What to Look For in Medical Staffing Services
There are over 20,000 staffing and recruiting companies in the U.S. With so many options, HR teams need more than a colleague’s positive referral to find the most promising specialty medical staffing service. Choosing the wrong service could lead to underqualified and/or understaffed healthcare teams that poorly represent the facility. Here’s what to look for to find a compliant staffing service that delivers when and where you need it to.
A Reputable Recruitment Process
An agency with a reputable recruitment process most likely requires extensive training programs and other on-boarding practices. For example, they might conduct personal interviews with caregiver candidates, run background checks and test specific medical skills. Look for these types of hiring practices to ensure that your organization benefits from well-trained and vetted staff.
It’s also wise to review the agency’s accreditation and other certifications. Professional groups like the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), as well as State and Federal certifications, reveal much about an agency’s standards for hiring and training.
You’ll also find a reputable recruitment process in health facility staffing firms that employ a team of compliance experts who understand Title 22 entities and speak the language of care plans, recertifications and 485s. If after a few conversations, you can tell they don’t understand the industry (not to mention its accompanying paperwork) chances are their recruit won’t line up with the position you need filled.
Efficient Timelines to Fill Positions
Another terrific benefit of on-site flu vaccinations is the accessibility. Flexible scheduling within the workplace reduces the hassle of employees finding, scheduling and attending a shot appointment outside regular work hours. If HR secures flu clinic providers and makes scheduling easy for employees, all they have to do is sign up for a convenient time slot and show up for their vaccine!
Specialty medical staffing requires robust recruiting pipelines. Without them, you’ll be stuck in staffing ratio limbo waiting for candidates. Avoid this scenario by asking prospective agencies these and other key questions:
- How many placements do they fill each year?
- What’s the average turnaround time for those placements?
- Do they offer 24-hour on-call services?
- How many organizations do they serve?
This information reveals a lot about a staffing firm. It tells you how quickly they can solve your staffing challenges, and helps you assess whether or not they have a deep pool from which to recruit.
Additional Company Resources / Benefits
Is your company working to improve its culture and striving to make the office a more comfortable place to be? Offering a vaccination clinic in the workplace shows that the company cares about the health and wellbeing of its employees. Investing in employee wellness does not go unnoticed. In fact, it often leads to improved employee retention and better productivity, in addition to improving the overall health of your employees.
How else can a partnership with a recruiting firm benefit your organization? See if they offer other resources that distinguish them from competitor staffing services. Look for benefits like:
- Event management. Sometimes staffing companies (or their parent organizations) offer supplemental services that benefit both the recruits and the recruiter. For example, Discovery Health coordinates corporate wellness events that require regular staffing. It shows our clients that we have a healthy pipeline of candidates because we simultaneously offer these events and recruit. Plus, it gives them a trusted source for wellness events should they choose to implement them at their own facility.
- Niche recruitment. Choose a firm that focuses mostly on certain facilities and/or specialty recruiting (hospice caregivers, allied staff, etc.) that match your needs. General recruiters often take more time and can’t provide temporary staff with the same level of expertise as niche recruiters.
- Compliance. Prominent staffing agencies employ a compliance support team that handles the messy paperwork — and sometimes billing — for you. These extra resources take that much more off your plate so you can focus on patient care.
Applicant Screening
DHS’ stringent applicant screening process ensures that you get well-trained, vetted, and reliable personnel who keep your facility compliant. Our on-demand staff complete a series of tests so we know they can meet your regulatory requirements. Tests include:
- ANA-equivalent skills test
- Medication proficiency test
- Client-specific requisites
- Background check
- Drug testing
- License certification
- OSHA and HIPAA testing
These and other quality control requirements for all applicants give us confidence in supplying medical staff who can provide your team and patients with the highest quality of care. Because that’s what your team and patients deserve.
Nimble, Flexible Staffing
Finding the right talent is only half the battle. In healthcare, you need the right talent at the right time. With the DHS 24/7 on-call nurse staffing service, you can find who you need when you need them. Just access our live scheduling software – day or night – and our on-call team is ready to equip your staffing gap.
If the industry’s best software isn’t enough of an advantage, consider our depth of resources. Discovery Health manages a wide network of talented, multidisciplinary nurses, specialty medical personnel and allied staff is unmatched. Don’t forget that these professionals have served in various medical facilities from hospitals to long-term care, hospice and more. This experience, depth and 24/7 availability makes us nimble and flexible for your ever-changing needs.
Checking References
References aren’t just for temp staff. Make sure you ask the firm for its own references, too. Find out who else in the healthcare industry they’ve staffed for. And talk directly to the hiring teams and leaders for direct input about the capability and professionalism of their outsourced staff. It may also help to find out if any of your current employees have directly worked with the firm on the candidate side. Any and all input helps as not all niche medical staffing companies can do what they say they’re capable of.
Clinical Research Staffing
Did you know DHS has recruited for and staffed more than six COVID-19 clinical research studies in the past year? While this is new to many in our industry, DHS staff are trained in this timely and important work. We uniquely offer an opportunity to work on these unprecedented studies, which often fosters recruit loyalty toward our company. It’s a win-win for study organizers who require knowledgeable recruiters and experienced staff for these critical projects.
Discovery Health Services
When you want top candidates, you need the top recruiter. Discovery Health Services has the depth and diligence to find the right people to work when and where you need them. Contact our team today to get started.