Human resource departments and hospital labor strategies.

Recently hospitals have increased their use of external labor sources, contracting many traditional functions such as pharmacy and emergency to outside labor providers. Use of external labor sources often means that traditional human resource functions such as screening, hiring, and training are performed by the external labor provider, potentially reducing the value of the HR function. Using financial and staffing data gathered by the California Statewide Health Planning and Development Office during the period 1976 to 1989, this study explores the relationship between the size of HR functions and the utilization of contingent labor.