Nearly 90% of the Largest U.S. Healthcare Systems Use UKG
•February 17, 2026
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Why It Matters
By unifying workforce data and AI tools, UKG helps providers address staffing shortages and burnout, directly impacting patient outcomes and cost efficiency.
Key Takeaways
- •90% of top US health systems use UKG
- •UKG platform integrates HR, payroll, workforce AI
- •Rapid Hire cuts hiring time by 10 days
- •Advanced Scheduler aligns staffing with patient ratios
- •Earned wage access improves morale, reduces turnover
Pulse Analysis
The healthcare sector has long grappled with chronic staffing gaps, rising labor costs, and escalating burnout among clinicians. Recent surveys reveal that more than 80 % of acute‑care workers report frequent exhaustion, prompting providers to seek technology that can translate labor data into actionable insights. UKG’s Workforce Operating Platform, now deployed in nearly nine‑tenths of the nation’s largest health systems, answers that demand by consolidating human‑resources, payroll and scheduling into a single AI‑enabled hub. This level of integration is reshaping how hospitals measure productivity per patient day and allocate resources.
At the core of UKG’s offering are AI‑driven modules such as Rapid Hire, which automates up to 90 % of repetitive recruiting tasks and has been shown to shave ten days off time‑to‑hire while generating multimillion‑dollar revenue gains. The Advanced Scheduler and Clinical Scheduling Extensions use predictive analytics to balance patient‑to‑nurse ratios, fatigue rules and compliance, delivering real‑time shift adjustments that reduce overtime. Meanwhile, UKG Wallet’s earned‑wage access empowers staff to access earned pay instantly, a benefit linked to higher morale and turnover rates that sit below industry averages.
UKG’s high‑visibility presence at ViVE and HIMSS underscores the strategic importance of workforce technology in the broader digital transformation agenda for health providers. As pay‑for‑performance models and value‑based care become mainstream, the ability to demonstrate efficient labor utilization will be a competitive differentiator. Competitors that rely on siloed HR or legacy scheduling systems may struggle to keep pace with the data‑centric, AI‑first approach championed by UKG. Stakeholders should monitor how these tools evolve, especially as regulatory scrutiny around staffing ratios intensifies.
Nearly 90% of the Largest U.S. Healthcare Systems Use UKG
UKG Announces Presence at ViVE 2026 and HIMSS 2026, Showcasing Workforce Operating Platform for Healthcare
A trusted partner of more than 3,500 hospitals and 10,000 post‑acute care facilities, UKG, a leading global AI platform that unifies HR, pay, and workforce management, announced that attendees at ViVE 2026 and HIMSS 2026 can see how the UKG® Workforce Operating Platform helps healthcare organizations drive productivity, agility, flexibility, and an enhanced employee experience that results in better patient and resident care.
The UKG Workforce Operating Platform uses UKG’s deep experience and industry knowledge of the unique needs of the frontline—including doctors, nurses, and technicians—and breaks down data siloes to harness workforce insights, intelligence, and a people‑first approach to AI. The result is a network of agentic and assistive AI applications across the platform that reshapes the relationship between people, technology, and frontline work, enabling healthcare providers to drive better patient outcomes and take care of their staff through best‑in‑class operations.
“UKG helps us in a lot of different ways, including data‑driven reporting for our C‑suite. We look at labor metrics per patient day and we’re able to right‑size labor very quickly using the data we get from UKG,” said Mike Easley, CIO at American Senior Communities, which uses UKG to raise employee morale and lower costs. “And for our workforce, many times we’re competing for talent with same‑day‑pay organizations, so we use earned wage access, which has really improved employees’ morale, the culture, and their overall financial well‑being. We also look at turnover and culture: ‘Are we driving the right culture? Is our turnover going down or up in a high‑turnover industry?’ We are below industry average in turnover, and I credit much of that success to our internal teams who are driving culture and strategically leveraging earned wage access and UKG technology to better support our people.”
Recent UKG research found that 83 % of healthcare workers in acute settings and 82 % of healthcare workers in non‑acute settings at least “sometimes” feel burnt out at work. To help ease the burden in an industry known for fatigue and staffing shortages, UKG enhanced the UKG Pro® HCM and UKG Pro Workforce Management suites with specialized healthcare solutions that can help employees feel more empowered and in control of their schedules, including:
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UKG Rapid Hire – An AI‑guided, mobile‑first solution designed for high‑volume, frontline hiring. It automates up to 90 % of repetitive hiring tasks such as sourcing, screening, scheduling, onboarding, and first‑day readiness. See how NHS Management reduced its time‑to‑hire by 10 days, tripled apply‑to‑hire conversion rates, and generated $2.2 million in new annual revenue with UKG Rapid Hire.
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UKG Advanced Scheduler – Combines forecasting tools, rule‑based scheduling, and real‑time shift management, enabling managers to build schedules quickly for complex environments like healthcare where patient‑to‑nurse ratios, fatigue rules, and compliance are critical. See how senior‑living provider Schlegel Villages uses UKG Advanced Scheduler to keep operations moving quickly and seamlessly.
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UKG Clinical Scheduling Extensions – When combined with UKG Advanced Scheduler, these extensions streamline shift‑based staffing by quantifying workload intensity, forecasting patient needs, and aligning staffing levels in real time.
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UKG EZCall for Physicians – Allows administrators to create flexible, fair, and equitable physician work schedules that consider preferences, requests, FTE percentage, vacations, and more.
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UKG Talk – Fosters a culture of transparency and communication, allowing organizations to engage frontline employees such as nurses and technicians and keep employees connected to one another.
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UKG Wallet – An on‑demand pay solution that gives employees more control over their finances between paychecks, helping healthcare organizations build trust while providing flexibility and freedom. See how three healthcare organizations leverage UKG Wallet for their workforces.
“Frontline employees in the healthcare industry do some of the most important work, and they need the right tools and resources that empower them to practice at their highest level,” said Jackie Blanchard, Chief Nurse Executive at UKG. “By giving healthcare workers more flexibility in their schedules, dismantling siloes that create roadblocks, and using agentic agents to handle monotonous tasks, healthcare professionals can focus on providing exceptional care — which is what UKG has been focused on in the healthcare space for decades.”
ViVE attendees are encouraged to visit UKG at booth #1936 from February 22‑25, 2026 in Los Angeles. They can also attend AONL’s Guiding Principles for Nurse Leaders: Driving Digital Transformation on Monday, February 23 rd, 2026, from 2:40‑3 p.m., featuring Samantha Glennon, Nurse Executive, Strategy & Solutions at UKG.
HIMSS attendees can visit UKG at booth #5931 from March 9‑12, 2026 in Las Vegas for demos and to learn more about how UKG solutions can simplify staffing, demand, and operations while reducing burnout and solving other healthcare business challenges.
About the Author
HR Tech Guy – Let’s just say I’m an HR tech news junkie. HR techies unite!
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