Strategic partnership pairs skills and competency data with AI-powered staffing to ensure health systems put the most appropriate, qualified clinician in the right shift every time

HOUSTON, Oct. 06, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kahuna Workforce Solutions, a leading frontline workforce readiness platform trusted by enterprise organizations, and Trusted Works, the staffing and scheduling optimization platform created by Trusted Health, announced today a strategic partnership to help hospitals and health systems close the gap between who is scheduled and who is truly qualified to deliver safe, high-quality patient care.

Healthcare organizations face a persistent and costly disconnect. Staffing and scheduling technology has traditionally been optimized for coverage and cost, while competency and credentialing data have lived in separate systems disconnected from when a shift is actually built. The result is added administrative burden, compliance risk and, in the worst cases, gaps between a clinician's assignment and their validated skill set.

By combining Kahuna's real-time, validated clinical competency data with Trusted’s Works.AI scheduling optimization engine, the partnership enables health systems to build schedules that are not only efficient and cost-effective, but skills-aware and compliance-ready from the start. With Kahuna and Trusted Works.AI, organizations gain:

  • Skill-aware scheduling at scale: Trusted’s Works.AI builds and rebalances schedules based on unit needs, staff preferences and coverage forecasts; Kahuna ensures every clinician identified for a shift has current, validated competencies and certifications for that unit and role.
  • Reduced compliance and patient safety risk: Integrating competency validation directly into the staffing workflow helps health systems avoid assigning unqualified clinicians to roles or units, reducing risk before a shift is ever published.
  • Less administrative burden for nurse leaders: Because the two data sets work together automatically, nurse managers and staffing offices no longer need to manually cross-reference competency records against schedules.
  • Stronger float pool and flexible staffing strategies: As health systems lean more heavily on internal float pools and flexible labor to reduce reliance on external agencies, validated competency data ensures that flexibility doesn't come at the expense of readiness.
  • A more complete picture of workforce readiness: Together, the companies give health system leaders a unified view of who is available, who is qualified and how the workforce is being deployed.

"Skills data creates value when it's used at the point of decision," said Jai Shah, chief executive officer of Kahuna. "By connecting Kahuna's validated competency records with Works’ scheduling engine, we're making sure every assignment reflects not just who's on the calendar, but who's truly qualified for that unit and that shift."

"Our mission is to turn staffing into a strategic advantage, not an administrative burden," said Tim Needham, president of Trusted Works. "Integrating Kahuna's competency data into our platform means the schedules we generate are optimized for clinical readiness and compliance from the start, not just coverage and cost."

About Kahuna Workforce Solutions

Kahuna Workforce Solutions is a leading frontline workforce readiness platform built for frontline enterprises. Through its Skills Manager, Ladder, CertIQ and Skills Aggregator solutions, Kahuna helps operations, HR and learning leaders gain real-time visibility into validated skills, workforce readiness, career advancement and organizational capability. Kahuna serves organizations in healthcare, energy, field services and manufacturing, supporting teams responsible for hundreds to tens of thousands of frontline employees. For more information, visit kahunaworkforce.com.

About Trusted, Inc.

Trusted, Inc. is a healthcare workforce technology company that builds products to power real-time, AI-driven decision-making and automation across the healthcare staffing and scheduling lifecycle. Through Trusted Health, clinicians get matched to flexible work. Through Trusted Works, its staffing and scheduling optimization platform, hospitals and health systems can anticipate workforce demand, optimize schedules, automate shift fulfillment, and plan external workforce needs. Founded in 2017 to help people everywhere get care, Trusted is based in San Francisco and backed by investors including Craft Ventures, Felicis, StepStone Group, Founder Collective, and Town Hall Ventures. Learn more at trustedhealth.com and works.ai.

CONTACT: Media Contacts

Kahuna Workforce Solutions
Torrye Metoyer, Director of Marketing
torrye.metoyer@kahunaworkforce.com

Trusted, Inc.
Sydnee Waggoneer, Operations Manager
press@trustedhealth.com