With talent shortages in healthcare far above national averages, the need to recruit smarter has never been more important for healthcare institutions. Some estimates put the US understaffed by over 100,000 physicians by 2030. With the average time to hire at over one year and a workforce that’s more than 40% over the age of 55, healthcare providers must look for every possible tool and advantage to maintain staffing levels.
The role of technology is advancing in healthcare for patient-centric tasks. But intelligent tools are also making it easier to recruit, screen, and fill jobs more quickly. AI can take on rote tasks and complex ones, freeing recruiters to spend time on more important tasks. Relationship-building with potential hires is critical to successful recruitment in every industry. In healthcare, where the competition is fierce, it can be vital.
1. Screening
AI can screen thousands of resumes faster than most recruiters can open their inbox. With the rote task of reviewing resumes off their plate, recruiters can leverage their time more effectively on people-focused duties. This arduous task is one of the first and most common ways institutions are leveraging AI in recruitment.
2. Credentialing
AI can help with another time-drain: verification of credentials. In healthcare, tech can easily capture needed data and move on to the next. This time consuming task is better and more quickly handled with technology.
3. Online Assessments
Many healthcare providers use short or even lengthy online assessment tools to assure a job seeker will be a good fit for their facility. Whether assessing aptitude, personality, or skills, AI can help increase the potential for a great hire and a long-term employee.
4. Video Interviewing
Hiring from across the globe or across the street, virtual interviews leverage everyone’s time as efficiently as possible. But more than just a convenience for those who can attend, video interviews are captured and can be reviewed by others at a later date.
Depending on the sophistication of the interview platform, some tech even analyzes candidates’ speech, gestures and mannerisms during the discussion and can suggest potential problem areas (like untruthfulness) and areas of strength.
5. Cloud Computing
Many healthcare providers are taking their recruitment needs to the cloud. Here they access applicant information from anywhere at any time. Beyond information storage, some cloud apps allow facilities to post positions from a single portal that sources active and passive talent pools from a multitude of other platforms.
6. Sourcing Passive Talent
Yes, you’re looking for talent that’s looking for an opening, but there are millions of candidates that might be interested in your facility who aren’t currently in the market. AI can reach passive talent with algorithms that search social and professional media sites for talent that matches your needs exactly and invites them to apply. No recruiter can match that capability.
7. Removing Bias
AI doesn’t care about an applicant’s name, gender, ethnicity or background. Removing bias in the hiring process is yet another benefit of tech. For institutions looking to build a more diverse and inclusive workplace, AI can help. Even the best recruiters carry some unconscious bias – technology is impartial.
8. Optimizing Job Descriptions
When it comes to diversity and inclusion efforts, the job description is often a barrier to application. Tech can help remove language that tends to exclude and create more engaging posts that attract talent, rather than sending them on to the next posting.
9. Virtual Assistance
Virtual assistants are a must for healthcare recruiters who rely heavily (or even those who don’t) on a contingent workforce. This tech can improve workflow, guiding recruiters through workforce management. Programmed correctly, they can even include institutional preferences and policies.
10. Predictive Analytics
One of the best aspects of AI is its ability to find patterns. Hiring peaks are commonly recognized by healthcare facilities. AI can dig deeper into data and produce revelations you hadn’t considered. With the right technology, facilities could uncover data that helps reduce attrition and increase recruitment success.
In the future, the most tech-savvy institutions may be able to use AI to monitor patients and assess risk with algorithms that predict contingent staffing requirements.
Even with only the most basic screening technology, healthcare providers are realizing a boost in their recruitment effectiveness. With rote duties off their desk, staff members have more time for people-centric tasks that can boost hiring and retention metrics in any facility. The more healthcare providers allow technology to help, the better position they’ll be in to spend time on talent acquisition, rather than task completion.
