related to payments is directly impacting trust with the platform, and trust is not easy to win,” says Gunukula. “For us to have the right information with respect to our customers’ money, and to answer payments-related questions correctly the first time is a huge trust-building factor.”

Anything related to payments is directly impacting trust with the platform, and trust is not easy to win. For us to have the right information with respect to our customers’ money, and to answer payments-related questions correctly the first time is a huge trust-building factor.
<h4-style>Vamshi Gunukula<h4-style>
<p-small>Chief Operating Officer, DirectShifts<p-small>

By embedding payroll with Check, DirectShifts has enabled much greater flexibility for what they might tackle next. Faster processing speeds and greater control over payroll data can help relieve stress on employers and healthcare workers alike.
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For example, DirectShifts could explore instant payments after a shift is worked to attract new talent to the platform. Or one-day payroll processing. Improvements like this are both useful and enticing to the workforce, and can help ensure greater job satisfaction.
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DirectShifts also sees future platform innovation unlocked for employers with payroll as a key control point. Visibility into payroll data is incredibly valuable to employers, and can help them be more competitive. For example, if a healthcare provider is short on workers for a shift, DirectShifts could share the going rate for a shift that day. In response, employers on the platform can offer higher hourly rates to fill a slot faster. It’s a way of providing true transparency for everyone in the marketplace.
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“Healthcare is a noble profession burdened by loss of autonomy and an increasing number of intermediaries between patients and providers,” says Gunukula. “The more we can make it easier for clinicians and administrators to connect about open roles, the more they can focus on what they’re good at, which is providing patient care.”