Healthcare Recruiting in the Age of Technology

By Noah Rue | Published 8/8/2019 0

Photo source: iStock

Once upon a time finding the right candidate for an open position in healthcare meant placing an ad in a newspaper or medical journal. It involved paper applications and in-person interviews. Credential and reference checks were done by mail or telephone. It was a time-consuming and expensive process.

Luckily, that has all changed. Healthcare recruiting, is now largely driven by technology. That’s good because it is critically important for organizations to build strong healthcare teams and hire outstanding healthcare professionals. Recruiting professionals must be skilled in HR basics but also have a high level of engagement, emotional intelligence, and other soft skills. Because of this, it is imperative that hiring personnel are well-versed in technology-based recruiting tools that are designed to help them succeed in the digital age.

The Importance of Recruiting in Healthcare

Healthcare staffing shortages can be critical to the success of any healthcare system. It doesn’t matter if you work at a large academic institution with thousands of employees or a critical access hospital. Not having enough doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, or patient care assistants can be devastating.

The importance of recruiting in healthcare goes far beyond filling staff vacancies. As experts predict that the physician shortage will peak at around 122,000 physicians by 2032. More institutions are looking to fill their openings, often strategizing innovative ways to retain staff members into the future.

Physicians aren’t the only ones short in numbers. Nursing has been experiencing a shortage for several years. And is projected to peak by 2030 as more baby boomers enter retirement. Experts and lawmakers have turned to advanced practice nurses to fill the physician shortage. But with the current state of affairs, nursing is struggling to recruit and retain skilled employees.

Here’s a look at some of the newest tech trends in healthcare recruiting

Cloud Computing

For human resources (HR) and other recruitment professionals, cloud computing has become a way of life for finding top healthcare professionals. Some of the best medical facilities are using cloud technology to access data on demand without the need for on-site storage. This means they can access applicant information anytime and from anywhere.

Not only do human resource departments take their operations to the cloud to store information about candidates, but they can also post positions from one portal that can touch multiple platforms to reach both active and passive talent pools. This increases the likelihood of finding the right person for the job.

This is true even if that professional is not actively searching for a new position at the time. Therefore, if a recruiter contacts you via LinkedIn or another platform, you might want to respond and learn what the opportunity is all about. Your skills may be a good fit for the job they’re trying to fill.

Optimized Job Descriptions

Creating a well-written job description is the first step in recruiting and hiring the right healthcare professional for the job. HR departments outline the scope of work in detail so that the applicant knows whether or not they can fulfill the role duties and responsibilities. Technology can help to create engaging descriptions of open positions whether they are for front-line clinicians, support staff, executive level management, or healthcare consultants.

Some tech platforms can even analyze job descriptions to find a potentially biased language. It can then suggest alternatives to the recruiters. Other platforms might work with job postings to optimize the job description and the career pages for search engines. Once the recruiter uploads the information to the platform, it can provide a list of possible keywords so that job seekers can know if they’re a qualified applicant.

Social Media

It seems everyone is active on multiple social media channels these days. If you’re looking for a new position and you’re coming up empty-handed, consider searching social media sites for employer pages. This is an excellent method employed by large and small healthcare facilities who want to use social media to recruit and hire. Look for videos of current staff sharing testimonials about their job and the company culture. You might also be able to find the name of the HR staff or recruiter so that you can contact them directly to find out what positions they have open.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is used in healthcare to treat patients. However, recruiters and human resources staff have also turned to AI to improve candidate sourcing. Instead of spending hours manually screening resumes and searching for new platforms, the HR team can find a large applicant pool in no time, especially for high-volume positions.

Some tech tools can even predict if candidates will fit into the company culture by using analytics and machine learning techniques to project your success in their workforce. The use of AI means that the HR staff spends less time search through profiles and resumes. But it also means a better hiring experience. AI can decrease the number of days it takes to fill a position. And it gives the hiring team more time in the day to build relationships with qualified candidates.

Automated Interviewing

Once a job seeker has been identified as a qualified candidate, they have to start the tedious and anxiety-inducing task of interviewing. This might mean scheduling and rescheduling appointments, traveling to the potential employer, and multiple hours in face-to-face interviews.

However, technology can automate your interview scheduling and allow you to choose the best time slot from the beginning. Job seekers might also be invited to use digital video technology to conduct the interview when it’s most convenient for them. This technology uses a set of pre-arranged questions while recording the video on a cloud-based application. The HR staff and other hiring team members can review your video when they have time and get back to you with the next steps.

If you’re not located in the same state or country as your potential employer, you may also be asked to conduct an interview over a live video platform. This speeds up the process and minimizes the cost and time spent flying you to the facility until both you and the hiring managers know that you might be the best fit for the job.

Here’s to Finding Top Healthcare Talent!

Filling vacant roles from the top of the healthcare staffing continuum to the bottom is challenging. By using cutting-edge tech, HR departments decrease dollars spent and minimize the number of days positions go unfilled. And, it might even find out if a potential top performer is a toxic employee before they’re even hired.

More by this author: Children’s Screen Time: How Much Is Too Much?

If you’re looking for new healthcare career opportunities, consider these recruiting trends when you start out searching for your next job.

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Noah Rue

Website: https://hackernoon.com/@nyrue24

Noah Yarnol Rue is a journalist and digital nomad. He is fascinated with global health and modern technology.

His love of writing and research began while attending college in the small Pacific Northwest town he called home. His writing is influenced by his journalistic integrity to share the truth and give the reader the information they crave to know.

Noah’s curiosity created his nomadic lifestyle. He is on the move across the U.S. meeting new people, learning about different cultures and current trends that influence people.

In his free time, Noah enjoys 1930s mystery novels, researching his next travel location and is a huge fan of the Olympics.