Billion-dollar tech platforms are aggressively pushing for deregulation of the “Uber for nursing” industry in an effort to expand gig work in the healthcare sector, according to a report published on Tuesday.
The report from the AI Now Institute, Uber for Nursing Part II: How Gig Nursing Companies Are Lobbying States to Deregulate Healthcare, examines the use of artificial intelligence to staff hospitals and other healthcare facilities.
The report warns that growing use of the technology comes at the expense of workers’ rights, protections, and pay.
As has increasingly become the case with ride-share companies, the “Uber for nurses” model relies on artificial intelligence to set pay rates for work shifts, to surveil performance metrics, and to use that data to determine a worker’s future access to gigs and pay rates. The industry also allows nurses to bid on work shifts, with the lowest pay rate winning the shift.
