Blog | Staffbot

AI in Healthcare Recruiting: How to Address Current Staffing Shortages

by Chelsea Richeson | Apr 26, 2023 | Blog

The struggle to source, hire and retain talent is a theme across all industries, and is especially rampant within healthcare. Many are aware that the devastating effects of the pandemic deeply affected healthcare professionals and led many to leave the profession. Moreover, many healthcare workers, namely nurses, are reaching retirement age – fueling an already depleting workforce. With many leaving the profession, and a greater demand in patient needs, sourcing and retaining exceptional talent is a challenge many HR and hiring teams face.

Though there’s no simple fix that will make personnel shortages within healthcare disappear, many health systems are learning from other leading facilities that are addressing their own shortages by reexamining their recruitment process and where to fill in the gaps to minimize understaffing. Many are turning to innovative technology in order to gain a competitive advantage in attracting exceptional talent.

Applying artificial intelligence (AI) powered software within recruiting processes is a competitive advantage many talent acquisition teams can’t afford to disregard. Acquiring talent within a healthcare staffing setting involves many time-consuming and manual processes that can ultimately hinder recruitment teams from winning that perfect candidate.

This added layer of intelligence allows hiring teams to streamline and automate recruitment processes which enhances workflow efficiency, increases workplace productivity, and quickly brings on much needed talent. AI automates repetitive, time-consuming, and high-volume tasks such as sourcing, shortlisting, candidate screening, and scheduling. Automation of critical recruitment touch points enables recruiters to focus on other vital tasks that can help seamlessly bring on talent.

Impacts of healthcare Personnel shortages

This blog is intended to review what AI recruiting is and how it enhances the recruiter role in sourcing the right talent, efficiently and seamlessly. Though AI recruiting offers several advantages for talent acquisition teams and healthcare organizations, we also examine the challenges AI poses and how to tackle these challenges for maximized operational efficiency.

What AI in Recruitment is

AI recruiting is the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in the talent acquisition process. AI recruiting software is designed to process robust data and automate manual recruitment touch points to help improve efficiency and the overall bottom line.

AI recruitment tools automate repetitive, laborious tasks recruiters face, such as sourcing, screening, scheduling, and communications. This alleviates workloads for recruiters and provides them with greater time to prioritize other imperative tasks, such as onboarding and developing relationships with candidates.

Automation, in turn, enhances the hiring team’s ability to improve the candidate experience, create personalized and tailored recruitment, bring on quality talent, accelerate the hiring process, boost workplace diversity, and increase overall efficiency within recruitment operations.

How AI Used in Recruitment

AI-powered recruiting software often entails automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks in:

Sourcing candidates
Screening candidates
Coordinating and assessing interviews
Communication channels

Source and Screen Best-Fit Candidates

Sourcing candidates and resumes is a large undertaking for recruiters and can take up to 30 hours per week. This time consuming task leads to lengthy recruitment cycles and limits productivity for hiring teams. In some cases, sifting through hundreds of resumes in search of potential matches can lead to oversight and missed opportunities of talent.

Automating candidate sourcing and screening allows AI to review high volume documents and resumes to source best-fit candidates for organizations. AI will match the requirements of job descriptions with candidates based on their skills, experience, and proficiencies. By grading and scoring qualifying candidates, AI can shortlist top talent quickly, allowing hiring teams to easily swift through relevant resumes.

Recruiter time spent on administrative tasks

Source: Forbes

Interviewing

Automation can be used to manage interview scheduling, such as overseeing a manager’s schedule and allowing candidates to choose from those available times to schedule an interview. AI can also be used in a more powerful sense throughout the interview process by assessing digitized interviews.

Many organizations have moved to virtual, digitized interviews and AI capabilities extend into assessing candidates’ word choices, facial expressions and speech patterns. This allows AI to help your organization determine if a candidate might be the right fit for your culture.

Automate Communications

Human Resources (HR) and hiring teams are increasingly turning to the use of AI-powered chatbots and SMS to improve candidate engagement. Automated communications empower candidates to interact with the organization about job updates, requirements, scheduling interviews, and next steps in a timely manner. Automating communication channels saves time for recruiters on addressing frequently asked questions and performing repetitive tasks, such as sending updates or coordinating interviews.

Benefits of AI Recruitment

AI in recruitment can yield powerful results for healthcare organizations looking to improve recruitment processes and overall staffing strategies. Benefits include:

Save time
Hire quality candidates
Speed recruitment processes
Improve the candidate experience
Reduce bias

Save Time

While sourcing, screening and shortlisting candidates can take up to 30 hours of a recruiter’s time, automating these repetitive processes will reduce workloads and save hiring teams valuable time. This time can be reinvested into critical tasks, such as developing relationships with candidates, leading to improved hiring outcomes.

Improve quality of hire

The power of AI allows a high level of personalization in matching skillsets with job requirements. The ability of instantaneously sourcing and matching job descriptions with candidates based on compatibility between desired skillsets and experience allows recruiters to take a personalized approach in recruitment.

Additionally, with time, AI can standardize job matching by using previous data of job requirements and candidates selected based on skills, experience, and knowledge. This allows a consistent pipeline of quality candidates and speeds the hiring process for hiring teams.

Lastly, a consistent inflow of quality and compatible talent helps reduce instances of turnover and the costly consequences turnover has financially on institutions and on team morale.

Candidate Experience

In a competitive market for skilled labor, organizations cannot afford to miss the mark on creating an exceptional candidate experience. The candidate experience sets the tone for an organization’s ability to efficiently and effectively conduct operations. Those conducting a suboptimal experience risk top candidates falling out of the recruitment process and finding opportunities with competitors.

AI allows for efficient and seamless hiring at an accelerated rate that creates a positive experience for candidates and healthcare organizations.

Sources: SHRM | Korn Ferry

By promptly sourcing, matching, screening and shortlisting qualified candidates at a personalized level, hiring teams can focus on relationship development and successful onboarding. Furthermore, automated scheduling and communication channels allow candidates to swiftly engage and interact with your organization.

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) identified that 43% of HR professionals struggled to hire suitable candidates due to competition from fellow competitors.

Source: SHRM

Reduce Bias

One of the greatest benefits AI recruiting has to offer organizations is the potential to improve workplace diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) by reducing human bias.

Bias is often inherently present throughout the recruitment process consciously or unconsciously when humans are assessing potential candidates. This often leads to teams missing out on valuable talent, a lack of workplace diversity, and can cause organizations legal issues.

Candidate assessments and scoring by AI technology is conducted with greater fairness as AI disregards age, gender and race. AI assessments are based on outlined skillsets and experiences rather than demographic variables, often the basis for prejudice and bias.

Challenges in AI Recruiting

As with many technologies, AI systems also present potential challenges. It’s critical to be aware of these challenges when integrating new software and partnering with a vendor.

Data

Artificial intelligence and machine learning (a subset of AI that learns the patterns and processes) require a lot of data to learn how to accurately source candidates to your organization’s specifications. This can require some time for systems to learn the correlations between candidates selected to certain job specifications and how it affects future decision making.

When integrating with a provider, ensure to partner with a company that has a robust network of data to ensure optimal recruitment and hiring.

Skepticism

Securing buy in from stakeholders and hiring teams can be a difficult task, particularly because many hold skepticism to new technology. Concerns on ROI, effectiveness, compatibility with current systems, workflow disruptions, and user adoption are often, understandably, top of mind when investing in technological solutions.

Thoroughly vet AI software providers to understand expectations, shortcomings, implementation processes, and training opportunities in order to maximize usage of AI systems.

Additionally, the idea of AI technology replacing roles is often a concern for many recruitment teams. It’s important to acknowledge that AI can’t replace the human element necessary for successful recruitment. Its purpose is to enhance gaps within the recruitment process in order to create a seamless hiring cycle and enable recruiters to maximize their efforts.

Learning biases

AI isn’t inherently bias and can help hiring teams reduce bias in candidate sourcing and screening, however AI has the ability to learn biases in time or can pick up on bias present within current recruitment processes. It’s important for your vendor to consistently monitor and check potential biases within the system.

AI and the Recruiter Role

As mentioned previously, AI in recruitment isn’t designed to replace recruiters – it’s designed to support and enhance their efforts.

By eliminating repetitive and time-consuming tasks, hiring teams can take a greater strategic and proactive approach in hiring by focusing their efforts on high priority tasks. Greater time can be spent on engaging with candidates, onboarding new hires, and focusing on the overall candidate experience.

This reprioritization can lead to increased organizational impact, greater relationships with candidates, and strengthened relationships between hiring managers and recruiters.

Recruiting necessitates a human element in empathy, advanced communication skills and negotiating that AI is unable to replace. It’s critical to reframe the narrative of AI technology replacing roles, rather it’s there to help redefine roles for enhanced efficiency and greater operational outcomes.

Ready to embrace AI in your recruitment strategy?

It’s imperative for HR and hiring teams to reevaluate all aspects of their talent acquisition strategy. Identifying gaps and leveraging technology to successfully bring on the right talent is critical for long-term success in recruiting and retaining talent.

Leverage AI-powered technology, such as StaffBot’s vendor management system (VMS), to help create a seamless recruitment cycle, save time for your organization, and effortlessly source best-fit candidates.

Looking for further information on VMS automation and increased workplace efficiency? Download our complimentary ebook on streamlining your workforce operations through VMS automation here.

Access StaffBot’s free ebook on VMS automation for healthcare workforce operations here.

Want to see for yourself?

Schedule a demo below to check out StaffBot’s AI capabilities in sourcing, matching and screening talent, as well as our market rate intelligence tools!

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StaffBot’s Excited to Attend AONL 2023!

by Chelsea Richeson | Apr 10, 2023 | Blog

StaffBot is thrilled to take part in the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL) 2023 annual conference! This conference gathers top healthcare industry leaders and keynote speakers to address the common healthcare challenges organizations face today – and ways to help overcome them for the upcoming year.

As experts in healthcare workforce technology solutions, StaffBot is excited to showcase our healthcare-tailored vendor management system (VMS) to healthcare professionals seeking to address immediate recruitment and workforce management challenges.

StaffBot’s VMS is a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution that integrates all forms of data, spreadsheets, and documentation within a centralized, easy-to-use platform to:

Unify various sources of data
Streamline and automate workforce operations
Provide greater transparency
Reduce operational workforce costs
Automate compliance processes
Increase fill rates with qualified talent
Collate data and metrics for data-driven action

Vendor management system (VMS) benefits diagram chart

A Healthcare-Tailored VMS

What makes StaffBot’s VMS valuable for healthcare organizations? StaffBot was designed with efficiency, simplicity, and healthcare workflows in mind to streamline all processes related to contingent workforce management within a healthcare setting.

Important VMS features tailored to healthcare operations include:

1. Market Rate Analytics Tools: Staffbot’s rate intelligence tools empower organizations to explore cost-savings opportunities, save time, and take data-driven action. Our market rate features give powerful insights on healthcare market rates for open job positions across the nation. Determine rates by state, compact state, city, zip code, or a custom-defined parameter. Not only have insights into current rates for going healthcare-specific occupations, but have insights into market trends from the past 120 days and future 120 days to prepare your organization to take data-driven action in response to market trend fluctuations.

2. Compliance Tracking and Integrations: StaffBot’s VMS incorporates health-care specific compliance integrations to automate healthcare compliance tracking. Integrations with the American Heart Association (AHA), Nursys, and Relias ensure your organization can credential candidates accurately and timely. Our VMS automatically notifies your leadership team on those not compliant or upcoming expiring documents to keep your team prepared.

3. Timekeeping and Invoicing Integrations: Save time on administrative tasks such as timekeeping and invoicing – much of which done manually can lead to costly errors. StaffBot’s VMS integrates with common healthcare time management systems, such as KRONOS/UKG, to automate and simplify these processes.

4. Online Interview Tools: StaffBot strives to create efficiency for healthcare leaders, hiring teams and candidates. With healthcare professionals often working in hectic environments at varying schedules, traditional interviews can take time to arrange for all parties. Our interview tools allow employers to set important interview questions, while candidates can record themselves answering the prompts. The video is then accessible to hiring teams at anytime among any member to evaluate potential candidates.

5. Custom Solutions: StaffBot’s custom VMS technology is designed to easily integrate with currently used software and processes adopted by your organization. Our goal is to create a seamless experience in managing and recruiting external labor rather than adding unnecessary burdens and hindrances. We customize our solutions to fit your current needs.

6. SOC 2 Security Compliant: Staffbot is proudly Type 1 and Type 2 SOC 2 Compliant meaning your data security is a high priority to us and we take all steps in ensuring data safety measures are in place to prevent data breaches. We know that healthcare systems are particularly vulnerable to cyberattacks and security breaches, leading to devastating costs and reputational damage – our practices have passed the rigorous SOC 2 compliance evaluation to ensure your safety.

IBM Cost of a Data Breach Statistics Diagram Chart

Source: IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2022

Want to see for yourself?

If you’re attending AONL 2023 this year, drop by Booth #953 and say hi! Test-drive our VMS in person, enjoy some free giveaways, and enter into our exciting raffle to win a stylish Louis Vuitton handbag!

Schedule a time to visit us at AONL 2023 using the form below. We will get in contact shortly to determine a time that best fits your schedule!

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Why SOC 2 Compliancy in Healthcare Technology Matters

by Chelsea Richeson | Mar 9, 2023 | Blog

Security breaches and cybersecurity attacks have devastating effects on organizations. The latest IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach 2022 Report identified that the average global cost of data breaches reached $4.35 million in 2022 alone – a 2.6% increase from 2021.

Healthcare security breaches run deeper in cost, totaling to $10.1 million for 2022 – a record high for healthcare. In fact, IBM’s report detailed that healthcare breach costs have been the most costly of all industries for 12 consecutive years. Furthermore, these costs were found to accrue in later years following the initial breach, resulting in long-tail costs.

Source: IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2022

Fortunately for organizations using Software as a Service (SaaS) technology, such as vendor management systems or other service programs to manage operations, there are a variety of standards to ensure security measures. One such assurance is a System and Organization Controls 2 (SOC 2) audit and report.

A SOC 2 audit and accreditation is the golden standard for SaaS providers or service organizations to demonstrate their commitment to information security of their clients. A SOC 2 refers to both a set of criteria and an evaluation of a third-party organization’s controls. An organization is thoroughly evaluated on SOC 2 criteria to determine legitimate security practices of their system controls that ensure data security.

This blog aims to clarify what a SOC 2 report is and why it’s critical when managing healthcare operations through external service providers.

What is a SOC 2 Report?

A SOC 2 is both a security framework and audit established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) to ensure third-party organizations are managing customer data and system controls effectively and securely.

The security framework of SOC 2 is based on an organization’s compliance around 5 key categories. The Trust Services Criteria (TSC) are the 5 categories that third-party organizations need to be compliant with to successfully earn a SOC 2 report.

The 5 Trust Service Criteria are:

Security
Availability
Processing Integrity
Confidentiality
Privacy

Audits are performed by independent Certified Public Accountants (CPA) that evaluate an organization’s controls based on SOC 2 requirements and compliance to the 5 categories. If successfully compliant, an organization will receive a SOC 2 report that can be shown to clients to confirm safe security measures.

SOC 2 Report Types

There are two SOC 2 Report types an organization can receive. Organizations can opt to qualify for one report or both.

SOC 2 Type 1 Report: controls and systems are compliant at a specific point of time.

SOC 2 Type 2 Report: controls and processes are compliant over a period of time (usually 6 to 12 months).

Why a SOC 2 Report Matters

Using services or software that are SOC 2 certified signals that organization’s commitment to security through ethical and solid security practices. A SOC 2 report is a competitive advantage for service organizations to establish credibility and trust among their clients.

Healthcare organizations routinely use several forms of technology and third-party services to successfully run daily operations. Greater reliance on technology means healthcare facilities need to ensure high levels of safety measures from the beginning to prevent cyberattacks. Failure to invest in proper safety measures or partnering with third-party organizations that neglect to follow best practices can result in devastating costs for health systems.

A Secure VMS

Ensuring security best practices to prevent cyber breaches and protect client data is a top priority for StaffBot. StaffBot’s healthcare-tailored VMS is SOC 2 certified for both Type 1 and Type 2 reports to ensure protection within your healthcare facility. Test drive our user-friendly system and determine if a VMS is the right solution to your contingent workforce objectives. Schedule a demo below!

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What is a VMS in contingent workforce management?

by Chelsea Richeson | Feb 15, 2023 | Blog

A vendor management system (VMS) is a software as a service (SaaS) solution that manages the end-to-end processes of sourcing, acquiring and managing an external workforce. A key feature of a VMS is that it integrates several sources of data within a single, easy-to-use platform to monitor and manage a contingent workforce. With various departments and processes involved in acquiring external labor, this centralization allows for seamless recruitment, management and communication between teams. A VMS also integrates external software and technologies within its platform to further unify data and processes, such as accounting or timekeeping systems.

By centralizing siloed processes, organizations have the added benefit of automating and streamlining processes such as invoicing, process requisitions, and onboarding steps to seamlessly recruit candidates. This allows organizations to improve efficiency and accuracy throughout the hiring lifecycle.

Organizations can use a VMS in conjunction with a service provider to manage a workforce or it can be used on its own for institutions conducting in-house staffing operations.

Using a VMS to Manage a Contingent Workforce

With an increased reliance on external labor within every business sector, procuring, engaging and managing contingent labor effectively must be reevaluated. Traditional methods are inefficient in addressing the rising complexities involved in acquiring and managing external labor. Particularly, technical limitations pose several challenges for organizations utilizing contingent labor including:

Overwhelming administrative tasks
Low workforce visibility
Increased rogue spend
Miscommunication
Fragmented hiring processes
Hindered recruitment

A VMS allows organizations to systematically store information within a single source of record to gain visibility into their workforce and management processes. This allows organizations to transparently see who is working for them, at what rates, where they are working and when their contracts are set.

Centralization further enables organizations to automate and streamline operations to minimize the effects of fragmented hiring processes that lead to miscommunication, increased spend, and hindered recruitment processes. Use a VMS to unify all hiring and management process of contingent labor for an efficient contingent workforce program.

Increased visibility not only applies to knowing who consists of your contingent workforce, but allows organizations to have greater visibility into data and spend within contingent workforce programs. Use data and reporting to understand market rates, spend, performance, and how to strengthen contingent workforce programs, for a profitable workforce model.

Sources: Staffing Industry Analysts | Forbes

VMS Functions in Contingent Workforce Management

1. Data Consolidation: centralize various forms of data within a single source of record for easy access and visibility.

2. Automate and Streamline Recruitment: unified data and system integrations allow a VMS to automate and streamline talent acquisition touch points such as:

Requisition creation and distribution
Interviewing, onboarding and off-boarding
Sourcing, matching and screening candidates

3. Automate Administrative Tasks: with system integrations to your HR, timekeeping and account software, a VMS can easily consolidate data and automate tasks such as timekeeping and invoicing to reduce inaccuracies and save time.

4. Workforce Transparency: maintain candidate, workforce, and vendor agency profiles in an easily accessible system.

5. Track compliance and classification: monitor who is credentialed, those requiring compliance documentation, and upcoming expiring records with compliance tracking tools and integrations.

6. Data Analytics: collect and collate data for powerful reporting to get insights into:

Spend visibility
Past and emerging trends
Market rate analytics
Performance metrics

VMS Features and Tools

Not at all vendor management systems are created the same. Many can differ by its features, tools and capabilities. This can be particularly true if a VMS is configured to cater to a specific industry. Regardless, many VMS’s share related key features and tools. Common capabilities and features a VMS can exhibit include:

Market Rate Tools: rate intelligence tools provide market rate insights of occupations within a given region. It’s AI-powered predictive capabilities often allow organizations to not only see past and current rates for going occupations, but it also provides estimates for future rates to financially prepare an organization.

Virtual Interview Tools: with recruitment increasingly being conducted remotely, video interviewing is an essential feature a VMS must be capable of to help seamlessly recruit contingent labor. Use virtual interview tools to have interview questions prepared and allow candidates to record themselves responding to prompted questions. Access videos at anytime among all hiring members.

Candidate-Match Pairing Features: the AI-powered nature of a VMS enables it to efficiently source candidates within your talent pool that best match candidates to the assignment. Based on candidates’ reviews and the job description, a VMS can sort best-fit candidates to help hiring teams source efficiently.

Custom Integrations: organizations vary in the software and tools they use on a daily basis depending on their industry. An effective VMS is flexible and customizable to integrate with frequently used software to further create a seamless workflow. For example, StaffBot’s VMS integrates with frequently used healthcare compliance systems, such as the American Heart Association or Nursys, to enable efficient onboarding for healthcare systems.

VMS Benefits

Utilizing VMS technology offers organizations several competitive advantages and benefits including:

Visibility: visibility into workforce, organizational spend, headcount, performance, data, trends, and vendors.

Efficiency: streamlined workforce operations throughout the recruitment cycle save time and resources spent on labor-intensive tasks and ensure greater fill rates.

Reduce Spend: with real-time market rates, manage labor costs and avoid overpaying for talent. Have increased spend visibility to help monitor and mitigate rogue spend.

Talent pipeline: build an on hand talent pool ready for quick deployment to fill vacancies and avoid shortages.

Comprehensive data: have powerful analytics to take data-driven action. Create custom, automated, scheduled and ad hoc reporting.

Quality hires: powerful compliance integrations allow organizations to evaluate the qualifications of their workforce to ensure skilled talent and compliancy.

Scale business operations: increase profitability through greater efficiencies, workflows, and cost savings.

How can we help? A healthcare-tailored VMS.

StaffBot VMS specializes in healthcare contingent workforce management. With an ever increasing reliance on temporary nurse staff, a VMS is an invaluable asset in efficiently and cost-effectively managing travel clinicians.

For institutions seeking to conduct internal staffing operations or utilizing managed service provider (MSP) services, StaffBot supports your institution’s workforce objectives to create long-term sustainable workforce programs.

Learn how we can further your goals. With a wide range of services from VMS technology to workforce consultants, StaffBot tackles your healthcare recruitment challenges with custom solutions.

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Rogue Spend in Contingent Workforce Programs

by Chelsea Richeson | Jan 27, 2023 | Blog

The way organizations are conducting work and recruiting labor is a shifting dynamic with an increasing emphasis on non-employee labor, particularly utilizing contingent workers. The contingent workforce in the United States alone consisted of 52 million individuals, making up 35% of the entire workforce according to Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA). The SIA further estimated that worldwide spend on contingent labor spend that same year totaled to $5.4 trillion. An increased use of contingent labor within business operations is essential in maintaining a competitive advantage in attracting labor and increasing workplace productivity.

Contingent Labor Usage According to the SIA diagram Chart

With increased reliance and popularity of contingent labor, greater complexities of managing an external workforce arise. Particularly, the rise of rogue spend seeps in unnoticeably and uncontrollably, leading to increased expenditures for organizations. It’s imperative for organizations to maximize the advantages a contingent workforce has to offer without unnecessarily increasing costs as contingent labor scales.

This blog examines rogue spend within contingent workforce programs and two effective measures in reducing its occurrence. Two measures that help monitor, mitigate and manage spend include:

1. Automated technological tools, such as a vendor management system (VMS)

2. A proper spend assessment strategy

What is Rogue Spend?

Rogue spend, also referred to as Maverick spend, is the process of sourcing and hiring contingent workers outside of pre-negotiated rate contracts or established guidelines of an organization’s contingent workforce program. These recruitment efforts often result in hiring candidates through rogue methods that are financially unaccounted for or unapproved of.

Generally, self-sourcing and hiring candidates through such means is carried out with the intention to meet staffing demands quickly and cost-effectively. In some instances, people may be unaware of established hiring processes or may find these processes to be too time-consuming to follow. In other cases, employees may intend to save the institution money, unaware that such methods contribute counteractively.

Not only do labor costs increase through rogue hiring methods, but other risks include compliance errors, harm to contracts and vendor relationships, as well as setting the stage for other practices that undermine an organization’s’ guidelines and values.

How rampant is rogue spend when considering the bigger picture? Hiring a candidate here or there through rogue means may not make a significant overall financial impact, however when several people are hiring external staff through their own methods and rates, these contracts begin eating away at budgets when unaccounted for. In fact, it’s reported that in financial planning and budgeting, 60% external labor went unaccounted for.

What Contributes to Rogue Spend?

Rogue spending stems from varying factors, the most common culprits being:

1. Manual Processes: hiring external labor consists of many complexities and processes. Many departments are involved in hiring contingent workers, and each utilize their own software, documents, and methods. In many instances, organizations are operating under archaic, manual processes that include using spreadsheets and files that are scattered throughout various systems and departments. This leaves room for error and unnecessary spend to go unnoticed throughout the organization.

2. Lack of Visibility: with members from various departments conducting their own methods and documentation separately, no one has complete visibility into one other’s methods or documentation. This creates fragmentation – a factor that severely hinders effective recruitment and workforce management. Furthermore, such fragmentation makes it difficult to oversee spend in recruitment and managing a workforce.

Additionally, low market rate visibility fuels rogue spend within organizations. Many hiring leaders are made to guess going rates for an occupation and can be overpaying for talent without knowing.

3. Ineffective hiring strategies or processes: unestablished recruitment strategies or processes force hiring members to create their own methods, unaware of cost. Unstructured hiring fuels greater expenditures for organizations.

How to Reduce Rogue Spend

Tackling rogue spend can be a daunting task for organizations, but a highly effective measure in ensuring greater cost savings. Two methods in effectively minimizing rogue spend include:

1. Vendor Management Systems (VMS)
2. A Spend Assessment Strategy

1. How a VMS Reduces Rogue Spend

A VMS is a software as a solution (SaaS) technology solution, powered by AI technology, that allows organizations to recruit and manage contingent labor within a single, easy-to-use platform. A VMS unifies all sources of data and integrates with frequently used software used by hiring teams to centralize all documents and processes within a single platform. This allows for increased visibility of contingent workers, recruitment processes, worker documentation and labor spend by all parties.

VMS technology is highly effective in eliminating rogue spend as it addresses the common challenges faced by organizations that experience uncontrolled spend resulting from:

Manual Processes
Lack of visibility
Unstructured hiring processes

VMS manual process, visibility, structure hiring process graph

Manual Processes

Centralizing data through a VMS eliminates manual processes in recruitment and workforce management. Manual processes can be riddled with costly errors, fueling rogue expenditures. VMS automation reduces human error in areas where rogue spend seeps through, including time management and invoicing errors that contribute to unnecessary spend.

Visibility

A VMS enables organizations to not only have complete transparency into who is working for them, where they work, when contracts are set, and labor rates – it extends into providing visibility into real-time market rates for cost saving opportunities and provides oversight into organizational spend.

Power cost-saving opportunities and minimize rogue spend through market rate analytics tools. An effective VMS yields powerful market rate features that provide insight into real-time rates for a given occupation within a specific region. Hiring managers no longer need to set presumed rates that contribute to increased spend.

For example, StaffBot VMS equips users to make data-driven decisions to fuel cost-saving opportunities. Users can view market rates throughout the nation by state, city, zip-code or a custom-defined parameter to compare what current trends are. Staffbot’s VMS AI-predictive abilities further allow organizations to anticipate rate changes, allowing them to financially prepare for emerging trends and minimize unanticipated spend.

Centralization of various forms of data further allow for collated data and collective reporting. Organizations can have greater visibility in reviewing organizational spend on labor. Review past expenditures and monitor current expenses to help minimize unnecessary spend. The ability to monitor, mitigate and manage spend enables organizations to create cost-effective business decisions.

Structured Hiring Process

Creating an organization-approved hiring method can help organizations reign in on rogue spend and increase hiring efficiency. A VMS assists hiring teams in establishing an efficient, consistent, and cost-effective hiring method for all hiring members to follow. Automate and streamline recruitment touchpoints including requisition distribution, sourcing, interviewing, and compliance tracking for a seamless recruitment process. Automation ensures efficiency, accuracy, and saved resources on time-consuming tasks. A consistent recruitment method not only saves time and money for organizations, but allows organizations to scale their recruitment efforts.

2. Spend Assessment Strategy

As powerful as automation is in reducing the occurrence of rogue spend, it’s equally important to establish a strategy and process to maximize a VMS’s capabilities. The following section outlines strategies to help tackle prevalent rogue spending within organizations.

Audit

Conduct a thorough audit of previous expenses in order to identify rogue spending habits. Specifically, pinpoint where the source of spend is stemming from and inquire why. A spend analysis helps identify gaps and gain greater visibility to take the necessary steps in minimizing further unnecessary costs.

Assess

Review the recruitment process of your organization to understand the steps and associated expected costs within each stage. Specifically assess labor demand and staff usage of each department and facility to better understand outgoing sources of spend.

Track Spend

Meticulously track current spend and staffing costs. This allows your

organization to understand normal incoming and outgoing sources to establish a baseline budget. Ensure to look for unnecessary costs, such as invoicing errors, that easily slip through the cracks.

Accountability

Holding managers accountable for spend management helps deter unnecessary outflows. Awareness of outgoing costs and who is spending helps employees stay accountable for responsible spend.

Communicate

By precisely communicating contingent workforce hiring policies between departments and employees, everyone can be informed on expected guidelines to help mitigate and reduce costs. Many instances of rogue spend result from employees being unaware of established hiring guidelines set in place. Communicate how guidelines and processes empower your organization’s budget-related goals and minimize unnecessary costs.

How can we help?

An effective VMS targets several challenges. Rogue spending is often a powerful motivator for healthcare facilities to consider turning to automated solutions in order to save in key areas. If mitigating spend and reducing cost is a major factor to your organization, consider the value a VMS brings to all facets of your staffing efforts.

Connect with us using the form below to see how we can help! StaffBot goes beyond being a VMS provider – we are your recruitment partners and consultants. With an array of services, resources, and experience, StaffBot crafts customized workforce solutions in response to your healthcare organization’s unique staffing challenges.

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Healthcare Recruiting Trends for 2023

by Chelsea Richeson | Jan 27, 2023 | Blog

With inevitable shortages looming within the healthcare industry, recruitment strategies are evolving to gain competitive advantages in attracting and retaining talent. Shortages are expected to persist for the coming years as the lingering of effects of the pandemic, coupled with an aging workforce and increased patient needs, continue. Despite these challenges, healthcare industries have remained flexible, adaptable and resilient in addressing growing talent demands.

Sources: American College of Healthcare Executives | The World Health Organization | National Association for Healthcare Quality

Staying informed on the latest recruitment trends unique to healthcare challenges can enable organizations to have a competitive advantage in attracting the right talent and creating sustainable recruitment strategies for the future. For healthcare leaders, employers, and recruiters, this blog details upcoming healthcare recruitment trends to integrate into your workforce strategy for greater success.

Recruitment trends that health systems are increasingly focusing on in the coming year include:

Employer brand
Diversity
Technology
In-house staffing programs
Employee wellbeing
Remote recruitment
Digital compliance
Contingent Labor
Engage with the emerging workforce

1. Employer Brand

Employer brand matters. Now more than ever employers need to distinguish themselves and highlight how they differentiate from the competition. A powerful brand strategy will communicate the organization’s mission, values, unique characteristics, benefits, workplace culture, DEI initiatives, and a commitment to employee wellbeing. This, in turn, can be a valuable recruitment tool.

With endless job opportunities for candidates to choose from, it’s fundamental to not only market these initiatives when recruiting, but to make them accessible at all times for job seekers. LinkedIn’s 2021 Employer Brand Statistics survey demonstrated that 75% of candidates considered an organization’s brand reputation before even applying for a position, suggesting that showcasing benefits and workplace culture on websites or social postings (such as employee videos or pictures of workplace culture) can be an important determinant factor for job seekers.

2. Diversity

Diversity and inclusivity practices are important for job seekers and is often a condition used to evaluate a brand. Lack of diversity initiatives can deter skilled and valuable talent from your organization – talent that organizations cannot afford to dissuade.

Equally, integrating diversity initiatives yield positive results for patient wellbeing, employee happiness, and overall business outcomes. Having a diverse workforce allows teams problem solve more effectively, foster creativity, eliminate health disparities, deliver personalized care, and improve employee morale.

Sourcing from a diverse talent pool helps broaden recruitment efforts. Recruiting efforts should include strategies such as:

Outreaching to diverse talent pools
Crafting job descriptions that encourage diverse applicants and perspectives
Creating standardized interview processes to minimize hiring biases

Tip: Often, traditional hiring methods are restrictive in finding the right person, particularly when traditional methods rely on local sourcing. Try utilizing service providers to source a broader pool of talent and minimize bias throughout the hiring process.

Managed service providers or external staffing agencies often have a large network of applicants, vendors, and resources from across the nation to help healthcare organizations source temporary or permanent staff – this can be helpful in tapping into diverse candidates that would otherwise be difficult to source.

3. Technology

Integrating digital innovations into the workplace can give healthcare brands a competitive edge. Leveraging AI and automation technologies allow brands to save time, streamline recruitment operations, enhance the hiring process, and improve the candidate experience.

The candidate experience is an important dynamic in recruitment. Poor candidate experiences stemming from undefined recruitment and hiring processes leads to miscommunication, delayed onboarding, poor credentialing, and overall inefficiency. This can discourage valuable candidates from moving forward in the hiring process and can hurt an organization’s brand reputation. It’s fundamental to create a smooth and consistent hiring experience that positively reflects your brand’s professionalism.

Overall, having a streamlined recruitment and hiring process powered through automation enables healthcare facilities to acquire qualified permanent and contract labor quickly.

Vendor Management System (VMS) automates recruitment lifecycle chart

Use VMS automation to enhance recruitment processes.

4. In-House Staffing Programs

Coping with ongoing shortages and increasing crisis rates for travel nurses, many organizations are choosing to turn operations into in-house staffing models. Rather than relying on external agencies to acquire travel clinicians, organizations are building their own travel staffing teams to build a pool of talent that can be deployed to various locations.

This internal staffing model has several competitive advantages including cost reductions, creating an on hand talent pipeline, as well as recruiting, retaining and recapturing previous staff. Organizations are able to develop their own packages and offer flexibility to core and travel clinicians.

This recruitment strategy can yield positive, long-term results, however, with technical limitations and an improper strategy, many in-house programs fall short. Consider investing in a vendor management system. Often this powerful, yet easy-to-use technology is leveraged by healthcare service providers and external agencies in their own recruitment strategies for consistency, transparency, and efficiency within recruitment programs.

A VMS empowers in-house programs to:

Automate and streamline recruitment operations
Provide market rate tools for visibility on real-time rates for healthcare occupations in the region
Track candidate and vendor profiles within a single system
Integrate all sources of data within a single platform for program transparency and consistency

5. Employee Wellbeing

The pandemic emphasized the need to acknowledge healthcare employee wellbeing. With increased stress, fatigue, burnout, as well as mental and physical repercussions resulting from healthcare shortages and high workload demands, many clinicians left their position or the industry all together.

52% of nurses surveyed in 2022 are considering or intending to leave their positions, while 60% reported feeling burned out, and 75% of nurses experienced exhaustion and stress.

Source: American Nurses Foundation

Organizations are now shifting priorities to encourage employee wellbeing. With endless employment options available, healthcare practitioners now expect flexibility, greater work-life balance and improved working conditions. It’s important for recruitment strategies to convey an employer’s commitment to employee wellbeing, as well as initiatives and resources to promote employee health and happiness.

6. Remote Recruitment

An emerging trend gaining traction is remote recruitment. Remote recruitment has the benefit of tapping into a larger talent pool, reducing the time it takes to do in-person hiring tasks, and reducing resources spent on recruiting talent traditionally. It’s important for recruitment teams to evaluate or implement a virtual end-to-end recruitment strategy to accommodate a larger audience. Important touchpoints include virtual interviews, onboarding, and training.

Virtual interviews allow candidates to remotely partake in the interview process and are advantageous to both candidates and hiring leaders. With healthcare clinicians working busy schedules, often at non-traditional working hours, trying to establish an in-person interview between healthcare hiring managers and candidates is difficult as time conflictions may arise. Recruitment software, such as a VMS, often include virtual interview tools that allow hiring leaders to set important work-related questions and allow respondents to submit virtual videos of their responses. Videos are accessible at any time convenient to the hiring leader’s schedule. This allows for optimized interviewing for both parties.

7. Digital Compliance

An important touchpoint in the screening and onboarding process is compliance tracking. Compliance tracking and management is no easy feat in healthcare, but to deliver high-quality services to patients and avoid costly penalties, it’s essential to properly credential oncoming employees. Healthcare recruitment trends are turning to digital verification to ensure credentials and avoid the risk of a bad hire. Many automated recruitment technologies will integrate with frequently used compliance software to automatically track needed credentials, expired credentials, and upcoming expiring documents.

See how StaffBot’s VMS integrates with healthcare compliance entities such as Nursys, the American Heart Association (AHA), and Relias to ensure candidates are qualified at all times with a complementary demo.

7. Contingent Labor

Though the use of contingent labor is not a new trend, it can be used in new ways. Many health systems relied on temporary labor to meet shortage demands since the onset of the pandemic. Though rates were driven to unexpected heights at the peak of the pandemic, they have gradually lowered (however, compensation continues to be higher than before the pandemic).

Contingent labor is an indispensable feature that health systems currently leverage and will continue to do so. Systems conducting in-house staffing agencies agree that external, temporary labor through agencies is still an essential component to their workforce strategy.

Rather than relying solely on contingent labor, organizations are seeking long-term solutions to attract and retain staff. Part of these efforts include boosting employee wellbeing, promoting flexible scheduling arrangements, and encouraging PTO. Recruiting a contingent workforce can help boost these efforts by:

Reducing workloads to enable greater work-life balance
Taking over remaining shifts to accommodate core staff work arrangements or time off opportunities
Avert oncoming shortages

Furthermore, some organizations are building strategic float pools consisting of contract and permanent placements to help address unexpected shortage needs throughout various departments.

Learn how MSP’s can help boost your contingent workforce and recruitment strategies.

8. Emerging Workforce

A strategic recruiting approach many organizations are investing in is reaching out to the emerging workforce. Partnerships with nursing programs and universities are allowing organizations to market their job opportunities to the oncoming talent pipeline. Establishing a relationship and offering benefits, tuition reimbursements, and training opportunities allow organizations to secure future talent.

Looking to Boost Your Recruitment Strategy?

StaffBot and our partner brands assist healthcare organizations in boosting recruitment operations from streamlining workflows, providing healthcare-tailored recruiters, building float teams, or consulting with healthcare institutions on successfully running in-house staffing programs for long-term success.

Connect with a workforce solutions expert to discuss how our diverse services can help boost your organization’s recruitment strategy! Sign up below and we’ll get in touch shortly.

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