The healthcare industry added another 32,000 job postings in February in addition to the 30,000 openings per month it has been averaging over the past year. Some healthcare facilities seem better prepared to keep up with the increased hiring demand while others struggle to fill positions or experience prohibitive costs when they can fill them. [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="100"] Sue Higgins Product Development Manager[/caption] Sue Higgins, Product Development Manager at Stay Staffed Candidate Direct, who has been monitoring the growth in healthcare staffing reports, “In the last 12 months our postings have increased over 340% - this is due to two things: 1) the growth in industry and demand for highly skilled candidates, and 2) the increase of clients using our Vendor Management System. We have had added significantly to our client list and these facilities are posting and getting jobs filled fast!” Clients utilizing the Candidate Direct VMS solution are experiencing improved fill rates, reduced overtime, fewer staff shortages, and an enhanced candidate matching process that results in lower turnover and greater productivity gains. VMS Client Testimonial: "Our facility was caught off guard when a key Nurse Practitioner announced she was taking an early [+]

Rapid change affects recruiting efforts in any industry. But when a patient’s health is on the line, as in the healthcare industry, it’s extremely important to make the right hires consistently. The ACA, the ARRA of 2009, and an aging population are all contributing to rapid changes in the healthcare industry. Add to that the ongoing workforce shortages and you soon realize why recruitment has become so difficult in the healthcare arena. But it doesn’t have to be. In addition to our many healthcare recruiting options, we offer three innovative IT recruitment solutions to help hospitals and other healthcare providers ease the burden of medical staffing both internal and external: 1. Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO)

RPO services cover all aspects of the hiring process including sourcing, recruiting, interviewing, background checks, hiring, and on-boarding. Our 25 years in healthcare recruitment has provided us with the necessary tools to manage the hiring process in a way that delivers high-quality candidates at the lowest possible cost. In addition, you will receive access to one of the largest network of nursing, physician, and allied health professionals in the nation featuring active, passive and hidden talent pools. Candidate Direct’s RPO services offers a workforce solution that [+]

With two separate Medicare reductions taking effect in the first half of this year, it’s understandable that healthcare providers are lamenting the potential loss of healthcare jobs. It’s a big pill to swallow for most hospitals and healthcare employers. But as the outrage dims, healthcare executives are re-visiting their strategic plans to come up with cost-effective solutions to recover the revenue loss. Certainly, for some, healthcare staffing cuts are on the table. Rather than issue layoff notices, however, more innovative hospital executives are looking to generate additional revenue streams as well as streamline operational processes by eliminating waste and redundancies to better utilize their workforce. New Revenue Streams Part of the Answer Of course, additional revenue streams are the ideal solution. Some nursing homes, confined by minimum worker-to-patient ratios, are looking to new revenue sources as a solution rather than cutting healthcare staff. An October 2012 BusinessWeek article reported, “The chief executive of Brookdale (Senior Living), Bill Sheriff, told investors in the company’s most recent earnings call that Brookdale’s expansion into hospice care and outpatient services such as physical therapy has made an ‘attractive additional contribution’ to revenue.” Similarly, Richard Lechleiter, chief financial officer at Kindred, [+]

While the economy was unable to make any real advances in 2012, that was not the case with medical technology breakthroughs. The following are five medical technology advances that occurred in 2012. Brain-Controlled Mechanical Limbs The Boston Globe reports that quadriplegic, Cathy Hutchinson was able to reach for a bottle of water, bring it to her mouth for a sip, and return it to the table using a brain implant technology to control a mechanized arm. The implant, called BrainGate, is being adapted by researchers for use in prosthetic limbs as well as communication devices for those unable to speak. Defibrillator Implant While defibrillator implants are not new, Boston Scientific is the first to develop an implant that doesn’t need to touch the heart. The defibrillator implant, called the S-ICD, is placed just under the skin for easy access and sends electrical impulses to “correct abnormal rhythms.”  The device helps prevent sudden cardiac arrest and was approved by the FDA in September 2012. Turning Electronic Health Records into a Searchable Database    For those about to begin their EMR implementation, it’s good to know that technologies are being developed to improve reporting and search options. Beth Israel deaconess Medical Center has developed and launched a program [+]

Physical and Occupational Therapists are in high demand. Candidate Direct aims to keep healthcare employers staffed. With millions more Americans gaining access to healthcare, how will employers maintain adequate therapist staffing levels amid a shortage of qualified allied health professionals? Sue Higgins, Product Development Director for Candidate Direct, suggests the first step to procuring and retaining staff is to engage a powerful web-based healthcare staffing tool. "This way, the entire recruiting process is handled through a single source. Reporting and tracking are consistent; regulatory compliance is a snap and automated features save employers hundreds of man hours a year." Here's how Candidate Direct works: Create an account to join the Candidate Direct Marketplace Jobs will be posted just to your specific selected agency pool Recruitment Agencies and other Candidate Direct national talent sources submit candidates for your jobs You select the best candidate for the job at the lowest rate There is no investment in hardware or software and there are no monthly fees to utilize the Candidate Direct Marketplace. Higgins summarizes five easy ways healthcare employers can begin to streamline recruitment, saving time, money and aggravation. 1. Evaluate Existing Therapist Recruitment Strategies Whether your facility utilizes therapy staffing agencies or handles therapist recruiting internally, [+]

Or will hospitals leverage healthcare staffing technologies in favor of the bottom line? With third-party payor reimbursements dropping below sustainable levels and healthcare reform shrinking Medicare and Medicaid, hospitals will find profits harder to come by. For some, better managing staffing agencies and using data to drive staffing decisions will do the trick. For others, outsourcing workforce management functions or re-evaluating managed care contracts will be sufficient to reign-in cost centers and boost profits. Staffing, a healthcare employer's single largest expense, is probably where hospital cost reductions can affect profits most quickly. Patient census data and the benchmarking of hours worked per case allow for the flexible and accurate scheduling of part timers and travelers. This reduces staff down time, heightens productivity during peak times and is critical to not over or under staffing facilities, both of which adversely impact profits. Tightening vendor policies and diligently tracking the performance of staffing agencies can also improve the look of a P&L. Narrowing vendor relationships to only top performers and holding agencies accountable to competitive bill rates and timely submission of documents will save staffing managers time, money and aggravation; savings that can be converted to [+]

You may be familiar with Hospital & Healthcare Networks “Most Wired” survey. It measures the adoption of information technologies by healthcare providers aimed at improving patient care and safety. Now in its twelfth year, the survey has been redesigned to better gauge a provider’s commitment in using analytics and reporting to achieve "meaningful use." Put simply, meaningful use translates to efficiency: the efficient use and sharing of patient care information via electronic health records (EHRs) to enhance outcomes. Though some healthcare employers feel pressured by reform advocates to adopt EHRs prematurely, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, David Blumenthal, M.D., thinks many hospitals and independent practitioners have been waiting too long. "Can we make these changes expeditiously enough?" Blumenthal said in an interview with H&HN. The good news is hospitals and independent healthcare employers are indeed making changes. The H&HN survey proves it over time. In 2006-2010, the number of physicians participating in a closed-loop medication system rose more than 15 percent, greatly diminishing the risk of 'right patient wrong medication.' Over the five-year period 2005-2010, the number of hospitals using barcodes or RFID (radiofrequency identification) technologies to track medications increased a whopping 33 [+]

Healthcare Employers Report Rising Demand for Contingent Workforce Patient boon and shortage of specialists cause for growth in healthcare staffing Though contingent workers were the first to go when healthcare bottom lines “bottomed out,” many are the first to return, as hospitals reconfigure healthcare staffing needs in the face of economic recovery and lingering uncertainty. Workflows need to be re-evaluated and nurses, physicians and therapists knowledgeable in healthcare information technologies need to be sourced to comply with pending government reform mandates. Just two years ago, millions of newly unemployed Americans lost their healthcare benefits as the worst recession in decades swept the nation.  The demand for medical services declined and margins for some healthcare employers sank below sustainable standards. Pay and hiring freezes were implemented and spend on staffing got so tight that even some of the most seasoned medical specialists lost their jobs. Now by granting 46 million more Americans access to healthcare they never had, healthcare reform promises to repopulate hospital floors and rekindle the demand for acute care and niche medical services. This boon in patient flow will call many back to work and result in modest growth for the healthcare staffing industry in [+]

Experts in the healthcare staffing field know that employers are increasingly in need of staff who are well versed in today's healthcare technology. Electronic medical records, sharing of real-time diagnostics and communications on mobile devices -- seems like there's something new every day. And at the same time that the doctor's office is become more tech-savvy, so are the patients. Searching for healthcare information is now the third most common reason that consumers go online, just behind checking email and general web searches, according to a poll conducted by the Pew Internet Project. Why do consumers search the Internet first for medical information? Same reason they do a lot of things online: it's fast; it's convenient; and it may be less costly than an in-person consult. But, says a study from the New England Journal of Medicine, patients still rely on physicians to sort the good information from the bad. Concurs Robert Bok, Chairman and CEO of Candidate Direct Staffing, "Trained healthcare professionals are still the most trusted source of medical information; an entirely 'virtual' medical practice is still a long way off." In fact, patients' trust in healthcare professionals to explain [+]

Health information technologies are making everyone’s lives better – patients and providers alike. Electronic health and medical records have improved patient safety, 'handoffs' and caregiver communication, and the effective management of informatics has led to cost savings and workflow efficiencies for healthcare providers. Now physical therapists practice on clouds. Though cloud computing is relatively new to the physical therapy and rehabilitation arena, the Internet-based infrastructure is being used effectively by healthcare providers to capture treatment data in real time as care is being administered by therapists. Armed with an iPod, iPad or other cellular device, a physical therapist presses the start application when therapy begins and hits stop when therapy ends. In the interim, details such as medicines, equipment used, treatment methods and related billing information are all recorded. For healthcare providers, cloud computing may be the ultimate in tracking therapist performance, productivity and beside accountability. Cloud computing is defined as a set of virtual servers working in tandem over the Internet. In contrast to grid computing, which divides larger tasks into smaller ones running on parallel systems, cloud computing encompasses a collection of resources, many of which work independently and [+]