LOS ANGELES — Dropstat, an AI-powered workforce automation platform helping healthcare organizations combat clinical staffing shortages, has successfully closed a $5.5M seed funding round. Panoramic Ventures, an Atlanta-based firm that invests in category-leading technology companies, led the investment. Already using its breakthrough technology to address clinical staffing shortages, Dropstat will use the funding to expand its services across the US, helping more healthcare facilities better manage staffing needs.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare organizations were already struggling to keep up with rising staffing requirements generated by the aging population. The pandemic exacerbated this issue for already overworked staff. The nursing industry has already lost 500,000 nurses due to COVID fatigue, and one million more plan to retire from bedside care in the coming years.

“The growing labor shortage negatively impacts patient outcomes and increases wait times and the cost of care, all of which threatens to create a public health crisis,” states Sara Well, CEO of Dropstat. “Healthcare facilities need to be empowered to build stronger teams and decrease their reliance on high-priced outsourced labor.”

Dropstat offers scalable solutions that enable healthcare organizations to reclaim workforce independence. Traditional systems require staffing managers to identify shift gaps and contact staff to fill them manually. Often, the result is unfilled shifts and an increased workload on nurses. The company’s mobile and cloud-based systems are designed to predict staffing needs months in advance, autonomously fill shift gaps using shared staff across departments and facilities, and streamline processes — providing more control and optimizing costs.

“Dropstat helps healthcare facilities solve nurse shortages. The secret is that the software gives nurses more control over their schedule, which makes them happier to work more shifts,” said Paul Iaffaldano, General Partner of Panoramic Ventures. “It also helps a facility understand much earlier in the process when they will need outside help. That awareness drives down the cost of labor and makes staff more satisfied with their work environment.”

With the $5.5M seed funding, Dropstat will continue to rapidly expand its services to healthcare clients across more than 50 markets in the US.