IRVINE, Calif. –Facing considerable competition for talent and addressing the ever-changing regulatory landscape continue to be top concerns for health care institutions, according to the HireRight Health Care Spotlight. Derived from the 2013 HireRight Employment Screening Benchmarking Report, the Spotlight focuses on the hiring and screening practices in the health care industry and includes survey responses from managers and hiring professionals in hospitals, acute care, primary care, long-term care, pharmaceuticals, medical staffing and a number of other areas.
Hiring Trends in Health Care Show High Demand and Heavy Competition for Talent
This year’s HireRight Health Care Spotlight reveals an optimistic hiring outlook, with the majority of those surveyed (73 percent) anticipating an increase in workforce size in the next 12 months. This is in line with last year’s expectations which, according to an Altarum Institute analysis of 2012 U.S. Department of Labor data, showed private health care worker demand grew by more than 337,000 jobs last year, an increase of 2.4 percent over prior year. According to the Health Care Spotlight, more than one-third of respondents (35 percent) expect to use the extended workforce or temporary workers to support staffing needs in 2013.
While the respondents report a considerable need to hire more workers, their outlook for finding qualified workers is not as optimistic. The majority of respondents (52 percent) named finding and retaining quality talent as their top business challenge. Competition for staff also ranked as the top talent management challenge. To help address these challenges, companies cited reviewing their employment screening program as a key initiative for 2013.
The demand for new qualified employees is interwoven with concerns and preparations for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), a U.S. federal statute signed into law by President Obama aimed at increasing health insurance coverage for Americans and reducing the cost of health care (for individuals and the government). As the different requirements of the PPACA are implemented, health care providers expect increased revenue from more patients seeking medical services, but they also anticipate contending with lower profit margins and needing to hire additional staff to meet the demand.
Respondents also named revenue growth, cost containment, sustaining competitive advantages, as well as regulatory compliance as key business challenges. Add this and the PPACA to an already competitive market for health care talent and it becomes clear that businesses need to find better, more streamlined hiring and screening solutions to be successful under these conditions.
The HireRight Health Care Spotlight also focuses on other issues pertinent to health care employment, including: changes in criminal screening policies resulting from Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidance; the top benefits respondents achieve from screening; how health care companies are using the applicant experience as a competitive strategy; extended workforce screening; international background checks; sanctions checking practices; and drug and alcohol testing.
“HireRight developed the Health Care Spotlight to give institutions a touchstone – an industry benchmark they can use to compare their own programs,” said Tim Burbage, director of health care solutions, HireRight. “For both organizations that regularly review and revise their screening programs and organizations that are just beginning to build their programs, this spotlight serves as a source for best practices and new ideas.”
The HireRight Health Care Spotlight is available for download at http://go.hireright.com/hc-spotlight-2013-web?campaign_id=70160000000FbHT.
About HireRight Health Care Background Screening Solutions
HireRight, a leading provider of innovative on-demand employment background checks, drug and health screening and electronic Form I-9 and E-Verify solutions, serves more than 2,000 health care organizations with more than one million annual screens. HireRight leverages technology to deliver efficient customer-focused solutions that can be custom-designed to meet an organization’s needs and changing regulatory compliance requirements. An exclusive web-based applicant portal and mobile communication features improve recruiter and applicant satisfaction to help organizations streamline their background checks. Our expertise in integrating screening solutions with application tracking systems (ATS) delivers unmatched efficiencies that help your organization win the competition for talent. For more information on HireRight Health Care Background Screening Solutions, go to http://www.hireright.com/healthcare.
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