AI scheduling tool Timpani accused of disrupting nurse schedules; nurses say it constitutes a safety issue

HCA, the largest U.S. hospital chain, has deployed Timpani, an AI scheduling tool developed with Palantir, in about 130 of its roughly 190 facilities since 2023. Several nurses told WIRED that the tool frequently ignores scheduling preferences, schedules too few or inexperienced nurses during periods such as Sundays, and causes them to spend more time swapping shifts or filing complaints. Amber Retzloff, an intensive care nurse in Florida, said that of the 50 12-hour shifts she requested over four months, more than half were reassigned, often resulting in consecutive days of work. HCA says final scheduling decisions are made by nursing managers, not Timpani, and that the tool on average schedules a nurse's requested day off as a workday only about 1% of the time, and that the company is continuously improving based on feedback. The article also mentions that Rayus Radiology, a large U.S. imaging chain, after introducing a tool also based on Palantir Foundry, began receiving complaints about scheduling errors earlier this year, including associating requests with the wrong patient profiles, listing exams that did not match physician orders, and fabricating patient personal information.