Healthcare Recruiting

How nursing leaders are tackling recruiting and retention amid burnout and shortages

Survey of nursing managers shows many are leaning on contingency staffing talent to bridge the staffing gap near-term while improving processes and adding tech over the long-term by Intelliworx® Nurses are the backbone of the U.S. healthcare system. Hospitals and clinics around the nation simply could not run without them. This means the role of managing a team of nurses is an important job – and one that seems to be getting harder all the time. A recent survey of nursing leaders by the staffing firm AMN Healthcare illustrates this notion in detail. It’s among the most challenging jobs in healthcare, wrote one nursing leader in response to an open-ended question: “It is one of the most difficult jobs in the entire hospital! You have to be a liaison between nursing, medical services, housekeeping, engineering, grounds, nutrition, social work, physical therapy, finance, supply chain, patients, their families all while keeping […]

Survey: 45% of healthcare providers will refuse a job offer if the recruiting experience is poor

Providers say the most attractive qualities of working in a rural healthcare facility are lower cost of living, more time with patients and better work-life balance by Intelliworx When it comes to recruiting providers, healthcare facilities don’t get a second chance to make a good first impression. That’s one high-level finding of a 5-question snap survey of 107 U.S. healthcare providers we just fielded. This matters because healthcare is already facing a talent shortage. The matter is even more acute in rural facilities because the available talent pool is smaller and shrinking as the Baby Boomer Generation retires. Rural facilities will have to work harder to attract talent. There is room for optimism too though. Providers also shared what they see as the benefits of working for a rural facility. The fact is many providers are attracted to the medical community out of a sense of compassion for humanity. It’s […]

A Porter’s Five Forces Analysis for Provider Talent in Rural Healthcare

Direct competition from urban hospitals is just one factor among many that make up the competitive landscape for provider talent by Intelliworx The renowned economist Michael E. Porter first published his “Five Forces” framework for analyzing competitive markets in the Harvard Business Review (HBR) in 1979. Porter’s Five Forces, provides a sound way to analyze the competitive landscape necessary to develop a winning strategy. The fact that Porter refers to a landscape is telling. Competitors are just one factor in a competitive landscape. Porter realized that competition stems from more than just rival products – but also the actions of customers, partners and even new technology. Perhaps to emphasize this point, Dr. Porter updated the framework in 2008 and republished it in HBR. He also offered this explanation to go along with it: “In essence, the job of the strategist is to understand and cope with competition. Often, however, managers […]

The 7 trends rural healthcare recruiters must navigate in 2024

The demand for healthcare continues to outpace as the supply of providers shrinks. The recruiting of physicians and nurse practitioners has become more challenging. That’s according the Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives, by AMN Healthcare (formerly Merritt Hawkins). The infographic nearby depicts data from the 30th annual study is based on data stemming from 2,676 providers that AMN has placed into permanent positions over a one-year period. The most recent study identified seven trends that rural healthcare recruiters must navigate in 2024 and are as follows:

The top recruiting challenges facing rural hospitals [and ideas for overcoming them]

Survey research finds the lower cost of living, greater autonomy and a higher sense of fulfillment are attractive characteristics rural healthcare facilities should pitch to prospective provider candidates by Intelliworx Rural healthcare facilities are under financial pressure. At the end of 2022, the American Hospital Association (AHA) reported 136 rural hospitals closed between 2010 and 2021. The trend hasn’t slowed down either. As we turned the corner on the New Year, another 88 hospitals, many of which are rural, shuttered or cut back on the healthcare services offered. There are many reasons why this is happening. One significant factor is that rural facilities struggle to attract talent, such as physicians, physician assistants (PAs) and nurse practitioners (NPs). A periodic survey – Rural Physician Recruitment and Staffing Survey Results – by Jackson Physician Search does well to quantify some of the challenges and propose some ideas for overcoming them. Below are […]

5 benchmarks for financial incentives in healthcare recruiting

Family practice physicians average $255,000 in salary, while NPs and PAs average $151,000; the vast majority of healthcare employers compensate providers for continuing education and offer educational loan forgiveness by Intelliworx As far as benchmarking goes in healthcare recruiting, the AMN Healthcare (formerly Merritt Hawkins) annual report on recruiting incentives is very credible. The organization has been producing the report based on talent searches it has conducted for the last 30 years. This year, the report is based on 2,676 permanent positions the organization has filled for physicians and advanced providers, such as nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs). We’ve previously covered some of the takeaways we gleaned from the report on market dynamics and the competition for talent. This post will summarize some of the key benchmarks for financial incentives in healthcare. 1. Provider salary ranges and averages AMN says it conducted more searches for NPs than any […]

Recruiting: 5 emerging sources of healthcare are adding new competition for talent

Demand for healthcare has grown as the supply of providers has fallen; this is creating new competition for credentialed talent by Intelliworx The shortage of healthcare providers has led to longer wait times for appointments. New patients experience an average wait time that’s 8% longer than it was in 2019. Further, these wait times have grown 24% since 2004. That’s according to a report titled, 2023 Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives, by AMN Healthcare (formerly Merritt Hawkins). This has resulted in several new business models, all of which aim to ease access to healthcare but also create new competition for credentialed healthcare talent. The report identified five new or emerging competitors. 1. Retail pharmacy chains opening up clinics Pharmacy chains like CVS and Walgreens are investing in clinics run out of their retail locations. Collectively, these clinics experienced patient growth while primary care facilities have seen a […]

7 market dynamics rural healthcare recruiting must navigate in 2024

Recruiting of physicians and nurse practitioners may become more challenging as the demand for healthcare continues to grow while the supply of providers shrinks by Intelliworx Most healthcare facilities are acutely aware of the talent acquisition challenges facing healthcare organizations. What they may not have considered is the impact some macro market dynamics have contributed. To that end, an annual report, the 2023 Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives, by AMN Healthcare (formerly Merritt Hawkins), now in its 30th year, does well to identify seven such dynamics. 1. The U.S. population continues to grow Citing data from the Census Bureau, the report says, “The U.S. population is projected to grow from 332 million people today to 423 million by 2050.” Forecasts like this may vary depending on who is doing the counting, but most projections forecast continued growth and this drives demand for healthcare services. 2. The U.S. […]

21 Statistics that Summarize the Cost of Healthcare Recruiting and Retention

Healthcare organizations spend upwards of $50,000 for a single recruiting search on a physician – but the “cost” of lost revenue from vacancies can be much higher and more challenging for rural facilities by Intelliworx We recently launched a brand-new software solution called Workforce Management. The product was a year in the making and is intended to help rural healthcare facilities streamline the recruiting process for providers and other healthcare workers. While we’ve been in the software business for more than 20 years, launching a new product carries inherent risks in a free market. However, we’ve poured a lot of resources into researching the challenges around recruiting in rural hospital settings. Here’s a sample of some of the secondary research we reviewed, which may provide some insights and benchmarks that are useful to the community. 1. Physician recruiting fees can be up to 35% of annual salary The search consulting […]