Timpani's schedule missed a nurse's preferences: more than half of shift assignments didn't match

HCA saves time on scheduling, but nurses report assignment errors and problems with the process for correcting shifts.

Amber Retzloff requested 50 shifts of 12 hours over 4 months. She says more than half of her assignments did not match her preferences.

On Oct 2, WIRED reported staff complaints about errors, burnout and difficulties correcting schedules. HCA and Palantir jointly developed Timpani on the Foundry platform and began rolling it out in 2023.

Time saved on scheduling. According to HCA's Jul 21 figures, Timpani runs in more than 130 hospitals and 1,200 departments. Scheduling previously took 8–15 hours a month; the company now reports 2–3 hours per cycle. Timpani evaluates millions of options based on thousands of parameters, including staff preferences, skills and scheduling rules.

Corrections handled centrally. Nurses say local managers used to adjust schedules. Now a central HCA team reviews requests without communicating directly with staff. HCA says nursing team leaders still approve the final schedule.

HCA also reports that more than 98% of shifts combine staff with different levels of experience. Fewer than 2% of shifts consist entirely of newcomers. The company can identify these assignments in advance and adjust them.

Staff access Timpani Mobile within HCA Inspire. The app is available from the App Store or Google Play and requires a valid HCA employee identifier in the US, which the company calls a 3-4 ID.

Nurse Callie Lynch at TriStar Hendersonville uses HCA Inspire to see who is on a shift, submit scheduling preferences and pick up extra shifts. HCA described her experience on Apr 25, 2025.

At Rayus Radiology, a tool built on Foundry mixed up patients and their scheduled examinations and fabricated personal details, according to internal documents reviewed by WIRED.

Timpani's schedule missed a nurse's preferences: more than half of shift assignments didn't match

HCA saves time on scheduling, but nurses report assignment errors and problems with the process for correcting shifts.

Amber Retzloff requested 50 shifts of 12 hours over 4 months. She says more than half of her assignments did not match her preferences.

Staff access Timpani Mobile within HCA Inspire. The app is available from the App Store or Google Play and requires a valid HCA employee identifier in the US, which the company calls a 3-4 ID.

Nurse Callie Lynch at TriStar Hendersonville uses HCA Inspire to see who is on a shift, submit scheduling preferences and pick up extra shifts. HCA described her experience on Apr 25, 2025.

At Rayus Radiology, a tool built on Foundry mixed up patients and their scheduled examinations and fabricated personal details, according to internal documents reviewed by WIRED.