January 31, 2008 What are we seeing in the Traveling Market Place   Pay Rates are improving We are seeing pay rates for Travelers go up from last year. The reason for increased pay rates is because hospitals are willing to raise their rates to the agency, thus we can pass it along to Travelers. Large Hospital Associations such as SCHA, OHA, AHA, HCA and others are always slower to raise rates and we are not seeing increases in these companies but in general, other hospitals are willing to pay more.     Large, Public Traveling Staffing companies are not paying more We have been very surprised by how much some of the Hospitals are paying the larger staffing companies and how low the staffing company is paying the Traveler. We often see it first hand because these Travelers are coming to our firm and telling us what they are making and when they come on board with us they are making significantly better money with better service/care.     Travelers Are Becoming More Accepted A variety of Hospitals are beginning to use Travelers again when they originally stopped or never used them before. We believe it is the result of Hospitals experiencing the nursing shortages and not having many other options making Traveling more accepted as a strategic staffing option.     More contracts are opening up When a Travel agency works with a Hospital they often have a contract together. In the past it was harder to get new contracts from Hospitals. However, hospitals are having to go off the vendors list and as a result, we are seeing newer accounts.Make friends with everyone     Less per diem and more local Travel We are seeing more Travelers work local Travel assignments near their homes instead of weekly per diem or agency work.     Its a good time to Travel!         HEALTHCAREseeker.com, A JCAHO certified travel nursing company, places Travelers into positions in all 50 states. We are the #1 fastest growing company in our industry according to Staffing Industry Analysts. We know that Travelers have their choices in the firms they work with. We will differentiate ourselves to Travelers by being more flexible, by paying more and by being the industry standard for service/ innovation/ information. www.healthcareseeker.com