State of Healthcare Hiring 2018

Hospitals and healthcare systems deal with issues on a daily basis. One of the most pressing issues no matter what the size or location of the organization is talent shortages. There are many things that contribute to this difficulty. Today, we will discuss the factors that led to this current state and why it is a good idea to work with healthcare executive search firms when working to place high level and c-suite talent at your healthcare organization.

State of Healthcare Hiring 2018

Currently, ⅓ of healthcare organizations have difficulty finding talent to fit vacancies and ¼ have trouble finding talent that has the right skills and is the right fit for the job and culture of the organization. Human resources personnel are overburdened when looking for the right person and oftentimes they are forced to place someone who may not be the ideal candidate for the position. Currently, ⅔ of internally based healthcare HR recruiters are engaged in 10 or more searches at one given time. The remaining ⅓ are working on 20+.  Handling such a large load makes it harder for them to find the right candidate.

Hospitals have also reported that 75% of searches take about four months and that the remaining 25% take over 7 months.  Vacancies of this sort can be extremely costly to healthcare organizations. Current team members will be asked to fill in and make up for the work that needs to get done. This often results in team dissatisfaction and even more vacancies. On another note, vacancies can result in negative changes to patient safety and satisfaction which can result in lower HCAHPS scores which directly affect the financials within the institutions. These long-term vacancies are a sensitive issue that can be resolved more effectively with the assistance of a healthcare executive search firm.

A 2017 study by the Association of American Medical Colleges predicts that the physician shortfall in the United States will arrive at up to 105,000 by 2030. Even more alarming is the survey by the American Medical Association that came to the conclusion that the number of physicians grew only 2% between the years of 2012 and 2015, a percentage that was easily outpaced by the population gaining access to healthcare coverage with the passage of the Affordable Care Act.

It is not just the difficulty in finding talent that makes it so hard to fill these positions. Many healthcare organizations have high turnover rates. A recent survey found that 37% of team members are planning to leave their current healthcare position within two years.

There are many reasons for this. First, the population is aging.  This means both patients and healthcare providers. As doctors and C-suite members of a healthcare organization age, they need to be replaced with new talent. This means that healthcare organizations will need to identify, woo, and place hires who are both qualified for these high-level positions and who fit their company culture. At the same time, the increasing aging population means an increasing need for healthcare services.

So, the aging population is creating a void in healthcare personnel while at the same time, there is a slowdown in job growth within the healthcare industry. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that as of 2017 only 300,000 healthcare jobs were added, accounting for a drop of 70,000 year over year. This could be due to financial pressures that can be eased with labor costs.

Working with a boutique healthcare executive search firm such as Summit Talent Group can help to solve this problem. Retained firms like ours work only on a select number of engagements at a time. Because of this, you can be assured that the search will not be delegated to less experienced team members. It is our principals who will lead the search every step of the way.

The Summit Talent Group team has extensive experience in healthcare, we understand the challenges that providers, hospitals, and healthcare organizations face. As such, we are able to recognize the characteristics that will make a candidate not just a good fit on paper, but a perfect fit for your goals and company culture.

We’d love to speak with you about your healthcare executive search needs and to tell you more about how we can help. Contact us, we look forward to hearing from you.