The importance and dynamic nature of healthcare can’t be understated. Healthcare staffing organizations live, breathe, and react to its dynamic nature and changing landscape daily, shifting their strategies and keeping pace with the changes as they help source and place essential workers. But what’s on the horizon for them? What shifts can healthcare staffing prepare for? I had the opportunity to listen in to a expert panel at Staffing World, and here are the key trends they discussed from a clinician perspective:
The Evolving Healthcare Staffing Landscape: Changing Expectations from Clients and Clinicians
Covid changed so much for everyone, but its lasting impacts are felt deeply throughout healthcare. In a post-Covid world, adjustments in expectations are happening for both clients and clinicians. One example is inflated wages. The influx and high demand for healthcare professionals during Covid led to inflated wage rates, which creates financial strain for some agencies and facilities. Recent trends indicate that the wage rates have leveled off and have even started to decline. But, wages are fairly fluid, responding to market changes like the prediction of growth and increased reimbursement rates in the coming year. Another adjustment is the quality of workers post-Covid. Covid created an environment where healthcare organizations needed to fill positions urgently. In a less stressed environment, these healthcare organizations are starting to look for more highly-qualified workers–prioritizing skills and experience.
Compensation Communication – Transparent Bill Rates on the Rise
Compensation and pay transparency is a hot topic no matter the industry but in healthcare there is a growing expectation, especially amongst travelers, for greater transparency in bill rates and pay structures. What does that practically mean for healthcare staffing? It means open communication about how bill rates translate into their wages, making sure to include all associated costs like overhead, agency, margin, etc. Panelists noted that today people are more comfortable discussing compensation with their peers and colleagues, making open communication and a shared understanding about compensation and rates even more important for attracting and retaining staff.
How Staffing Can Build a Long-Term Relationship With Clinicians
Healthcare professionals have many employment options, but one question centered on why professionals choose contract positions over full-time. Each has advantages and disadvantages, but ultimately the choice depends on an individual’s priorities. Full-time positions tend to offer more benefits, steady work relationships, and sometimes better patient outcomes (because of the continuity of care). In contrast, contract positions offer higher pay but possibly less stability.
In a competitive environment, it’s crucial for healthcare staffing to improve their value prop and build relationships with great workers. That means understanding clinicians' motivations and expectations beyond compensation, fostering long-term relationships, and providing professional development opportunities (CEUs, journals, etc.). Showing that you understand the importance of patient ratios, the signs and dangers of burnout, and connecting to their professional associations go a long way to build trust and credibility. A relationship steeped in understanding and support can tip the scales for a candidate considering contract vs. full-time, or renewing/extending their contract. One interesting idea around renewal/extension that came up is incentivizing return assignments, or consistency with your workers through bill rate, assignment preference, or other modalities.
Effective and Selective AI Adoption in Healthcare Staffing
AI is a hot topic everywhere you look, but this panel's discussion was a bit more nuanced. There was clear acknowledgement that AI is everywhere and that healthcare staffing agencies can and should take advantage of AI tools to help them work faster and smarter. But, because healthcare providers are so human-centered, they warned of being heavy-handed with AI implementation in places that could feel jarring. There were concerns about AI’s role in the hiring process beyond initial screening. Specifically if AI was going to replace human interaction during interviews. Overall, there seemed to be a preference for using AI as a supporting technology rather than replacing direct, human-to-human interactions.
While the healthcare landscape will undoubtedly continue to shift, the big takeaways from this panel centered on prioritizing transparency, stronger clinician-agency relationships, and strategically using technology. We’re headed to SIA’s Healthcare Staffing Summit this week and can’t wait to learn more from our peers about the challenges and solutions specific to healthcare staffing. Keep up with us on LinkedIn, and visit us at Booth S if you’re at the show.
