Medical facilities are facing several staffing challenges these days. This industry has been experiencing a shortage of professionals for quite some time, and it’s growing with each passing year. In fact, the gap between demand and supply is expected to reach four million within the next few years. At the same time, numerous existing members of the medical field are leaving the industry in pursuit of other careers. On top of that, hospitals are experiencing high turnover rates with some reaching 25 percent of their total staff or more per year.
Exploring the Roles of Healthcare Staffing Agencies
Hospitals and other medical facilities have a few resources at their disposal to help them address the staffing struggles they’re dealing with. Healthcare staffing agencies are among the most effective. They offer an array of services to help medical facilities meet their staffing needs. Consider the ways staffing services from CompHealth can be invaluable for hospitals and clinics.
On-Demand Access to Medical Professionals
One of the main services healthcare staffing agencies offer is on-demand access to medical professionals. They have extensive networks of doctors and nurses who are looking for job openings. Those include both permanent staff members and locum tenens providers.
Whether a medical facility needs to replace a physician who retired or find a nurse to fill in while a permanent staff member is on maternity leave, staffing agencies can help. They also help their clients meet heightened seasonal demands and other needs. They can fill open positions quickly and effectively so their clients can continue to provide quality care for their patients.
Broad Talent Pools
Medical staffing agencies also give hospitals and clinics access to a broad range of medical professionals. That includes nurses, doctors, therapists, medical assistants, and surgeons. Highly qualified specialists are also available. Staffing agencies can match the specific needs of medical facilities with the right candidates to meet them. That ensures medical facilities can continue to cater to their patients without placing excess stress on their existing staff members.
Background Checks and Credentialing
Another vital service healthcare staffing agencies provide is help with background checks and credentialing. This can be a complicated and time-consuming process for medical facilities. Staffing agencies save them all that time and effort, which is essential when they need to fill open positions as quickly as possible. It also leaves less room for human error, oversights, and compliance issues that often prove costly for medical facilities.
Cost-Effectiveness
Enlisting the services of staffing agencies is also a cost-effective solution. It can help medical facilities reduce their recruitment, hiring, and onboarding costs. It also allows them to choose the staffing options that best fit within their budgets. Since healthcare staffing agencies focus on pairing medical professionals and facilities that are good fits for each other, they can reduce the expenses associated with high turnover rates as well.
Helping Medical Facilities Meet Their Staffing Needs
Healthcare facilities are up against several staffing challenges, not the least of which are high turnover rates, unexpected job openings, and the ongoing shortage of medical professionals. That being said, numerous doctors and nurses are looking for both permanent and temporary positions with hospitals and clinics that need them. Those medical professionals come from an array of backgrounds and specialties.
Medical staffing agencies bring the two together. Beyond that, they cover recruitment, hiring, and other important factors on behalf of the healthcare facilities they serve. They also offer hospitals and clinics a cost-effective alternative to conventional recruitment, compliance checks, and onboarding to help them remain within their budgets. All those services are crucial for medical facilities as well as their employees and patients.
