It’s no secret that healthcare systems are undertaking massive IT infrastructure projects all across the country. Reform policies necessitate it.
The global Healthcare IT Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15.9% during the forecast period of 2016 to 2021 and expected to have a market worth of 280.25 billion USD. The majority of the demand for healthcare IT solutions is driven by the growing need to reduce healthcare costs while adhering to the regulatory requirements set by government organizations for ensuring safety, security, and confidentiality of patient information.
In my experience, an HDO will typically attempt to hire one of a few ways.
- Choose from a list of known healthcare IT staffing firms
- Work with existing firms
- Have a main vendor who supplements third party relationships as “pass-throughs” which increase costs.
- Get recommendations from peers and from their EMR/IS vendor
Unfortunately, these traditional methods have drawbacks that make their use more akin to applying a Band-Aid to a broken leg.
- Too much bias in the process
- Doesn’t advocate for the BEST consultant at the BEST cost.
- Hard to find specialized vendors whose focus is Healthcare IT.
- Doesn’t solve for shortages
For an IT problem, might I suggest a technology solution?
Healthcare systems that use a staffing vendor management system are working from a much larger pool of available resources. Rather than choosing from just the usual staffing firms with local resources, a much wider net can be cast utilizing both the VMS’s existing resources as well as your own.
Now, instead of fighting over what limited resources are available via the familiar channels, you’ve actually entered into a market that flips the competition in your favor. There are enough resources at your disposal to not only fill openings and keep projects on track, but to lower the associated labor costs as well.
And as we dig deeper, more benefits emerge:
- Credentialing functionality. A hiring manager can be assured that the profiles of people they get are the exact fit for the role they are trying to fill. I have heard countless managers tell me that they get 100+ resumes for a position and only a small percentage fit the requirements.
- Centralized function. Both staffing managers and vendors have a centralized process for job orders, profile submission, and communication between HDO and Vendor.
- Vendor neutrality. Having a large staffing vendor manage the process may offer resources, but it does so with bias that usually results in a premium price.
- Reporting. With each transaction moving through a VMS, the data is reportable and available with the click of a mouse.
Whether it’s a large IT project or ongoing hiring needs with Help Desk and Training and Support. IT stands to benefit from a smarter way of hiring contingent staff.