The nursing resource allocation market size is expected to reach US$ 3.83 Bn by 2030, from US$ 1.98 billion in 2023, at a CAGR of 9.9% during the forecast period. Nursing resource allocation refers to the process of effectively managing and distributing nursing staff across various departments and shifts in a healthcare facility using specialized software solutions. The solutions help optimize nurse scheduling, forecast staffing needs, monitor patient care delivery, and automate administrative workflows. The growing adoption of these solutions can be attributed to their ability to reduce costs, enhance patient outcomes, and improve staff productivity.

The nursing resource allocation market is segmented by product type, deployment, application, end user, and region. By type, the market is segmented into software and services. The software segment accounts for the largest market share, owing to the high adoption of workforce management and patient assignment software. The real-time visibility and automation provided by the software is driving segment growth.

Global Nursing Resource Allocation Market Drivers

• Increasing adoption of advanced technologies such as AI, ML, cloud computing, data analytics in healthcare: The increasing adoption of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, cloud computing, and data analytics in the healthcare sector is expected to drive the growth of the nursing resource allocation market over the forecast period. Healthcare providers are increasingly leveraging these technologies to develop advanced nursing workflow optimization solutions that can forecast staffing needs, automate scheduling, enable real-time tracking of personnel, and provide data-driven insights to improve decision-making. For instance, on October 9, 2023, care.ai, Software Company, announced the development of Google Cloud's generative AI and data analytics tools into its Smart Care Facility Platform to improve healthcare facility management and patient care, and move toward its vision for predictive, smart care facilities.
• Rising need to curtail soaring healthcare costs and improve operational efficiencies: The rising need to curtail soaring healthcare costs and improve operational efficiencies in healthcare facilities is anticipated to boost the adoption of nursing resource allocation solutions. These solutions can optimize nurse scheduling to reduce overtime and labor costs. According to a 2021 survey by the American Nurses Foundation, around US$ 9 Bn could be saved annually in the U.S. through effective nurse staffing optimization. Solutions that align nurse competencies with patient needs can also enhance productivity. The ability of these solutions to improve resource utilization and workforce productivity is expected to spur their adoption across healthcare facilities.
• Increasing government support for healthcare IT adoption globally: Increasing government support for healthcare IT adoption around the globe is anticipated to augment the nursing resource allocation market’s growth during the forecast period. Supportive regulations such as the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in the U.S. have favored the adoption of technologies for improving clinical workflows. Additionally, non-profit organizations are undertaking initiatives, such as the Nurses Improving Care for Health System Elders (NICHE) program by the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing, to promote IT adoption for improving elderly patient care and nurse resource management. Such favorable initiatives are expected to encourage market growth.

Global Nursing Resource Allocation Market Opportunities

• The growing adoption of cloud-based solutions owing to their various benefits such as flexibility, scalability, and affordability presents significant growth opportunities for nursing resource allocation market. Healthcare providers are increasingly opting for cloud-based workforce management solutions to gain rapid access to advanced functionalities for optimizing nurse scheduling and forecasting without the need to invest in on-premise IT infrastructure. For instance, solutions hosted on the cloud can be easily scaled to match the changing scheduling needs of hospitals. The growing cloud-based solutions adoption in the healthcare sector is likely to provide considerable market growth opportunities.
• The emerging potential for adoption of nursing resource allocation solutions across outpatient care centers, physician clinics, home health agencies, and long-term care facilities provides lucrative opportunities for market growth. For instance, on August 10, 2023, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announced awards of more than US$ 100 million to train more nurses and grow the nursing workforce. These investments will address the increasing demand for registered nurses, nurse practitioners, certified nurses and nurse faculty. Integration of employee management capabilities can also boost adoption across non-acute care settings with nurse shortages.
• The emergence of advanced technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and natural language processing (NLP) is expected to enable the launch of next-gen nursing resource allocation solutions over the coming years. Integration of smart devices through IoT allows real-time tracking of nursing tasks and automated data collection. Meanwhile, adoption of AI and NLP facilitates improved forecasting, enhanced reporting, and stronger visualization capabilities. Vendors can leverage these technologies to introduce more sophisticated predictive analytics, automation, and virtual assistance functionalities to boost their product offerings.

Global Nursing Resource Allocation Market Restraints

• Data privacy and security concerns associated with nursing resource allocation solutions might hamper their adoption, especially across small healthcare organizations. As these solutions deal with sensitive patient information along with confidential employee data, concerns regarding data breaches, lack of control over data, and compliance with regulations can deter their uptake. Providers are cautious about using third-party software vendors for nurse management due to these concerns.
• The high costs of implementation and maintenance of nursing resource allocation software can make adoption challenging in low-resource in healthcare settings. The expenses required for installation, infrastructure upgrades, training, customization, and licenses may seem prohibitive to small community health centers and clinics. Budget constraints can therefore slow down the deployment of these solutions across cost-sensitive healthcare organizations. Thus, key market players focused on cost efficient nursing resource allocation software
• The reluctance among end-users, including nurses and administrators, to adopt newer technologies can pose a key challenge to the growth of the nursing resource allocation market. Lack of technical know-how and perceptions about complexities associated with new solutions can limit user acceptance. Providers often prefer traditional manual scheduling techniques over advanced automated solutions. Changing this mindset through training and demonstrating return on investment will be crucial for vendors.

Analyst’s View on Global Nursing Resource Allocation Market:

The global nursing resource allocation market is expected to witness steady growth over the forecast period due to increased adoption of workforce management software and cloud-based platforms present an opportunity for stakeholders to optimize resource planning and allocation on a real-time basis and the rising demand for nurses caused by aging populations worldwide and increasing prevalence of chronic diseases. Developed markets in North America and Western Europe currently dominate due to higher allocation of resources to the healthcare sector compared to other regions

• There is a rising trend of long-term partnerships between nursing workforce solution providers and healthcare facilities to continually optimize scheduling processes. Instead of one-time system installations, healthcare providers are entering into contractual agreements for dynamic nurse management services. These partnerships allow providers to gain regular software updates and leverage vendor expertise to enhance scheduling accuracy based on changing demands. This emerging partnership trend is boosting vendor retention.
• There is an increasing trend of personalized nurse shift assignments and intra-shift adjustments by nursing resource allocation solutions based on competencies, patient needs, and acuity factors. Solutions are moving beyond template-based scheduling to enable dynamic real-time adjustments in nurse-patient assignments for better workload balancing and skill-patient matching. The customization helps reduce clinical risks and enhances both patient satisfaction and nursing productivity.

Nursing Resource Allocation Market Regional Insights

• North America is expected to be the largest market for nursing resource allocation market during the forecast period, accounting for over 41.3% of the market share in 2023. The growth of the market in North America is attributed to increasing utilization of healthcare IT solutions, the presence of leading market players, and the growing focus on value-based care delivery in the region.
• The Europe market is expected to be the second-largest market for nursing resource allocation Market, accounting for over 25.4% of the market share in 2023. The growth of the market in Europe is attributed to rising healthcare expenditure, the need for efficient utilization of nursing resources, and supportive government initiatives related to eHealth in the region.
• The Asia Pacific market is expected to be the fastest-growing market for nursing resource allocation market, with a CAGR of over 21.3% during the forecast period. The growth of the market in Asia Pacific is attributed to the increasing patient population, healthcare infrastructure improvements, and focus on healthcare digitization in the region.

Figure 1. Global Nursing Resource Allocation Market Share (%), by Region, 2023

Cerner Corporation, Allscripts, McKesson Corporation, Optum, Inc., IBM, Aptean, Health Systems Concepts, Advanced Software Products Group, Verge Solutions, QGenda, Infor, and F.A. Davis Company

New product launches

• On February 21, 2023, Infor, the industry cloud company, announced the launch of a new application to combat nurse shortages in the healthcare industry that measures the workload of each patient to provide a complete picture of labor requirements for each shift, unit or department.
• In December 2022, QGenda, LLC, a leading provider of healthcare workforce management solutions, announced the launch of QGenda Nurse and Staff Workforce Management, a mobile-first solution that makes it easier to deploy and manage an enterprise healthcare workforce.

Acquisition and partnerships

• On October 5, 2023, PruittHealth, a healthcare organization, announced that they had acquired three additional skilled nursing centers from Piedmont, two in Augusta, Georgia, to expand nursing care facilities.
• In August 2022, HCA Healthcare, Inc., a healthcare provider, announced a collaboration with Johnson & Johnson, Inc., a healthcare company, to work together on nursing resources within HCA Healthcare and its affiliate Galen College of Nursing. The companies will work together on health equity issues focused on educational programming, training, and other programs that elevate and support nurses with a goal of enriching the nursing experience and skillsets and improving patient outcomes.

• By Product Type:
• • Software
  • Services
• By Deployment:
• • On-Premise
  • Cloud-Based
• By Application:
• • Emergency Departments
  • Perioperative Services
  • Inpatient Care Management
  • Workflow Automation
• By End User:
• • Hospitals
  • Clinics
  • Ambulatory Care Centers
  • Nursing Homes
  • Others
• By Region:
• • North America
  • Latin America
  • Europe
  • Asia Pacific
  • Middle East
  • Africa