How to Use Modern Hiring Tools to Solve Healthcare Recruitment Challenges

Healthcare recruitment has never been more critical than it is today. Demands have increased and the dynamic of the healthcare industry has changed. Studies show a shortage of 45,000 primary care physicians, 46,000 surgeons and specialists in the next decade, and a shortfall of nearly 15,000 nurses by next year. The industry faces numerous challenges when it comes to staffing caused by a shortage of healthcare professionals, high turnover rates, competition for top talent, long hiring processes, and compliance and credentialing hurdles.

Now, more than ever, it is essential that the healthcare sector implement an efficient and effective hiring process to aid in overcoming these challenges. interviewstream provides the modern hiring tools needed to overcome the challenges faced by the healthcare industry.

We have compiled a list of solutions for the top five challenges facing healthcare recruitment to help you create a proactive, strategic approach to improve your recruitment process.

Healthcare Recruitment Challenges AND Solutions

Albert Einstein said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” As cliche as it may sound, times have changed and to be successful, we need to evolve with the times. Old healthcare recruitment processes just won’t cut it today when facing the many challenges facing the sector. So, out with the old and in with the new!

Challenge #1: Healthcare Professional Shortage

The aging population and fewer people choosing to work in the healthcare industry have led to shortages in the healthcare talent pool. With fewer candidates, comes high demand and a competitive recruitment landscape.

Solution: Collaborate with educational institutions to offer more internships, shadowing, and training opportunities to create a talent pipeline. Implementing effective intern recruitment strategies is key – streamlined, with a focus on candidate experience should be your main focus. This tech-savvy generation demands flexibility and video interviewing checks off their boxes.

• Any time, anywhere flexibility
• Authentic and personal
• No geographical boundaries (a win-win for students home for the summer and a larger talent pool for you!)

*Check out our blog on internship recruitment strategies for all the details on how to recruit the next generation of interns.

Challenge #2: High Turnover Rates

Healthcare jobs are high-stress, require long hours, and sometimes lack support. Over the past several years, turnover rates have increased from 18% to 30% for some hospital departments. High turnover rates cause lost productivity, high recruitment costs, and a dip in morale, just to name a few.

Solution: First and foremost, find the right talent from the start. Your hiring process matters – your hires should have the right combination of hard and soft skills and fit with your company culture. Interview builder can help you create the ideal structured interview with behavioral and skills-based questions. And just as importantly, support your staff by checking in regularly with surveys and reacting quickly to their feedback.

*Click here for a deeper dive into turnover rates.

Challenge #3: Competition for Top Talent

The battle is fierce for top healthcare talent. With less people choosing the field and high turnover rates, you are in constant competition to score the best talent. Healthcare leaders believe that the competition for talent is their biggest challenge. So how do you get ahead of the competition?

Solution: Implement the ultimate modern recruitment process. Incorporate all the tools you have available, starting with interviewstream’s AI Interview Summary & AI Recruiting Assistant tools. In such a competitive recruitment landscape, time is of the essence. AI-powered hiring tools help you hire faster when ‘fast” is the keyword to your success. They help you streamline your evaluation process, generate effective interview questions, social media posts, email communication and more.

And if you want to get an extra leg up on the competition, consider hosting live virtual days to showcase your company culture and work environment. It might just be the add-on you need to put you ahead of your competitors.

Challenge #4: Long Hiring Process

What are the effects of a hiring process that is too long? Candidates are selected by other organizations with a faster process or will lose interest and drop out. It hurts your brand, increases hiring costs, costs more productivity and competitors will beat you in the race for top talent.

Solution: This is probably your simplest challenge to solve with modern hiring techniques. Automate part of your recruitment process. Implement on demand video interviews for screening along with interview scheduler to get your candidates through the process within 24 hours. These tools eliminate the back-and-forth involved with scheduling interviews and allow you to reach more candidates, resulting in a 58% reduction in time to hire!

*Take a look at how the Johns Hopkins Health System Corporation used interviewstream to expedite their screening process.

Challenge #5: Compliance and Credentialing Issues

Navigating healthcare compliance and credentialing regulations in your recruitment process is challenging because they are ever-changing and complex. And any missteps have legal repercussions.

Solution: Subscribe to updates on regulations. Use digital systems to log recruitment and have the necessary documentation available at all times. And ensure your data is secure – interviewstream’s GDPR compliance and SOC2 Type 2 certification ensure that we follow strict security policies and procedures.

The Future of Healthcare Hiring

The future of healthcare recruitment is evolving rapidly. There are a few trends that are starting to take shape and are important to note.

1. Increased Reliance on Ethical AI: Integrating AI into healthcare recruitment is no longer a thing of the future. It is playing a larger role in the process from automating screenings to matching candidates with roles.
2. Remote Hiring: No longer just for telehealth means, remote hiring is becoming more common. Having the technology to recruit without geographical boundaries is now essential.
3. Focus on Soft Skills: Patient care is at the forefront of healthcare. And soft skills are seeing a value increase due to patient care. Recruitment strategies need to include effective interviewing techniques to evaluate these skills.

A Modern Healthcare Recruitment Process is the Answer

The healthcare recruitment challenges are vast but they are just that, challenges. And challenges can be overcome with the right strategies and tools in place. Hiring practices have evolved immensely in recent years, and in order to overcome these challenges, modern practices must be in place.

interviewstream can help you make these challenges echoes of the past. Contact us to learn more about how our tools can help you hire more effectively.

About The Author

Dan is a strategic account manager at interviewstream with a decade of video-based talent assessment and an unwavering passion for connecting top talent with eager employers. When he's not working with his clients on transforming their hiring process, you'll find him jamming to his favorite tunes, creating culinary masterpieces, and reveling in the joyous chaos of playtime with his three daughters.