New Study Finds Travel Clinicians Can Be a Cost-Effective Staffing Strategy
Healthcare organizations continue to face staffing shortages, rising labor costs, and increasing pressure to deliver high-quality patient care. New research shows that travel clinicians can play a meaningful role in solving all three.
A 2025 U.S. Nursing, Allied Health, and Therapy Labor Costs Study, conducted by KPMG and commissioned by the National Association of Travel Healthcare Organizations (NATHO), examined the fully loaded cost of permanent versus travel staff across nursing, allied health, and therapy roles—and the results challenge long-held assumptions.
The Full Picture on Cost
When wages are viewed in isolation, permanent staff may appear less expensive. But once benefits, recruiting, onboarding, training, and non-productive time are factored in, travel clinicians often deliver better value.
- Travel nurses average $89 per hour, compared to $94 per hour for permanent nurses
- Travel allied health professionals cost about 9% less
- Travel therapy professionals cost roughly 13% less
These savings stem from reduced overhead. Permanent roles carry ongoing costs tied to benefits, attrition, extended onboarding, and paid non-productive time—expenses that travel clinicians help offset with ready-to-deploy experience.
Built for Today’s Staffing Reality
Surveyed healthcare leaders reported that travel clinicians can typically be placed in two to three weeks, helping facilities stay staffed through patient surges, seasonal fluctuations, and unexpected vacancies. Demand remains highest in Medical-Surgical and Emergency departments, where speed and flexibility matter most.
Today, travelers make up an average of 11% of nursing staff, 15% of allied health staff, and 14% of therapy staff, with many organizations expecting those numbers to grow as they rethink long-term healthcare workforce solutions.
Turning Insight into Action
As healthcare organizations evaluate smarter ways to manage labor costs and maintain care quality, the study underscores the value of flexible staffing models supported by strong partnerships.
Triage Plus, Triage’s managed service provider (MSP), helps healthcare organizations streamline travel staffing with greater transparency, speed, and control. By combining proven vendor management with data-driven insights, Triage Plus delivers scalable healthcare workforce solutions designed to support today’s workforce demands and tomorrow’s growth.
Source: KPMG LLP, U.S. Nursing, Allied Health and Therapy Labor Costs Study, commissioned by the National Association of Travel Healthcare Organizations (NATHO), 2025.