HCA nurses say Palantir scheduling tool disrupts shifts and staffing
Nurses told WIRED that HCA’s Timpani system often misses their shift preferences and can leave teams short of experienced staff. HCA says nursing leaders make final scheduling decisions.
Nurses at HCA Healthcare say its Palantir-built Timpani scheduling system is creating unwanted shift assignments, extra work and concerns about staffing balance. WIRED reported accounts from nurses across the US who said the tool often disregards preferences for shift spacing, nights, weekends and days off.
HCA has deployed Timpani at roughly 130 of its 190 locations since 2023, according to the report. Built on Palantir Foundry, the system forecasts patient volumes and staffing needs to generate nursing schedules.
Nurses told WIRED that some shifts have too few nurses or too few experienced staff, and that they spend more time appealing assignments or trying to swap shifts. These accounts describe staff concerns; the material does not independently establish the scale or cause of any patient-care effects.
HCA says nursing leaders make the final scheduling decisions and that it is improving Timpani based on nurses’ feedback. The company says the system schedules nurses on an average of 1 per cent of requested days off. Nurses interviewed by WIRED disputed how that figure reflects their experience.
WIRED also reported separate complaints about a Palantir Foundry tool at Rayus Radiology, which populates imaging appointment fields from doctors’ orders. Staff cited cases involving incorrect patient profiles, mismatched tests and inaccurate personal details. Rayus said the characterisation did not reflect its safeguards or commitment to safe and accurate care, and said its technology supports human judgement and oversight.
